Youngest councillor, St. Pat’s grad Alicia Despins leaving City Hall
Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter
peterblack@qctonline.com
Stories abound of people leaving municipal politics for negative reasons. Then there’s the rare departure motivated by something positive. It’s what might be called an intermunicipal love story.
Coun. Alicia Despins (Vanier-Duberger) dropped a bombshell last week, announcing her decision to not seek a second term under the banner of Québec d’abord, the remnants of former mayor Régis Labeaume’s party.
Despins made the announcement via a news release on May 8, saying she “will not be seeking a third term, in order to begin a transition to a new chapter in my life focused on my studies and family projects.”
Despins, first elected in 2017 at age 23, was the youngest person ever elected to Quebec City council. On top of that distinction, Labeaume promptly named her to the executive committee with the culture portfolio.
In 2022, the Union of Quebec Municipalities awarded her the emerging leader award for her efforts in providing a role model for young people.
Despins is a graduate of St. Patrick’s High School, and also attended Holland School and St. Vincent School; her English education eligibility is courtesy of her father, a native of Ontario.
Although she had previously said she planned to run again in November, she recently made the decision to quit politics – at least temporarily. She plans to move in with her boyfriend, who lives in Val-d’Or, and start a family with him.
The boyfriend is Benjamin Turcotte, a first-term city councillor in Val-d’Or who also teaches literature at Cégep de l’Abitibi-Témiscamingue. The two met a year ago at the Union of Quebec Municipalities convention in Montreal. Since then, Despins said, they’ve been discussing ways to move forward with their long- distance relationship.
Then, she said, sparked by Turcotte’s opportunity to acquire a house near his parents in Val-d’Or, she came to the decision.
Speaking to the QCT while driving to Val-d’Or, Despins said, “A series of coincidences and other things all of a sudden made it clear that that’s what we have to do. We have to buy the house and move in together and start a family and [I’ll] finish my PhD. And it all happened very quickly. So I’m still kind of processing everything.”
She said, “I think it’s the right decision for me right now. I’ve been in elected politics for eight years now, and I also feel the need to maybe have a less stressful life.”
While she’s been a councillor for nearly two terms – she plans to finish out her second mandate – Despins has been involved in politics since her teens. While a student at CEGEP, she took part in the 2012 student protests against tuition hikes. She later formed a municipal political party with fellow students called Alternative Québec.
After working in the of- fice of former Quebec Liberal education minister Sébastien Proulx, she made the leap into municipal politics in 2017 with Équipe Labeaume in the Vanier-Duberger district, winning the seat with 57 per cent of the vote, the highest margin of the 21 winning councillors.
Despins said her proudest moment of her time at City Hall was being named to the culture portfolio. “I did not expect that in 2017, at 23 [years of age]. That was the proudest moment and then everything that hap- pened from then on.”
In Labeaume’s recently re- leased memoir, Le Code Labeaume (see review in this edition), Despins recalled, “When Régis met with me to announce it, he explained that he wanted to make room for young people, that he thought it was important to have women in politics and that he wanted to entrust me with real responsibilities. He also told me, ‘You’re going to have to deliver.’ It wasn’t complacent at all. It was an exceptional opportunity he of- fered me, but it wasn’t handed to me on a silver platter.”
Asked whether she thought she had met her mentor’s expectations, Despins said, “I think I did – and also he told me I did – so that was important for me.”
Once established in Val-d’Or, Despins plans to complete her PhD thesis on the international relationships of cities, a topic she says has heightened relevance currently with the American tariff war.
As she completes her term at City Hall, Despins said, “I’m going to enjoy every day because I don’t know if it will ever come again; being proud of representing people. I see the end coming with lots of feelings mixed together.”
With the departure of Despins, Québec d’abord, the official opposition party at City Hall, now has only three incumbent candidates running again, besides leader and mayoral candidate Claude Villeneuve.
In a news release, Villeneuve said of Despins, “While her departure saddens me, I respect and understand her decision. Politics is an intense profession. Alicia has always done her job well, and I learned a tremendous amount from working with her. It has been a privilege to work with her over the past few years.”
Municipal elections will be held Nov. 2.