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Brome Lake councillor Lee Patterson, a 12-year council veteran, is running for mayor in the Nov. 2 election; he says his priorities include delivering the town’s strategic plan, tightening land-use rules, and pressing Québec on policing and road safety.
By William Crooks
Local Journalism Initiative
Longtime councillor Lee Patterson says his bid for mayor on Nov. 2 will focus on delivering the town’s strategic plan, tightening land-use rules and pressing Quebec on policing, speed control and firehall funding. In a Sept. 2 interview, Patterson, a 12-year councillor and lifelong resident, emphasized continuity: “We’ve come a long way over the past 12 years and we have a plan,” he said, referring to the strategic plan adopted last fall.
Born and raised in the community, Patterson cited decades of local involvement — from summer stints with Public Works to serving as a lake patrol officer and nearly 25 years as a part-time firefighter — as grounding his campaign. “My mom and dad are from here… I’ve been 12 years on town council,” he said, adding that outgoing mayor Richard Burcombe’s decision not to run again opened the door for him to “continue what we started to put in place.”
Patterson said the 2023–2024 strategic planning process, which he described as involving about 1,300 participants, set a clear mandate: protect the town’s character, improve services and tighten development rules. “The major one that needs to be continued is the update of our urban plan… the zoning, the bylaws in terms of construction… we have to tighten those up and improve certain aspects of our legislation to make sure that we have the right building at the right place,” he said.
He pointed to several issues he wants the town to push with the province. After cuts to CLSC services, he launched a petition but said public engagement lagged; on road safety, he wants Brome Lake included in Quebec’s school-zone photo radar pilot and argued the town should see stronger speed enforcement on provincial roads given what residents pay for Sûreté du Québec services. “For what we pay in SQ services, over $2 million a year, I think we have to fight to get the speed control of the provincial roads,” he said, naming Lakeside and Knowlton roads. He also noted Quebec pushed back a grant for a new firehall and nixed a shared-policing plan with Bromont. “We will need the population to get behind some of these… issues,” he said. “The environment — the lake is doing better than it was, but it still can do a lot better.”
Asked what makes him the right person to lead, Patterson said the “learning curve will be very short” moving from councillor to mayor. He said he is bilingual, has an established network of contacts and would adjust his schedule to be present at town hall if elected. “I still have the passion for it,” he said, paraphrasing a line he attributed to former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair: “there’s… lots has been done, lots to do and lots to lose.”
The mayoral field also includes Alan Gauthier, Benoit Bourgon and Shelley Judge. Patterson said he announced his intention to run in May and expects to publish campaign details online this week. “We have consulted on the vast questions… gotten feedback from residents and partners,” he said. “My goal is to continue putting those actions in place.”