Meeting of the mayors featured discussions around public transport, vaccine passports, a lack of CPO transparency and appreciation for Will Amos
Julien St-Jean
Pontiac August 18, 2021
The first in-person meeting of the MRC Council of Mayors since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic was held last Wednesday evening in the Lions Hall in Bryson, with all 18 mayors and the warden in attendance.
The meeting was streamed online over Facebook live, a practice which is set to continue going forward.
The meeting got off to an awkward start with a 45-minute in-camera session on an undisclosed subject during which the public, the media and some of the MRC staff were required to wait outside. The warden also stepped outside during the session.
Among the key features of the meeting, once the public session resumed, was the decision by the council to launch a petition in response to changes to Quebec’s language laws proposed under Bill 96.
The petition asks the Government of Quebec to:
• “Remove from Bill 96 all articles that could
have a negative impact on English-speaking
citizens and bilingual communities.”
• “Ensure that students can study in the la
guage of their choosing in the course of their
post-secondary education.”
• “Ensure that the provisions of Bill 96 do not
cause an administrative burden on small
businesses and ensure a 50 per cent English
French employee ratio when hiring.”
The petition will be sent to all mayors and directors general within the MRC for distribution once the format is finalized. It will later be presented in Quebec City by MNA André Fortin. The petition was expected to be launched by Thursday, but as of the time of publication, it has not been made available to the public.
“I think that a petition with hopefully a few thousand signatures will make an impression on the premier and his government,” said Warden Jane Toller.
Toller announced her intention to launch a petition when speaking at a meeting hosted by the Regional Association of Western Quebecers to discuss Bill 96, held in Shawville earlier this month.
In a discussion around the recent uptick of COVID-19 cases in the Outaouais, Toller said “We need to be vigilant.” She added that the council has been working with CISSSO to figure out how to provide more of a warning before mobile vaccination clinics arrive at a location.
Council voted to appoint David Cyr to the position of Assistant Director of Economic Development, and resolved to designate Robin Leggett to sit on the multi-resource advisory committee as the wood processing industry representative.
Warden Toller and Litchfield Mayor Colleen Larivière excused themselves from voting on an HR file due to conflicts of interest. The details of the file were confidential but of the 17 eligible voters, 14 mayors voted in favour of it, Mayors Armstrong, Beauregard and Sunstrum voted against it. Sunstrum said he opposed it because of the short notice of the item, having only found out about it at 3:15 p.m. that day.
Toller said that the subject of the file had been discussed during the in-camera session.
The mayors voted in favour of a public transit development plan which was revised for 2021. Director General Bernard Roysaid said that the item allowed for seniors and young families to continue to access transportation services in the region.
The mayors recognized Will Amos’ almost six years of service, with Toller and L’Isle aux Allumettes Mayor Winston Sunstrum commending Amos for his push for high speed internet in the region.
“I’ve never seen an MP so present in the riding,” said Sunstrum. “Right now, we’re seeing Bell telephone all along our community.”
Council brought forward an application for a grant under the MRC’s Politique de Soutien aux Entreprise, which would grant a local investment fund loan of $85,443 and a local solidarity fund loan of $56,963.
Campbell’s Bay Mayor Maurice Beauregard opposed the application, saying “I can’t sign a blank check.” Mayor Sunstrum voted in favour of the file but asked that at the next meeting, council identify what the money will be used for.
The MRC accepted a bid of $69,810 from Construction Jason Hynes Inc. to repave the parking lot of the MRC office in Litchfield.
Mayor Sunstrum asked that Conference des Prefets de l’Outaouais (CPO) meetings once again be held open to the public, saying it was in the public interest to know. “The CPO now meets in private, but it’s a level of government that makes decisions that affect our citizens,” said Sunstrum. “As a level of government, there should be public meetings of the CPO.”
Warden Toller said all things discussed in the CPO meetings are first discussed at MRC meetings. She added that she had taken the request to the CPO and that anyone interested in attending the meeting is likely to be accommodated virtually. She added that she will suggest making meetings public.
“I’ve never been concerned about a lack of transparency [at CPO meetings], but as soon as someone raises that concern, of course the only answer is ‘of course, let’s open the door,’” said Toller.
The warden announced that the first meeting of the MRC waste management committee will be held August 30.
Questions
During the question period, the warden and mayors were asked for their individual stances on Quebec’s vaccine passport, which is set to launch in early September. The warden and each of the 18 mayors stood in favour of the passport.
The mayors were asked to declare Sept. 30 orange shirt day and to display orange shirts on municipal buildings. The council promised to observe the day and asked Richer Levesque to provide orange shirts to the municipalities. Shirts reading “every child matters” and key chains were given to each of the mayors to display on municipal buildings on Sept. 30.
Presentations
Presentations were made by two guest speakers. One of which was Michel Laporte, who spoke on mental health and the “eclaireur” initiative. The initiative seeks to “establish a sustainable network of eclaireur for psychological help.”
Laporte explained that eclaireurs are trained to search for signs of mental distress in community members who are “not really readapting after the pandemic.” He explained that this includes those who are showing signs of struggling with mental health problems. Eclaireurs are trained to ask questions to prompt others to open up and direct them to resources that can help others who are struggling with mental health issues.
Laporte added that over the next few months, he will be moving through towns in the region to recruit eclaireurs. Laporte said he will be at the Shawville United Church on Sept. 11.
John Petty spoke at the meeting about the “Pontiac Try Like Terry” run, asking Pontiac residents to log their physical activities and send their mileage to thepontiactryliketerry@outlook.com
Activities include running, jogging, kayaking, golfing and more. “Anything that’s human powered,” said Petty.
Petty said that he hopes to get the go ahead from public health to hold an event on Sept. 19 for residents to come and run. Petty invoked the words of Terry Fox, saying “together we can do a lot.”
Funding
A $500 donation was made to the Terry Fox Foundation for the 2021 Terry Fox Run. Another $500 was given to support Bryson Revitalization through a golf tournament and other activities.
Another $500 was also given to Phare West for the official inauguration of the opening of the Felix Gabriel Marchand Bridge. The donation will go towards the permanent illumination of the bridge and allow tourists to control the lights in a designated time.
The Pontiac Agricultural Board received a donation of up to $3,750 “as a gesture of solidarity and support” for the Shawville Fair. The donation is the MRC’s first to the fair since 2018, when they last received a donation of $5,000.
The MRC received $879,829 from the Ministry of Municipal Assistance and moved to spend $9,370.14 from the fund to upgrade software and replace laptops.
Council moved to spend $3,300 in an inter-municipal regional feasibility study for alternate waste in the Outaouais.
TNO Meeting
Council discussed a previous survey to roll out airmedic services in the TNO, which would charge TNO residents an additional $15 a year in taxes in order to provide air evacuation in case of an injury. Director of Land Use Planning and Environment Jason Durand noted that while engagement for the survey was lower than expected, those who answered were largely in favour of the service. He advocated to move forward with the service and council voted in favour of it.
Council discussed a funding request for chemin du Lac Brule after a washout emergency in the area. The request supports an “action plan” to repair the washout and will cost about $5,500.
Council also received approval for four of six projects for bridge and culvert restoration in the TNO. Durand noted that council will receive around $167,000 for the project, but will have to provide roughly $38,000 from the TNO infrastructure fund to complete the projects.
