Julie Lemieux (politician)

Julie Lemieux is a Canadian politician, who was elected mayor of Très-Saint-Rédempteur, Quebec in the 2017 Quebec municipal elections.[1] She is the village's first female mayor, and the first transgender person elected to the mayoralty of any municipality in Canada.[2]

Formerly from Drummondville, Lemieux previously worked as a cabinetmaker, and first moved to Très-Saint-Rédempteur in 2009.[2] She was first drawn into politics as part of a successful campaign to preserve the village's closed Roman Catholic church, which was formerly slated for demolition, as a community and cultural centre,[2] and was first elected to the municipal council in the 2013 municipal election.[3] Her mayoral campaign planks included improving communications between elected officials and residents in the village,[3] and permitting village residents to keep backyard chickens.[2] She received 48 per cent of the vote on election day, to just 23 per cent for incumbent mayor Jean Lalonde.[3]