Catherine Fournier as she prepares to give birth steps back from some public activities

catherine fournier, mayor of Longueuil, is stepping back from certain public-facing activities in the days before she gives birth, presenting an inflection point in how an elected official combines newborn care with municipal leadership. Her decision — to avoid a traditional maternity leave while reducing media appearances and panels — reframes routine mayoral presence and tests recently expanded remote-attendance rules.

What if Catherine Fournier reduces public-facing duties?

The mayor has said she will temporarily withdraw from the public side of her role, specifically media interventions and participation in panels and colloquiums that typically amount to 30–40 hours of work per week. She describes this as a personal choice: not a complete stop in duties, but a rebalancing to accommodate the rhythm of her newborn. Her cabinet has already delegated certain administrative tasks and elected colleagues will preside over some meetings.

• Pause: temporary withdrawal from public-facing events (weeks or months, as stated).
• Continuity: strategic and decision-making responsibilities will be kept and handled remotely at a measured pace.
• Delegation: administrative duties reassigned within the cabinet; some meeting leadership shifted to elected colleagues.
• Daily communication: continued daily contact with her director of cabinet, who is also the child’s godfather.
• Family support: parents, mother-in-law, friends and her husband (an entrepreneur working remotely) will provide household support.

What happens when governance remains unchanged and remote attendance is used?

Her cabinet confirmed there will be no change in municipal governance or the municipal apparatus during this period. The mayor intends to preserve strategic oversight and decision-making, conducting those duties from a home telework space she has prepared. She plans to participate in municipal council sessions, including the session on April 28, after the birth unless a health problem prevents participation. The modification of a 2024 law now allows elected officials to attend commissions and council sessions remotely following a birth, and the mayor has indicated she intends to use these new provisions.

Past practice in the municipality — when council sessions were held virtually in 2020 due to COVID-19 — and a recent example of a councillor, Nathalie Delisle, attending remotely on March 17 are cited as precedents that make the planned mix of remote and in-person participation operationally feasible. The mayor emphasized she is “extremely well surrounded” by her team and family and will keep daily contact with key staff to sustain decision-making continuity.

Scenarios embedded in the mayor’s plan are straightforward and constrained by her stated choices: a short pause from public engagements with retained strategic control; a remote-balanced model enabled by legal changes and delegation; or limitation of participation only in the event of a health issue. The municipality’s governance is set to remain steady while the mayor adapts her public calendar to new parental responsibilities.