Former Ottawa councillor Mathieu Fleury enjoying new role in Cornwall, Ont.

March 22, 2024 Canuck

Former Ottawa councillor Mathieu Fleury is roughly eight months into his new role as chief administrative officer in Cornwall, and he’s enjoying the change of scenery.

“I’ve enjoyed it,” Fleury said in an interview with CTV News Ottawa on Friday. “It’s a wonderful, wonderful community. And I’m still discovering.”

In 2010, he was the youngest person to be elected onto Ottawa city council at 25 years old. Fleury served as the Rideau-Vanier Councillor in Ottawa for 3 full terms.

“Being in office for 12 years in the same role, there’s a lot more I wanted to do,” he added.

Fleury decided not to run for re-election in 2022, citing a number of issues in his final term. The most impactful being the Freedom Convoy, which put a tremendous amount of pressure on his family.

“I was threatened at home,” Fleury explained. “I have a young family. We had to move out for three weeks. At some point you have to say ‘okay, I’m a parent and I have responsibilities.’”

The decision was shocking for most, as Fleury was seen as a top candidate to replace then-Mayor of Ottawa Jim Watson.

Instead, he moved his family down to Cornwall, where he can escape the issues he came across in Ottawa. But Fleury says the longer he works in Cornwall, the more he realizes how similar the two cities are.

“We run transit, we have social housing. So, you’re seeing similar issues at a different scale. And that’s interesting to me,” Fleury said.

As for his time in Ottawa, Fleury is ready to close that chapter and turn the page.

“There were a lot of things that happened on council that last term after 2017 that as a young family, I needed to move on to something else,” Fleury.

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