France Belisle elected Gatineau's first female mayor

France Bélisle was elected mayor of Gatineau on Sunday. (Photo courtesy: Facebook/Francealamairie)

OTTAWA — France Bélisle is the new mayor of Gatineau, becoming the first woman elected to hold the top job in the city.

The former head of Tourisme Outaouais and executive at Radio-Canada easily won Sunday's municipal election, succeeding Maxime Pedneaud-Jobin as mayor of Gatineau.

As of 11:30 p.m., Bélisle had received 43 per cent of the vote.

Action Gatineau candidate Maude Marquis-Bissonette was second with 38 per cent of the vote, while former Gatineau councillor Jean-Francois Leblanc was third at 16 per cent.

Jacques Lemay, Remi Bergeron and Abdelhak Lekbabi also ran for mayor in Sunday's municipal election.

"Merci Gatineau," Bélisle said in a statement on Facebook shortly before celebrating with supporters Sunday evening.

"It is with humility that I celebrate this victory tonight .. I won't be perfect, but everyday I will do my best," Bélisle said in French.

Bélisle's victory ends eight years of governing by Pedneaud-Jobin and the Action Gatineau party. Pedneaud-Jobin, leader of Action Gatineau, decided not to seek re-election for a third term.

Bélisle was born and raised in Hull, graduated from the University of Ottawa with a bachelor's degree in journalism, and has a master's degree in journalistic studies from Carleton University.

GATINEAU CITY COUNCIL

Twelve new councillors will join Bélisle on Gatineau city council for the next four years, while a 13^th district will be represented by a familiar face at Gatineau City Hall.

Eight councillors decided not to seek re-election, former councillors Marquis-Bissonette and Leblanc ran for mayor, and Gatineau added a 19^th district for the new term. In addition, former Deschenes District councillor Mike Duggan was elected in Pointe-Gatineau.

Six of the seven councillors seeking re-election in their district won re-election on Sunday night. Incumbent Martin Lajeunesse of Action Gatineau lost in Buckingham.

Here is a look at the district results: