St Pierre calls byelection after councillor resigns

Nominations are open after the resignation of St Pierre councilor Suzanne Jolicoeur.

Jolicoeur was acclaimed with the rest of mayor and council in the 2022 general election. The next general municipal elections across Manitoba are in October 2026.

Potential candidates have until Feb. 26 to get 25 resident signatures to run for St-Pierre-Jolys council, and registration with the senior election office is due Feb. 24.

If there is more than one candidate, a byelection will be held Apr. 3. If nobody runs, Mayor Raymond Maynard and the three remaining councilors will appoint someone to take the vacant position until next October.

Jolicoeur had been on the Jolys library board until stepping back and being replaced by Deputy Mayor Coun. Michel Forest. She also served on the committees for the Emergency Management Organization, personnel and policy, and the St-Pierre Senior Services board.

Mayor Maynard said Jolicoeur left for personal reasons. Her seat officially became vacant at the beginning of the year.

Maynard added that he knows at least one person has so far picked up nomination papers. He described what the job entails.

“You’re looking at for sure two council meetings a month, and those will run anywhere from two hours to three hours – sometimes a little longer but most of the time we’re done by 9 p.m.,” explained Maynard.

Councillors split committee responsibilities.

“Depending on committee, they could have one meeting every three months, others have one meeting every month. How long those meetings last, they vary. Usually you hope they last an hour to an hour-and-a-half max, but everybody’s different,” said Maynard.

“We try to put the person that gets elected on the committee that they like because you want people to enjoy what they’re doing, not to go on something that drives them nuts and they don’t want to do it,” he added.

But the job is more than just meetings.

As a representative of St Pierre, there are a wide variety of opportunities to advocate for the community and shape what it looks like for generations to come.

Maynard pointed to meeting with provincial and federal ministers and conferences like the Association of Manitoba Municipalities.

“There’s other things we try to attempt and do some networking, and be able to get maybe some good ideas, or some companies, or some developers or something to help our town grow,” said Maynard.

The paperwork to be the next council representative is available at the municipal office at 701 Jolys Avenue East from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday to Friday.