Author: The Record
Published April 18, 2024

By Ruby Pratka

Local Journalism Initiative

Several independent members of Sherbrooke city council have told The Record they have concerns about the future of democratic debate in the chamber as an increasing number of key roles are filled by members of Mayor Évelyne Beaudin’s Sherbrooke Citoyen slate.

Earlier this week, Beaudin appointed deputy mayor and Sherbrooke Citoyen Councillor Raïs Kibonge as council president, replacing veteran independent Councillor Danielle Berthold. At the April 9 council meeting, Berthold resigned from the executive committee; the committee is now made up of Beaudin, Kibonge, Councillor Laure Letarte-Lavoie and Councillor Fernanda Luz, all Sherbrooke Citoyen members. Although independent councillors outnumber Sherbrooke Citoyen members on the full council eight seats to six, they worry that those with dissenting views may lose the opportunity to express them unless there’s a strong independent voice on the executive committee.

“The executive committee prepares the files for the full council, so instead of nuanced proposals that will have something in them to attract anyone, we’ll have proposals with [less nuance]. It will be harder for the independents to have their voices heard,” Berthold said.

“There’s a lot of centralization in the executive committee now – there’s no one to bring an alternative point of view,” said independent Councillor Christelle Lefevre. “It’s damaging and it’s not representative of the population.”

Lennoxville Borough President Claude Charron was more direct. “We’re losing democracy,” he said. “They [Sherbrooke Citoyen] are in the majority on the executive committee, and that’s where the decisions are made. You see that a lot in municipal politics, it’s not unique to Sherbrooke; whenever a party gets in, things get difficult for independents. I try to push ideas through now and it’s a challenge.”

Lefevre said she was worried that the consolidation of power would bring more “mistrust” between independents and Sherbrooke Citoyen members, while Berthold said there could be “fireworks” on the council floor if independent members felt their views weren’t being taken into account.

Kibonge, for his part, sought to allay their concerns. He said he found it surprising that independent members were worried. “The executive committee handles day-to-day affairs, the executive committee might make a proposal, but the city council, where independents are the majority, has the power to accept or reject any decision – they are the only decision-making body.”

“Anyone can table a proposal – whether they are on the executive committee or not makes no difference,” he added. “Anyone can table a proposal and if there is no opposition, it passes, and if there is opposition, we vote. The independents are in the majority. It would be surprising if we weren’t able to address their files.”

Kibonge is a first-term councillor and close Beaudin ally who served as acting mayor during Beaudin’s medical leave late last year. He will now be tasked with impartially and diplomatically chairing the meetings of a deeply divided council. La Tribune political columnist Pierre Harvey recently described Kibonge as “le funambule en chef” – the chief highwire artist – of the city. Kibonge doesn’t shy away from the metaphor. “I do have to try to move forward while keeping everything balanced!” he said.

The independent councillors the Record spoke to all seemed willing to wait and see how council would function under Kibonge’s leadership.

“Ms. Berthold has a lot of experience, she knows how the machine works and she brought our attention to some important points,” said Lefevre. “Mr. Kibonge doesn’t have as much experience, he still has a lot to learn. We’ll see what happens.”

“There was already a difficult climate between Sherbrooke Citoyen and the independents. Will this calm things down? I don’t think so. Will things work better because Mr. Kibonge is in my place? I don’t know, but we all need to make an effort to make sure things work right,” Berthold said. “I hope for the sake of democracy that we’re moving in the right direction.”

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