Evelyn Bowden is speaking out about the reasons for her time off

Invited to participate in New Year's Eve party By host Robert Legault, in particular to play traditional music, the mayor spoke in an interview about the difficulties she has faced reconciling her professional life and her personal life since the beginning of her term at Sherbrooke City Hall.

“Sometimes, I had the impression that it was always the mayor, the mayor, the mayor, but at a certain moment, there's Evelyn who's there too and needs her place in my life,” she explained into the microphone. Sherbrooke Community Station.

The mayor said: “It is important, in our societies that move so quickly, sometimes to take a step back and ask ourselves whether the life we ​​are living is capable of being lived in the long term.” Sometimes there are adjustments that need to be made, and then sometimes it takes a period of thought to be able to make those adjustments. »

These are Evelyn Bowden's first public comments since announcing her departure on October 30. Acting Mayor Rhys Kibong now serves as Mayor, and Councilor Laure Letarte-Lavoie replaces Ms. Boudin as Chair of the Executive Committee.

City Director Eric Sevigny explained at the time that this leave was given “on the orders of his doctor.” “I want to avoid a state of burnout that may be too great and difficult to overcome,” Ms. Bowden wrote at the time.

“Things are going well,” she told CFLX on Monday. […] It's healthy to take a moment in this fast-moving society. We're in performance all the time. We either perform at the municipal council, or we perform with the media, in interviews.”

Since her hiatus from work, Evelyn Bowden has claimed to have made time for herself to devote herself to music and dancing, for example.

Back soon?

At the Sherbrooke City Council office, it was made clear that this interview by the mayor was not a sign of an imminent return. According to what was reported by the representative of the Council of Ministers who contacted him on Wednesday ExhibitionIt's still too early to predict a return date.

She confirms that Mrs. Bowden continues to rest at the present time. More information can be provided during January.

By law, that status can continue without consequences for up to 90 days after his first absence from a public meeting, City Clerk Eric Martell reported in October. The first session following this announcement is the November 7, 2023 session, so the deadline to continue without finding “alternatives” is February 5, 2024.

The recourse to allow Ms. Bowden to extend her leave beyond this date is the decision taken by the Municipal Council. In the Council of Ministers, we did not want to comment on whether this path has already been studied.

The council is scheduled to meet on January 23. The next sessions are scheduled to be held on February 6 and 20.