Thousands of Quebec municipal candidates elected by acclamation as deadline to run passes

Quebec candidates win by acclamation With a month left in the campaign, a number of Quebec candidates won their contests by acclamation.

Montreal — With the municipal elections still more than a month away, a healthy handful of candidates on the island of Montreal have already won their contests, with nobody running against them.

Friday was the deadline for candidates to throw their hats in the ring.

A significant portion of municipal councils in Quebec will look very similar after the November election. Nearly a quarter of Quebec's municipalities with fewer than 2,000 residents have elected an all-incumbant council. Across Quebec, more than 4,000 candidates are running unopposed.

Westmount's Christina Smith will serve another term, along with councillors Jeff J. Shamie, Conrad Peart, and Mary Gallery.

Baie-D'Urfé's Heidi Ektvedt was also re-elected by acclamation, meaning the spot was uncontested, along with councillors Nicolas Drouin, Wanda Lowensteyn, and Janet Ryan.

Vaudreuil-Dorion's election will only feature one competition among its nine posts up for grabs – either Denis Lecompte or incumbant Gabriel Parent will take the Saint-Michel district and join the fully-acclamated council on Nov. 8.

Île-Perrot Mayor Pierre Séguinwill take another term, along with Notre-Dame-de-l'Île-Perrot's Danie Deschênes, and Dollard-Des Ormeaux Mayor Alex Bottausci.

"I was just informed by our official returning officer that I have been acclaimed as Mayor," wrote Bottausci on social media. "I am honoured to have the privilege of serving the residents of Dollard-des-Ormeaux for another four years."

For districts with more than one person running, voters will head to the polls on Nov. 7.

Not seeing your district? Click here for a full list of results.

MORE WOMEN ON THE BALLOT

More women are running for political office this year.

More than 12,100 people signed up to run in 2021's municipal leadership race, either for the post of mayor or councillor.

Of those, at least 4,300 candidates were women, an increase of more than 250 since 2017, which saw 4,044 female applicants.

"That's excellent news!" wrote Quebec's Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Andrée Laforest in a Friday press release.

“I am delighted that once again this year so many citizens have decided to take this big step towards getting involved in municipal politics."