More Than Half Of Quebec's 8 Biggest Cities Will Have A Woman As Mayor

Women will lead five of Quebec's eight largest cities following the 2021 municipal elections.

The biggest headline of the night may have been Valérie Plante's triumph over old foe Denis Coderre in Montreal, but across the province, the faces of municipal politics have become more gender-balanced.

According to the latest counts and projections, France Bélisle (Gatineau), Catherine Fournier (Longueuil), Évelyne Beaudin (Sherbrooke) and Julie Dufour (Saguenay) are all also on their way to their respective (and figurative) city hall corner offices.

In Quebec City, it seemed for a while like Marie-Josée Savard would join them. Multiple outlets had even called the election for her until the vote count for her opponent surged into the evening. Bruno Marchand ultimately claimed victory.

Mayor Plante commented on the historic nature of her second mandate in her victory speech Sunday night.

"Four years ago, Montrealers elected the first woman mayor in the history of the City of Montreal," she said.

"Tonight, they told us again, 'yes, this mayor, we're going to continue to work with her, we trust her!'"

This year, for the first time, Montrealers will have two women leading the city, as Projet Montréal's Dominique Ollivier is set to take over as president of the Executive Committee.