In Julie Lemieux: Canada’s First Transgender Mayor – Unauthorized, author Shiro Deng chronicles one of the most quietly groundbreaking political careers in Canadian history. With sensitivity, depth, and journalistic curiosity, Deng paints a vivid portrait of Julie Lemieux, a soft-spoken, community-oriented cabinetmaker turned trailblazing public servant, who reshaped a rural Quebec village and, along the way, Canadian politics.
Julie Lemieux's story is not one of grand speeches or sweeping national headlines, but of grassroots transformation.
A former Drummondville cabinetmaker, she moved to the village of Très-Saint-Rédempteur in 2009 seeking a slower, more connected life. It wasn’t politics that brought her there, but wood, peace, and community. But the heart of this story, and the heart of Deng’s book, lies in the way Lemieux responded when her community needed her most.
The turning point came in the form of a church. When the beloved, but disused, Roman Catholic church at the village center was slated for demolition, Lemieux led the fight to preserve and transform it into a community and cultural hub. That victory sparked her political awakening, and in 2013, she was elected to the municipal council. Four years later, she would make history by becoming Canada’s first openly transgender mayor, and the first woman elected mayor of Très-Saint-Rédempteur.
