For more than a year, the way elected officials work has changed. Because of the pandemic, elected officials are less visible. But, don’t think they are lounging around waiting. Quite the contrary.
Mayors and city councillors have adapted their work over the past year. There was no stopping for them. In fact, they have been proactive. The investments did not stop and the meetings followed at a furious pace. However, one thing is obvious; the virtual seems to have had much more positive sides than it is possible to believe.
The mayor of Vaudreuil-Dorion, Guy Pilon, entered municipal politics in 1998 as a municipal councillor before becoming mayor in 2005. Involved in several committees, his agenda is excessively full. Usually there are many trips and sometimes these represent several hours per week. For a year now, this reality has given way to virtual.
“Virtual meetings save me precious time, says the mayor of Vaudreuil-Dorion. When I had to go to Montreal for a meeting, it took me over two hours, just on the road. Now I only have to tune in two minutes before the meeting begins and voila. It’s much more efficient. ”
Although they are no longer a few steps away, elected officials are still easily accessible. Every day, Mayor Pilon is at the town hall. “I am in the office daily, he says. I follow up on calls, work on projects, attend virtual meetings and also meet with board members. Don’t think that because there are no dinners and no pictures taken that we are not doing anything. It’s quite the opposite. Right now, we are in the peak period for the planning department. In 3 weeks, we had 200 projects. We are working really hard.”
Similar situation for Rivière-Beaudette
Mayor of Rivière-Beaudette and prefect of the Vaudreuil-Soulanges RCM, Patrick Bousez agrees with his colleague. “Travel being limited, we save a lot of time, admits Mr. Bousez. I would even say that it allows us to work even more.”
Patrick Bousez emphasizes that the main challenge of virtual is to reach all the participants. “It’s really the logistics that is the most difficult aspect, says Mr. Bousez. Also, sometimes the meetings can be long. I’ve been to 4 hour meetings before. Usually we would have taken a break after 2 hours, but since it is virtual, there is no break. During this time, concentration is being tested.”
Family life
For the mayor of Terrasse-Vaudreuil, Michel Bourdeau, the way of working has also changed. According to him, he has devoted significantly more hours to his elected post in the past year. “It’s rare that I don’t have a virtual meeting at night, confirms the magistrate. Sometimes I feel like since we’re home every night, that’s a reason to have a meeting. In my case, my professional life combines my position as mayor and my full-time job in a pharmaceutical company in Pointe-Claire. Also, although there is no face-to-face activity, I continue to support causes by videoconference.”
Mr. Bourdeau does not hesitate to say that his family also compromises. “When I’m in a meeting at night, my wife and kids need to be careful not to make noise. Since the meeting is a virtual event, it’s impossible for them to use game consoles and even Netflix while I’m online. The connection would become insufficient to ensure good quality.”
