Published July 8, 2024

Taylor Clark

LJI Reporter

A second political party has been coming out of the woodwork to take on Gatineau’s reigning municipal party.

“The by-election was the pivotal point, I think, in Gatineau’s history since the arrival of the first political party,” said Évolution Gatineau founder Sylvie Goneau “It’s now become, I think, clear that without a second political idea carrying another type of ideology, people will not have the ability to vote for any type of view that has a chance to win against a political party.”

The former Bellevue district councillor reserved Évolution Gatineau with Élections Québec from June 5 to December 5.

At the core of the newfound political party was a central ideology with a slight right tendency when it came to economic and financial views, said Goneau.

“You have to be able to offer the population what the population needs within the means of the city. And to do that, you need to value everything the city has to offer.”

The party’s founder explained that the city has the responsibility to manage finances in a way that allows citizens to keep money in their pockets.

Having already run for mayor in 2017, Goneau said she had seriously considered adding her name to the ballot during the recent by-election but was thrown off by the number of independents battling it out against Action Gatineau.

“When I started counting the number of independents who were running and the political party’s ability and finances that they already had in their back pocket and the electoral machine and the lack of interest that the population has in voting in municipal elections, it became clear to me that the political party was going to win, hands down.”

Goneau said she maintained this prediction throughout the months of campaigning and was not surprised when Action Gatineau head Maude Marquis-Bissonnette was declared mayor.

With Marquis-Bissonnette’s win, the political party was reinstated at the city’s top job after losing to former independent mayor France Bélisle in 2021. Although Bélisle’s term was cut short, it marked the end of 8 years of Action Gatineau at the helm with founder Maxime Pedneaud-Jobin ending his two-year term as mayor.

In a previous interview, Pedneaud-Jobin explained the political party brought together experts to fuel large municipal decisions as the growing city tackled larger budgets and new responsibilities.

Hoping to level out the playing field between independents and members of a political party, Goneau founded the Regroupement des élus indépendants pour la démocratie, or RÉMI, during her time as district councillor.

“The financing opportunities that differentiate independents versus political parties is a great disadvantage for the independents,” said Goneau. “(RÉMI) had gained an extra year of funding, but that’s still not sufficient for independents to be able to win, especially not in a by-election like (that).”

Unlike independents, political parties of any municipality of 20,000 or more who received at least one per cent of the votes in the last general election were entitled to an annual allowance, distributed in proportion to the percentage of valid votes obtained in the previous general elections. According to Action Gatineau’s 2023 financial report, the political party’s allowance totaled $104,870.97.

Independent Pointe-Gatineau district councillor Mike Duggan, who supported the RÉMI movement in the past, has already joined Évolution Gatineau but Goneau did not expect anyone else to tag along so close to the next election.

“Next year we’ll be ready to start receiving applications for future candidates for the 2025 election, and it’s at that point, I think, that we can expect independents to jump on board with us.”

This was not the first time the independent councillor dabbled in political parties. Duggan reserved the political party name Démocratie modern in 2015, Infrastructure Outaouais in 2019, and Dans le milieu in 2022 which all failed to be officially formed.

The City’s new mayor and Action Gatineau head Maude Marquis-Bissonnette said she was not surprised by another political party being formed.

“I think it’s simple for democracy. This allows public participation in municipal authorities. Then as the responsibilities of cities evolve, I think it’s normal to want to work as a team,” said Marquis-Bissonnette.

Évolution Gatineau was not the only party name reserved for the municipality with Élections Québec. Former mayoral candidate Mathieu Saint-Jean reserved Équipe citoyenne de Gatineau from April 30 to October 30.

Goneau invited the public who wished to have another option, “who don’t see their values being represented right now,” to contact her or Duggan to obtain an Évolution Gatineau membership card. Goneau can be reached at info@sylviegoneau.ca while Duggan can be contacted at mikedugganconseiller@gmail.com.

Photo caption: Registered by former Bellevue district councillor Sylvie Goneau, the political party Évolution Gatineau aims to offer residents another option besides the city’s sole active municipal party, Action Gatineau.

Photo credit: Courtesy of Sylvie Goneau

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