New Brunswick councils did not reach gender parity overall in the latest municipal election. A UNB law professor says voters are more likely to fall back on gender stereotypes in municipal elections than at the provincial or federal level.
Advocates say rural communities where female mayors were elected should inspire others
Katelin Belliveau · CBC News
· Posted: May 15, 2026 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 1 hour ago
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Colette Plourde, the mayor elect of Île-de-Lamèque, says her campaign was based on bringing change to the makeup of the northeastern community’s council. (Facebook/Colette Plourde)
When Colette Plourde went door-knocking across Île-de-Lamèque for the municipal election, many people told her they had already voted for her because she is a woman.
Plourde is the first women to be elected mayor in the small northeast New Brunswick community. Six of the seven councilors elected are also women.
“We wanted a big change in the place, and that’s what we focused the campaign to be on,” she said.
The community is an outlier, however, when it comes to female representation in local government. Voting across the province on Monday produced results far from gender parity.
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