Antonin Valiquette intends to run for mayor of the Islands

Antonin Valiquette has made it official that he intends to run in the by-election for mayor.

The current director general of the Chamber of Commerce of the Islands made the announcement during an event held at the café-bar Chez Renard on Thursday.

Antonin Valiquette had invited the media and his entourage to the announcement

The 41-year-old believes that his « well thought-out » decision is the result of a natural progression in his career path.

He explains that it is the desire to continue to serve the population that pushed him to make the leap into active politics, as well as the encouragement of his entourage.

After pursuing studies in literature at the University of Quebec in Montreal, Valiquette was an employee of the SAQ before moving back to the Islands in 2012, where he worked at Le Radar newspaper and then at CFIM radio as a journalist and newsroom coordinator.

The next person to sit in the mayor’s chair has a long list of issues to tackle, he points out, targeting lodging, the municipal budget and shoreline erosion as priority issues.

Valiquette says he will remain with the Chamber of Commerce for the duration of the election and is looking forward to the race that will take islanders to the polls on March 5.

For the moment, only one other candidate has declared himself, the former co-director of the Carrefour jeunesse emploi des Îles and former municipal councilor, Nicolas Arseneau.