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Action Gatineau

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Action Gatineau
Active municipal party
LeaderMaude Marquis-Bissonnette
PresidentAudrey-Ann Chicoine
FounderMaxime Pedneaud-Jobin
FoundedJune 16, 2012
Headquarters49, rue du Val-Perché
Gatineau, Quebec
J8Z 2A5
IdeologyNew Urbanism
Environmentalism
Social democracy
Localism
Political positionCentre-left
ColoursTeal, orange
Seats on council
10 / 20
Website
actiongatineau.org

Action Gatineau (AG), formerly known officially as Équipe Pedneaud-Jobin - Action Gatineau (English: Team Pedneaud-Jobin - Action Gatineau) until February 26, 2021,[1] is a municipal political party in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. It has been the only active municipal political party in Gatineau since its inception.

Background

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The party was founded by five Gatineau City Councillors in 2012. Among them was Buckingham District councillor Maxime Pedneaud-Jobin, who was chosen as the party's interim leader. The other councillors who were founding members of the party were Stefan Psenak, Mireille Appolon, André Laframboise and Luc Angers.[2] The party sprung up during a wave of municipal party creation across the province. When the party was created, the members on council began working together to oppose the mayor's agenda, dubbing the remaining independent councillors as "the mayor's party".[3]

Pedneaud-Jobin led the party in the 2013 municipal election as the party's mayoral candidate and won the election. It was seen as an upset victory.[4] Pedneaud-Jobin's opponent, incumbent mayor Marc Bureau was a fierce opponent to municipal political parties, but Pedneaud-Jobin claimed that having a party facilitates handing city's large budgets and "responsibilities over matters such as infrastructure, culture and poverty".[3]

Pedneaud-Jobin was re-elected in the 2017 municipal election. The party ran on a platform of more money for green space, downtown renewal, snow clearing, a new ice hockey arena, and a plan to connect to neighbouring Ottawa's light rail transit system.[5]

After Pedneaud-Jobin retired from politics, the party held a leadership election, in which Plateau District councillor Maude Marquis-Bissonnette was acclaimed on April 6, 2021. She assumed the position on April 25, 2021 at the party's annual general meeting, and formally became the party's mayoral candidate for the 2021 municipal election.[6] Marquis-Bissonnette ran on an environmental sustainability platform, securing federal funding for public transit and tackling climate change. She was defeated by independent candidate France Bélisle in what some saw as upset.[7]

After losing the election, Marquis-Bissonnette resigned as party leader in December 2021.[8] The party nominated Hull-Wright District councillor Steve Moran as interim leader in January 2022.[9] The party launched its leadership election to replace Marquis-Bissonnette on March 20, 2024.[10] Marquis-Bissonnette was the only candidate who ran, and became the leader of the party again.

Marquis-Bissonnette was the party's candidate in the 2024 Gatineau mayoral by-election. She won the election, retaking the city's top job for the party.[11]

Election results

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Election Mayoral candidate Mayoral popular vote Change (pp) Councillors elected Council popular vote Government
2013 Maxime Pedneaud-Jobin 52.61% Steady
5 / 19
41.65% Minority
2017 Maxime Pedneaud-Jobin 45.14% Decrease 7.47
7 / 19
38.70% Minority
2021 Maude Marquis-Bissonnette 37.65% Decrease 7.49
8 / 20
38.71% Opposition
2024 (by-election) Maude Marquis-Bissonnette 41.70% Increase 4.05
2 / 2
41.76%[a] Minority

Notes

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  1. ^ Result in the council by-election in Carrefour-de-l'Hôpital District held on the same day

References

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  1. ^ "Fiche du parti municipal - Action Gatineau" (in Canadian French). Élections Québec. Retrieved February 24, 2024.
  2. ^ "Five Gatineau city councillors form a new political party". Ottawa Citizen. June 24, 2012. p. 22. Retrieved February 26, 2024.
  3. ^ a b "Quebec seeing deluge of municipal political parties". Globe and Mail. October 4, 2013. Retrieved February 26, 2024.
  4. ^ "Upset in Gatineau mayoral vote". Ottawa Citizen. November 4, 2013. p. 11. Retrieved February 26, 2024.
  5. ^ "Pedneaud-Jobin hangs on to earn encore in Gatineau". Ottawa Citizen. November 6, 2017. p. 3. Retrieved February 26, 2024.
  6. ^ "Maude Marquis-Bissonnette devient chef d'Action Gatineau". CBC News (in Canadian French). April 25, 2021. Retrieved March 22, 2024.
  7. ^ "'Everything is possible' says first woman elected mayor of Gatineau". Ottawa Citizen. November 9, 2021. p. A3. Retrieved February 26, 2024.
  8. ^ "Maude Marquis-Bissonnette quitte la chefferie d'Action Gatineau". Radio-Canada (in French). December 22, 2021. Retrieved February 26, 2024.
  9. ^ "Le conseiller Steve Moran nommé chef intérimaire d'Action Gatineau". Le Droit (in French). January 21, 2022. Retrieved February 26, 2024.
  10. ^ "Action Gatineau déclenche sa course à la chefferie". Action Gatineau (in Canadian French). March 20, 2024. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
  11. ^ "Maude Marquis-Bissonnette set to become Gatineau's next mayor". CBC News. June 9, 2024. Retrieved June 10, 2024.