Sonia Baudelot will lead opposition party into elections next year
In preparation for the municipal elections in November 2021, the Action Laval opposition party announced its new leader last week.
Sonia Baudelot founded and led the Avenir Laval party as a mayoralty candidate in the 2017 election. She had also been a council candidate in the 2013 elections.
A non-politician
As well, Baudelot ran for the Conservative Party of Canada in the riding of Marc-Aurèle-Fortin in the 2019 federal elections.
According to Action Laval officials, the decision to choose Baudelot was made by 136 Action Laval members during an online webcast meeting. In a media release, the party describes Baudelot as a young mother, born in Laval, active in community organizations, and not a professional politician.
Says she loves Laval
“My children were born at the Cité-de-la-santé in Laval,” she said during a launch on Oct. 5. “I love my city, but I love its people even more. It’s for their sake that I get involved in our communities and that I want to be mayor. I have a passion for it.
“You have to dare to run if you want to initiate change,” she added. “I commit myself to the causes I believe in. The challenges are considerable and the barrier to entry is significant. Fortunately, Action Laval is a serious and solid party whose values reflect those of Laval residents and my own.
Humane and attentive
“As candidate for mayor, I will promote these values and offer Laval residents an administration that is humane and attentive to their needs, with solutions to their everyday issues while investing responsibly in our future. We will offer this choice to voters in November 2021.”
In addition to her political activism, professionally she is a flight director for a major airline and vice-president of a local union for a flight crew.
As well, she sits on the board of directors of a senior citizens’ residence and has been a member of the board of directors of the Ligue d’action civique, director of a community centre in Laval and an active member of a large number of cultural, community and women’s organizations.
The ‘main opposition’
While the rival Parti Laval opposition party has only two members currently sitting on city council, that party holds the status as the official opposition. Action Laval refers to itself as “the main opposition” in Laval city council because it holds four council seats: Chomedey (Aglaia Revelakis), Saint-Bruno (David De Cotis), Laval-des-Rapides (Isabella Tassoni) and Saint-Vincent-de-Paul (Paolo Galati).
As candidate for mayor, I will promote these values and offer Laval residents an administration that is humane and attentive to their needs
– Action Laval mayoralty candidate Sonia Baudelot
Action Laval says its main goal leading towards the 2021 elections will be “to defeat the Demers administration” and “replace it with a united, proactive team that is open to new ideas and innovation and truly attentive to the needs and concerns of Laval citizens.”
She is well-connected
With Baudelot now in the driver’s seat, Action Laval interim-leader Archie Cifelli will be out of the limelight at least for the time being. Cifelli said the party vetted three candidates to fill its leadership position before deciding on Baudelot. Cifelli said the party currently has more than 1,000 members.
He said one of the party’s considerations in choosing Baudelot was her vast network of connections – which Action Laval plans to put to good use. “It was one of the key reasons – her network – for our choosing her,” he said. “I will be contacting a lot of friends of mine who are like family – politics becomes a big family,” she added.
