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Benoît G. Bourgon, attorney and longtime resident of Brome Lake, has announced his candidacy for mayor in the upcoming municipal election

By William Crooks

Local Journalism Initiative

Benoît G. Bourgon, a longtime attorney and community advocate, has recently entered the race for mayor of Brome Lake, promising what he calls “a drastic change in the manner in which the administration has been conducting itself.”

Bourgon, who lives in Fulford, has been a resident of Brome Lake for a decade. He brings with him a background in law and management, having served on the management committee of one of Canada’s largest law firms before shifting to pro bono work during the pandemic. “I’ve been an attorney for ages,” he said in an interview. “Since 2020, I decided essentially to stop working for a law firm and I work on my own, and I essentially only do pro bono work… when people around my neck of woods learn that I’m a pro bono lawyer, it doesn’t take a lot of time for people to knock at my door”.

Civic involvement

Bourgon has played an active role in local civic life. In 2018 he founded Sauvons Inverness, a grassroots movement that opposed a large residential project planned for the former Inverness Golf Course. The effort contributed to the land ultimately being preserved instead of developed.

He also established Vigilance Lac-Brome, a citizen watchdog group that has kept pressure on council over zoning and bylaw issues. The coalition contested early versions of the town’s short-term rental rules and pushed for revisions to bylaws affecting homeowners whose houses had been destroyed by fire.

“I was a witness of many heated debates at the town council and I did not see any volition from the administration to listen and consider the opinion,” Bourgon said. “It’s not sufficient to listen just to go through the process. You’ve got to listen, you’ve got to take notes and you’ve got to say, okay, how can we fine-tune the bylaw to make sure the majority of citizens are comfortable”.

Platform priorities

Bourgon’s platform sets out seven guiding principles: protecting the lake and environment, preserving architectural heritage, reforming zoning, listening to citizens, opposing densification and urban sprawl, improving oversight of public spending, and strengthening ties with higher levels of government.

He is sharply critical of recent residential and commercial developments in town, citing new apartment-style buildings on Knowlton Road as a prime example. “Everybody comes up with the same example,” he said. “They say, how could they allow that? How could council allow such developments?”

Bourgon argues that Brome Lake’s character as a “big village” must be preserved. “There’s really no need to have a three-storey apartment building in our town,” he said. “People who live here, they are attracted by this nature of a village. They don’t want this town to be turned into Cowansville or Granby”.

Fiscal discipline and infrastructure

Financial oversight is another key theme. Bourgon points to the rising costs of a planned new fire station, originally estimated at $6–7 million but now projected at more than $12 million. “Do we really need to do this? A fire station of $12 to $13 million… I did not get any sound explanation as to why we need such a huge structure,” he said.

He has also questioned the town’s handling of budget growth. “We see increases in all of your headings—public works, communication, environment, increases everywhere,” Bourgon recalled asking at a recent presentation. “Were you asked by town council to limit the increases or even reduce the expenses? And he said, I have no such instructions”.

At the same time, he has argued that major projects, including revitalizing Knowlton’s downtown core, will require outside funding. He believes he is well placed to negotiate with senior governments. “I’m better suited to sit down with the Provincial Government and negotiate appropriate funding,” Bourgon said. “I know people, and I know people who know people”.

Policing and public services

Bourgon has also taken aim at the cost of policing in Brome Lake, where the town pays roughly $2 million annually to the Sûreté du Québec. He favours reviving talks on a merger with Bromont’s municipal police, saying the SQ service is inadequate. “We’re paying $2 million… and there’s one or two cars on our territory. It’s not sufficient,” he said.

Call for citizen-centred governance

Underlying his campaign is a strong emphasis on citizen involvement. He notes that municipal government is unique in allowing residents to force a referendum on key issues. “It shows how much the government that created the municipal government thought that it was important to keep the communication channel with the citizens,” he said.

In his platform document, Bourgon described his candidacy as a commitment to “transparent and responsible governance” and said he aims to be “the voice of all citizens who want a community proud of its heritage, committed to protecting its environment, and focused on a prosperous, thoughtful, and united future”.

As the campaign begins, Bourgon says he is encouraged by conversations with residents. “When I go to IGA or Rona, I’m more vocal about my position, and everybody comes up with the same example” of controversial development, he said. For him, that groundswell of discontent underscores why he is running: “We need change.”