Northern Ontario's youngest new council members aim to bring fresh perspective to local politics

When Ontarians elected new municipal councils earlier this week, many communities in northeastern Ontario cast their ballots in favour of younger leaders.

At 23, Justine Leveque has replaced Lyle Hall as mayor of Sundridge, Ont. Hall did not seek re-election. Leveque managed to defeat two opponents for the seat. 

Leveque has lived in Sundridge all her life. She attended Nipissing University, where she earned a bachelor of science in psychology and sociology. During her time at university, Leveque also served as a volunteer firefighter, which made her interested in becoming more involved in her community. 

"And then I wanted to kind of step outside of that and challenge myself even more at a different level to become involved and try to better our community," she said. 

A lot of what's kind of stopping our growth now is our inability to work together in a really strong partnership.— Justine Leveque, incoming mayor of Sundridge, Ont.

Leveque's political aspirations first took hold in high school, where she was involved in student council, as well as serving as a student senator representing her school for the Near North District School Board. 

"Very similar concept to being a mayor, sitting down at a table, having priorities that we decide as a council — or as a senate at that time — and then having a budget to allot funds to, determining what we could do, what changes we could make to better the community," Leveque said.  

While Leveque said there wasn't anything wrong with the municipality's past leadership, there is room for improvement — particularly when it comes to building relationships with neighbouring municipalities. 

"A lot of what's kind of stopping our growth now is our inability to work together in a really strong partnership," she said. 

Leveque also said she'd like to help make the municipality a more desirable place for people to be. 

"Growing up here and attending high school here ... so many people in your graduating class take off," she said. 

Leveque admits to previously having the urge to take the leap herself.   

"I tried. It didn't work out because I love it here too much, and I saw the value in returning and I had things to bring me back here," she said. 

What better way to have a balance of perspectives around the table [than] if we have more people who are under the age of 40 who can complement those who are over the age of 40 around the table?— Maggie Horsfield, incoming deputy mayor of North Bay

"But I think that was a big thing, was people leave because they don't see a reason to stay, or they don't see a value, or there isn't something keeping them here. And I think for me it's very important to make people realize how important it is to stay here and to help our community get bigger and stronger and to grow," she said. 

"We need those younger generations here if we want [it] to stay alive, and I want there to be something here for my children to want to stay here. So that's a huge thing for me." 

Maggie Horsfield, 30, also hopes to bring a fresh perspective to North Bay's city council. She was the candidate with the most votes and will become the deputy mayor.

Horsfield was born and raised in North Bay. She studied history and political science at Nipissing University. She then went on to work for the university for eight years, and it was through that experience that she found the urge to become more and more involved with the community.

Horsfield said that after some research, she realized the median age in North Bay is about 40. 

"So I thought to myself, you know, 'Well, what better way to have a balance of perspectives around the table [than] if we have more people who are under the age of 40 who can complement those who are over the age of 40 around the table?'"

She said some of the issues she'd like to tackle include homelessness, addictions and mental health challenges. 

"We're at a crossroads. We can't keep doing what we've been doing because it's not working. And so we need to think differently about how we can support members of our community who are experiencing some really difficult challenges," she said. 

The incoming mayors of Sault Ste. Marie and Timmins are also part of a string of younger faces in northern Ontario. Both Matthew Shoemaker and Michelle Boileau are 33. 

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