If there has been one municipal issue at the forefront of people’s minds in recent weeks, it’s the new Pontiac pool project. It’s been nearly impossible to miss, with a petition declaring its necessity distributed all across the region.
Warden Jane Toller has been driving this revival of the pool project, having started prior to her run for office. But now that she is our elected leader, and remains the volunteer president of the pool committee, the optics change.
While she has asserted many times at public appearances and private interviews how the project is not “political”, it clearly is. In fact, it’s one of the 11 priorities of the MRC unveiled in February (number four to be exact).
She said that previous pool projects, which had been planned through the MRC, got bogged down in bickering over the pool’s location and withered on the vine.
When she approached the MRC council in June 2017, they gave her unanimous support for the project in principal, with the location specified as Fort Coulonge. She’s asserted that the location was chosen by a neutral third party she brought in to consult on the project.
Toller’s input and connections are obviously invaluable for the pool committee, but perhaps she would be more of a help as a member of the group rather than its president.
She has already stepped back from heading up other volunteer boards like Tourism Pontiac, so this doesn’t seem to be a radical proposal. She said she’s also taken a step back from running her hotel and restaurant, though she admits to making hiring decisions as recently as May 2018.
When asked directly after the MRC meeting on Sept. 17 if she would consider letting someone else head up the committee, this was her response:
“I can’t possibly. This pool was my idea. It started with me.”
It may be true that she led this most recent charge, but that was then, this is now. Toller is the top public servant in the county and is held to a different standard than citizens, even if this project preceded her candidacy.
Another worrying point is Toller’s refusal to give any hard numbers about operating costs, despite a request for a business plan made by the council of mayors when they gave their support for the project.
She’s repeated ad nauseam that Pontiacers would never pay for a pool with their municipal tax-dollars, but how are we supposed to believe that if the only figures we have to work with are the initial $12 million building costs? Will corporate donations and memberships be enough to keep the lights on and heat the space during a winter in Fort Coulonge? Would it not be prudent to have this information available before applying for provincial and federal funding? These funds are our tax-dollars as well, and we have a right to be concerned about where and how our money is spent.
All this is not to say that a pool would be a bad thing, quite the opposite. Infrastructure and amenities like a pool facility would definitely benefit an impoverished area like Fort Coulonge. With large employers like LiveWell making promises about bringing jobs back to the Pontiac, we need to ensure that the region is attractive for potential home-buyers.
But pools are very expensive, not only to build, but also to operate, and extreme care should taken to ensure Pontiacers aren’t left with an underused or underfunded liability.
Toller’s obviously very passionate about the project, which is good and to be expected. But taking her hand off the wheel and letting someone else take the lead might be the best course of action going forward, in addition to providing a detailed business plan.
Acting as a local business owner and the head of local government – while simultaneously lobbying for tens of millions in federal and provincial funding as the president of a NGO – raises too many questions and could hinder a worthwhile project.
Caleb Nickerson
