CALEB NICKERSON

Pontiac April 15, 2020

On Wednesday, the MRC Pontiac council of mayors held their monthly meeting, though it was hosted online by video conference rather than at the Elsie Gibbons room at their office in Campbell’s Bay. The meeting on March 18 was also held virtually, but the press weren’t included in the live conference. Warden Jane Toller phoned each of the three local news outlets individually the following day.

Mayors Gaston Allard of Fort Coulonge and Serge Newberry of Calumet Island were not present for the public meeting on April 15.

Toller gave a breakdown of her meetings and work over the previous month, noting that she has been taking part in numerous conference calls and virtual meetings. She has also been giving daily updates on COVID-19 news, as wells as the levels of the Ottawa River, through her personal Facebook page and on community radio station CHIP 101.9 FM.

Long term care

Toller opened the main meeting by asking each mayor present about any long term care facilities or seniors homes in their respective municipalities, and asking whether they need any supplies.

“We’re so fortunate that we haven’t had any outbreaks in the Pontiac, but I just wanted to spend a little bit of time in this meeting thinking about … any potential challenges where we need to maybe offer some assistance,” she said.

Litchfield Mayor Colleen Larivière, who is also the director of St. Joseph’s Manor, explained that the their facility has had frequent communication with local health authorities.

“The CISSSO has been in constant contact,” she said, noting that the tragic events at a Montreal long term care home that resulted in dozens of deaths has spurred more oversight. “They wanted to know how many masks we had. Every [seniors] home is being visited by an inspector after what happened in Dorval.”

Restricted travel

The MRC received a message from the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) to clarify the rules around inter-regional travel restrictions, which came into effect on April 1.

“There has been lots of confusion, people have been calling me, they’ve been calling the SQ, they’ve been calling different municipalities,” Toller said.

Travel between Pontiac and Ontario, as well as other MRCs, has been banned for all but essential service workers and those with medical appointments, along with a handful of other reasons. Not complying with the law could land residents with a hefty fine as well as mandatory 14-day quarantine, though the punishment is up to the individual officer’s discretion.

Speaking after the meeting in a conference call with the media, Toller acknowledged that there had been some particular areas heavily impacted by the restrictions.

“Allumette Island, they had an issue because they were initially allowed to access the food stores and pharmacies in Pembroke because it’s like 40 km drive to Mansfield,” she said. “There was a bit of leniency with the SQ, but then when that crackdown was put into place last week, about the 14 days of quarantine and also the potential of a fine, it created quite a bit of stress for those people, because then they felt now they were completely cut off and denied.”

SAAQ office re-opening

The mayors passed a resolution to open the local branch of the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ), which is located in the MRC building in Campbell’s Bay. The branch shut its doors on March 25.

Campbell’s Bay Mayor Maurice Beauregard pointed out that purchasing license plates for a new vehicle or registering a motorcycle can’t be done online and since travel to other regions is restricted, some of his constituents are currently in a bind.

“We are now working on reopening some services here at the MRC and the license bureau is one of those services,” said MRC Director General Bernard Roy, adding that their re-opening will be in compliance with public health directives.

He didn’t say how quickly the license bureau would be opened, but said it would definitely be before the end of the month.

Speaking after the meeting, Toller said they would work to open the office as soon as possible.

“We have to take some direction from the SAAQ, but I think we also understand … we also have a valuable service conveniently located here,” she said. “We also know that with the recent change to the ability to go from region to region or not, if we don’t open we’re going to have [people] in a lot of difficulty because they cannot go to Gatineau. We’re going to make every effort to reopen a couple of days a week as soon as possible. [DG] Bernard [Roy] says at least by the end of the month, but we will make every effort to do it as soon as we can.”

The MRC announced in a press release Monday that the SAAQ office would be open by appointment only on Wednesdays and Fridays starting next week. Those needing service can call 1-800-361-7620 to book an appointment.

Committee policy

The mayors voted to amend the policy around their committees, which lays out rules for things like governance and term limits for members.

“Prior to this policy, I would say that the main reference on committee governance was what each chairperson knew about common rules of operations of deliberative assemblies – except for committees, like CSP (public security) and Investment committee, etc., for which a law, a by-law, or a resolution, etc., provided rules of procedures,” Roy explained in an email following the meeting. “Now, the policy provides minimum uniform rules of governance specific to the MRC Pontiac. But those rules won’t replace rules that already exist in reason of a law, a by-law or a resolution, etc.”

He pointed out some key changes, like that any recommendations by a committee have to be confirmed by a resolution and each committee will now have to table an annual report before the full council. Another key change is Article 14 of the new policy, which states: “Annually, at the beginning of the calendar year, a list of current committees is published, specifying each committee’s mandate and membership. Unless otherwise provided for in a by-law, non-elected members sitting on a committee must sign the form … authorizing the MRC to publish their names on the list of committees.”

During the public meeting on Sept. 18, 2019, Calumet Island Mayor Serge Newberry made the unorthodox decision to request during the public question period that the MRC adopt a new policy governing committees, and also publish their membership.

At the time he said he made the decision because the other mayors refused to back his motion, and it was the only way to get his request into the public record.

Newberry had been outspoken on the subject of transparency at the MRC, and had provided The Equity a partial list of committees and their members. When The Equity requested a full list from the MRC in July 2019, then-Communications Advisor Jérémi Vaillancourt declined, calling it an “internal working document”.The Equity then filed an access to information request for the full document, which proved fruitless.

When asked about the timing of publishing the committees’ membership in the media briefing following the meeting, current Communications Advisor Colleen Jones, who was hired in January, explained the delay.

“We will have the list of the committees up on our website eventually, we’re still finalizing and making sure all that information is correct,” she said. “I’m working on that project, so I know that that’s where we’re at. It was discussed today that it will probably be brought up next month to be approved, but that’s all still in the works.”

“We had a little bit of an issue before you came here, where for whatever reason there was a hesitancy to publish it, in my opinion it should be public,” Toller added. “I think the conce rn was that some committee members wouldn’t want the public to know they were on the committee, but no, I mean when you volunteer your time and you’re on an MRC committee, it should be publicly known.”

In addition, the MRC would be doing away with the administrative committee, a small group that made recommendations to the council on things like HR or budget issues, but also has the power to vote on certain resolutions. Quebec’s Municipal Code allows councils to establish and executive or administrative committee.

“The previous By-law authorized to nominate four (4) members (+Warden) to act as administrators of the executive committee,” Roy wrote in an email. “The 4 members can vote on resolutions that have the same force and effect as if they were taken by the regular regional council. I think a majority of elected officials were uncomfortable with the idea that only 4 persons (+Warden), rather than 18 (+Warden), [make] decisions on many resolutions; decisions that have the same force and effect as if they were taken by the regular regional council.”

Toller also explained the reason for the change in the media scrum following the meeting.

“It used to be a committee used by the MRC in past years, and … we had to go through a bit of a process to have it removed but we finally did that tonight,” she said. “We don’t feel that there’s a need for an administrative committee … there would be a group of mayors, and they’d be taking care of what you’d call housekeeping items, which could be approving minor contracts and things like that … I think that our council of mayors with 18 mayors around the table, deciding and making all decisions is the best way to go than having one smaller group of people.”

Engineer’s report

MRC engineer Kim Lesage told the mayors that she is still available to conduct necessary work throughout the region, or to consult by phone.

“I am available, there are some things I can’t do necessarily, or can’t start certain projects if they’re not deemed essential, because we can’t [get the proper equipment] or meet with the foremen and such,” she said. “It’s not having a huge impact.”

The council passed a resolution to approve a request from the Pontiac Artists Association about the rent for the Stone School Gallery in Portage du Fort. Due to COVID-19 concerns, the group is unable to host any fundraisers and is having a hard time making the payment. The Mayors agreed to waive two months of rent and agreed to cooperate with the organization going forward.

Investment committee

MRC Economic Development Director Cyndy Phillips delivered her monthly report to the council, with the highlight being the new emergency aid fund for businesses affected by COVID-19.

“The investment committee will analyze and approve loans under the emergency aid program for small and medium businesses, and a list of approved loans would be presented to the mayors on a monthly basis,” Phillips said.

In the media scrum after the meeting, Toller said that the loans will be capped at $50,000 per business and the applications would be made shortly after the meeting.

“Our investment commitee is going to meet more often so that they can ensure that as we receive applications from businesses who need a loan that we can process it quickly enough to help them,” she said.

Those wishing to apply for the program can fill out an application on the MRC’s website.