Mayor of Gatineau | |
---|---|
Ville de Gatineau Office of the Mayor | |
Style |
|
Member of | Gatineau City Council |
Seat | Maison du Citoyen |
Appointer | Direct election |
Term length | Four years; renewable |
Constituting instrument | Charter of the Ville de Gatineau |
Inaugural holder | Théodore Baribeau (historic) Yves Ducharme (post-current amalgamation) |
Formation | November 18, 1933 (historical) January 1, 2002 (current) |
Salary | CA$154,330 [1] |
Website | gatineau.ca/maire |
The mayor of Gatineau (French : maire de Gatineau) [lower-alpha 1] is head of the executive branch of the Gatineau City Council. The mayor is elected alongside the city council every four years on the first Sunday of November; there are no term limits. While in office, mayors are styled His/Her Worship . The office of the mayor administers all city services, public property, police and fire protection, most public agencies, and enforces all city and provincial laws within Gatineau, Quebec.
Maude Marquis-Bissonnette has been the mayor of Gatineau since June 18, 2024, following her election in the 2024 by-election.
The first iteration of the position of Mayor of Gatineau was created in 1933, when the original Village de Gatineau was officially proclaimed; the town was commonly referred prior to its official proclamation as a municipality as Gatineau Mills after the paper mill that was in the area. [2] The first Mayor was Théodore Baribeau, who entered the position on November 18, 1933; he was a merchant who had moved to the village not long before. [3]
The position would remain in its original form until 1974, when the town was amalgamated with the nearby municipalities of Pointe-Gatineau, Touraine, Templeton, Templeton-Ouest, Templeton-Est, and Templeton-Est-Partie-Est to form a larger Ville de Gatineau. [4] As part of the amalgamation, a provisional council was selected among previous members of the various municipal councils of the amalgamated municipalities; the outgoing Mayor of Touraine Donald Poirier was selected as the President of the Provisional Council and interim Mayor. Poirier ran in the ensuing election, but lost and was replaced by former Gatineau mayor John-R. Luck as the first Mayor of the newly-formed municipality. [5]
The most recent changes to the position occurred during the 2000–2006 municipal reorganization in Quebec, when the Parti Québécois government of Lucien Bouchard passed Bill 170, An Act to reform the municipal territorial organization of the metropolitan regions of Montréal, Québec and the Outaouais, which amalgamated Gatineau with the surrounding municipalities of Hull, Aylmer, Buckingham and Masson-Angers into the new Ville de Hull-Gatineau. [6] The name would later be changed to simply Ville de Gatineau on June 27, 2001. [7] Unlike the previous time, however, the amalgamation would not take place until after the 2001 municipal election cycle, allowing for residents to vote for a new city council; the election was won by outgoing Hull Mayor Yves Ducharme. [8]
The first mayor to be affiliated with a local political party is Maxime Pedneaud-Jobin, who, along with other members of city council, founded Action Gatineau ahead of the 2013 municipal election, in which he would eventually win the mayoralty race. [9]
The position of Mayor of Gatineau is outlined in the Charter of the Ville de Gatineau, which is the constitution of the municipality. The version that the modern Ville de Gatineau follows was passed in 2001 before the 2002 amalgamation. In accordance with the Charter, the mayor is a member of and the chair of the council's Executive Committee by default. However, they may appoint another councillor to fill the position of chair at their own leisure. They also sit on the Joint Land Use Planning Commission for the Outaouais. [10]
The duties and powers of the mayoralty, on the other hand, are outlined in the Cities and Towns Act. The mayor's authority covers all aspects of city administration, serving as the highest authority in all matters. Items can be added by the mayor directly to the city council's agenda without going through a committee. The mayor may preside over council meetings in the event of the absence of the speaker, and also holds ex officio membership on all council committees and, concurrently, has voting rights on every committee. They also sit on the National Capital Commission's Board of Directors as a non-voting ex officio member alongside the Mayor of Ottawa, with whom they frequently collaborate with. The mayor has the power to call for a special meeting of the council whenever they see fit, regardless of the approval of other members of the council. In the event of a vacancy, the acting mayor holds most of the powers and privileges that a regularly elected mayor would, with certain exceptions, such as not being allowed to send by-laws back to the city council should they disagree with their contents and sitting on the NCC Board of Directors. [11]
Over the course of Gatineau's history, the municipality's borders have expanded through annexations. This most recently occurred in 2002 when the municipalities of Hull, Aylmer, Buckingham and Masson-Angers were amalgamated with Gatineau. The following is a list of mayors of the current post-amalgamation Gatineau.
No. | Photo | Mayor | Party | Terms of office | Took office | Left office | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
19 | Yves Ducharme | Independent | 1 | January 1, 2002 | November 5, 2005 | ||
20 | Marc Bureau | Independent | 2 | November 5, 2005 | November 3, 2013 | ||
21 | Maxime Pedneaud-Jobin | Action Gatineau | 2 | November 3, 2013 | November 7, 2021 | ||
22 | France Bélisle | Independent | 1 [lower-alpha 2] | November 7, 2021 | February 22, 2024 | ||
— | Daniel Champagne (acting) | Independent | — [lower-alpha 3] | February 22, 2024 | June 18, 2024 | ||
23 | Maude Marquis-Bissonnette | Action Gatineau | 1 | June 18, 2024 [12] | Incumbent |
Gatineau is a city in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It is located on the northern bank of the Ottawa River, immediately across from Ottawa, Ontario. Gatineau is the largest city in the Outaouais administrative region of Quebec and is also part of Canada's National Capital Region. As of 2021, Gatineau is the fourth-largest city in Quebec with a population of 291,041, and it is part of the Ottawa-Gatineau census metropolitan area with a population of 1,488,307 making it the fourth largest in Canada.
Buckingham is a former town located in the Outaouais region in the western portion of the province of Quebec, Canada. Since January 1, 2002, it has been part of the amalgamated city of Gatineau, which merged five former municipalities, including Masson-Angers, Buckingham, Hull, Aylmer and Gatineau, into a single entity. According to the 2021 Census, the population of the sector was 12,795.
Aylmer is a former city in Quebec, Canada. It is located on the north shore of the Ottawa River and along Route 148. In January 2002, it amalgamated into the city of Gatineau, which is part of Canada's National Capital Region. Aylmer's population in 2011 was 55,113. It is named after Lord Aylmer, who was a governor general of British North America and a lieutenant governor of Lower Canada from 1830 to 1835.
Hull County, formerly known as Wright County, is an historic county of Quebec, Canada. It was named after the town of the same name in East Yorkshire, England. It is located on the north shore of the Ottawa River and is part of the Outaouais, one of roughly 12 historical regions of Québec.
The 2000–2006 municipal reorganization in Quebec resulted in large-scale amalgamation of smaller municipalities in Quebec into larger cities. It was undertaken by one administration, but was modified and partially undone by its successor.
Wright was a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1896 to 1948.
Marc Bureau is a Canadian politician, who was the mayor of the city of Gatineau, Quebec from 2005 to 2013.
The Gatineau City Council is the governing body for the mayor–council government in the city of Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. It is composed of 19 city councillors and the mayor. The mayor is elected at large, while each councillor represents wards throughout the city. Council members are elected to four-year terms, with the last election being on November 7, 2021. The council meets at the Maison du Citoyen in the Hull sector. Much of the council's work is done in the standing committees made up of sub-groups of councillors. The decisions made in these committees are presented to the full council and voted upon.
Robert "Bob" Labine was a politician in Gatineau, Quebec. He was best known for being mayor of the former city of Gatineau between 1988 and 1994 and again between 1999 and 2001.
Claire Vaive was a politician in Quebec, Canada. She was the member of National Assembly of Quebec from 1994 to 1998 and was a councillor for Gatineau City Council for 14 years.
Aylmer District is a municipal electoral division in the city of Gatineau, Quebec. It is represented on Gatineau City Council by Steven Boivin.
Yves Ducharme is a Canadian politician who was the Mayor of Gatineau from 2002 to 2005 after the city had been merged with its neighbours, part of the supra-organization known as the Communauté urbaine de l'Outaouais, and was Mayor of Hull, in the Outaouais region, from 1992 to 2002. He was defeated in an election in 2005 by Marc Bureau and decided to quit municipal politics. He became president of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.
Several municipalities in the Canadian province of Quebec held elections on November 4, 2001, to elect mayors, reeves, and city councillors. The most closely watched contest was in the newly amalgamated city of Montreal, where Gérald Tremblay defeated incumbent Pierre Bourque.
Gaétan Cousineau is an administrator and former politician in the Canadian province of Quebec. He was the mayor of Gatineau from 1983 to 1988 and is now president of the Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse.
Maxime Pedneaud-Jobin is a Canadian politician, who was elected mayor of Gatineau in the city's 2013 municipal election under the Action Gatineau banner. Previously a city councillor for the city's Buckingham District, he defeated incumbent mayor Marc Bureau in what was widely seen as a surprise victory.
Plateau District is a municipal electoral division in the city of Gatineau, Quebec. It is currently served on Gatineau City Council by Bettyna Belizaire of Action Gatineau.
The 2024 Gatineau mayoral by-election was held on June 9, 2024, to elect the 23rd mayor of Gatineau, Quebec, Canada, to serve the remainder of the 2021–2025 term following the resignation of mayor France Bélisle, who resigned effective immediately on February 22, 2024, citing a toxic political environment and death threats.
Action Gatineau (AG), formerly known officially as Équipe Pedneaud-Jobin - Action Gatineau until February 26, 2021, is a municipal political party in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. It has been the only active municipal political party in Gatineau since its inception.
The 2024 Action Gatineau leadership election was to take place on April 15, 2024, to elect a leader to replace Maude Marquis-Bissonnette, who resigned on December 22, 2021, after the 2021 Gatineau municipal election, which, despite the party gaining a seat on city council by winning the newly created district of Mitigomijokan, saw Marquis-Bissonnette lose the mayoralty to France Bélisle.