Former councillor creates association to support ex-municipal politicians
Thursday will be a celebratory time for the victorious candidates of this fall’s Montreal municipal election when they attend their swearing-in ceremony at Marché Bonsecours.
However, the losing candidates — specifically, the 42 of the 103 members of Montreal’s city and borough councils who were ousted in the Nov. 5 election after as little as one term and as many as six consecutive terms — now have an association to turn to for support.
Former city councillor Helen Fotopulos, who was defeated in 2013, formed the Association québécoise des anciennes élues et anciens élus municipaux this year, a club of exes from municipal councils around Quebec. One of the missions she says she had in mind when the idea for the organization began percolating about 18 months ago was to help colleagues deal with the transition from public to private life.
“When I was defeated, I was like, ‘Wow, I spent 25 years in city hall. Now what do I do?’ ” Fotopulos said. “You go through a mourning period that’s just like any other mourning period. At times, you just sort of burst out crying and say, ‘How could this happen?’ ”
The grieving period lasts about two years, she said, even though she quickly immersed herself after her election loss in work for foundations and as an international observer of elections in Eastern Europe.
“When you retire from teaching or from nursing or from journalism, even if you get fired, you have your association,” Fotopulos said.
And while there are associations for former members of Parliament and the National Assembly, she said she found no such group at the municipal level.
Montreal city hall doesn’t even keep a contact list of ex-councillors to invite to ceremonies, Fotopulos said. “Exes could be ambassadors of sorts,” she said.
They could also offer mentoring to newly elected politicians, and speak at elementary and high schools and CEGEPs about the value of public service, she added.
Fotopulos is the founding president of the association, while its vice-president is Winnie Frohn, a former Quebec City councillor who went on to teach in the urban and tourism studies department of the Université du Québec à Montréal.
The association has held a few meetings around Quebec with the support of the Union des municipalités du Québec, Fotopulos said. A founding assembly is planned for February.
The association is seeking excouncillors who have been out of politics for a while, she added.
“The feelings fade with time, and there’s no animosity or partisanship. There’s a certain camaraderie in the ‘afterlife.’ ”