France Bélisle is a Canadian politician who served as the mayor of Gatineau, Quebec from 2021 to 2024. She was elected in the 2021 Gatineau municipal election, becoming the city's first female mayor.[1]
France Bélisle | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 22nd Mayor of Gatineau | |
| In office November 16, 2021 – February 22, 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Maxime Pedneaud-Jobin |
| Succeeded by | Daniel Champagne (acting) |
| Personal details | |
| Political party | Independent |
| Occupation | Journalist |
Bélisle was educated in journalism at the University of Ottawa and Carleton University,[2] Bélisle worked as a journalist and news director for Ici Radio-Canada Télé owned-and-operated station CBOFT-DT in Ottawa, Ontario until joining Tourisme Outaouais as its executive director in 2015.[3] She left that role in 2021 to mount her campaign for mayor.[4]
She campaigned on themes of transparency at Gatineau City Hall, as well as on the need for Gatineau to maintain and improve its collaboration and communication with Ottawa City Council.[2] During the campaign she faced allegations that her leadership of Tourisme Outaouais had created a toxic work environment at the organization.[5]
She was sworn in as mayor of the city on November 16, 2021.[6] She resigned on February 22, 2024, citing a toxic political environment and death threats, triggering the 2024 Gatineau mayoral by-election.[7]
Electoral record
edit| Party | Candidate | Popular vote | Expenditures | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | ±% | ||||||||||
| Independent | France Bélisle | 29,768 | 42.86 | – | $81,079.89 | |||||||
| Action Gatineau | Maude Marquis-Bissonnette | 26,151 | 37.65 | -7.46 | none listed | |||||||
| Independent | Jean-François Leblanc | 11,326 | 16.31 | – | $71,309.44 | |||||||
| Independent | Jacques Lemay | 1,077 | 1.55 | – | $8,206.19 | |||||||
| Independent | Rémi Bergeron | 727 | 1.05 | – | $0.00 | |||||||
| Independent | Abdelhak Lekbabi | 411 | 0.59 | – | none listed | |||||||
| Total valid votes | 69,460 | 99.25 | ||||||||||
| Total rejected, unmarked and declined votes | 524 | 0.75 | -0.98 | |||||||||
| Turnout | 69,984 | 35.11 | -3.41 | |||||||||
| Eligible voters | 199,302 | |||||||||||
| Note: Candidate campaign colours, unless a member of a party, are based on the prominent colour used in campaign items (signs, literature, etc.) or colours used in polling graphs and are used as a visual differentiation between candidates. | ||||||||||||
| Sources: Office of the City Clerk of Gatineau[8] and Élections Québec[9] | ||||||||||||
References
edit- ^ Josh Pringle, "France Belisle elected Gatineau's first female mayor". CTV News Ottawa, November 7, 2021.
- ^ a b Ted Raymond, "Transparency and connecting with Ottawa priorities for Gatineau Que.'s new mayor". CTV News Ottawa, November 8, 2021.
- ^ Justine Mercier, "France Bélisle à la tête de Tourisme Outaouais". Le Droit, June 30, 2015.
- ^ Camille Boutin, "Tourisme Outaouais perd sa présidente-directrice générale". Ici Radio-Canada Ottawa-Gatineau, January 6, 2021.
- ^ Mathieu Bélanger, "France Bélisle nie les allégations de harcèlement en milieu de travail". Le Droit, October 25, 2021.
- ^ Ted Raymond, "Newly-elected Gatineau mayor, councillors to be sworn in". CTV News Ottawa, November 16, 2021.
- ^ "Gatineau Mayor France Bélisle steps down, citing hostile political climate". CBC News. Ottawa, Ontario. February 22, 2024. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
- ^ "2021 municipal election – Results". City of Gatineau. Retrieved February 26, 2024.
- ^ "Summary of election expenses - Municipal". Élections Québec. Retrieved February 26, 2024.