Ghost town: province enacts curfew
The provincial government implemented an overnight curfew to go along with its extension of lockdown conditions for four weeks, until Feb. 8. The previous lockdown was set to run out on Jan. 11, but in a Jan. 6 press conference, Premier François Legault announced that stricter measures were needed province-wide as Quebec is in a “race against time,” a race that he said had been a losing affair over the past several weeks. Some of the measures included in the month-long lockdown are the following: – a curfew beginning at 8 p.m. and ending at 5 a.m. Fines for breaking the curfew will range from $1,000 to $6,000. – all non-essential workplaces and business must remain closed, although curbside pickup will now be allowed. -Grocery stores and dépanneurs will have to close by 7:30 p.m., but pharmacies and gas stations will be permitted to stay open after 8 p.m. – both indoor and outdoor gatherings with people outside of one household bubble are not allowed. – places of worship were forced to close, with the exception of funeral services, which will be allowed with up to 10 people.
Fire destroys Clarendon home
On Jan 7 2021, Emergency crews were called at 5:58 p.m. that a home located at C138 Sand Bay Road was on fire. The Shawville Clarendon Fire Department responded with four trucks and 18 firefighters. Chief Lee Laframboise said that when his . . .
crews arrived the building was fully engulfed. No one was inside the home at the time of the blaze. While the department was dealing with the burning house, they received another call around 8:30. At the time, Laframboise explained that the Bristol Fire Department was on standby, and firefighters from both departments responded to the second call. “We had another call for smoke on the 11th Line, that was at 8:30ish,” he said. Crews were on scene extinguishing the fire for four or five hours and Laframboise said that the cause is still under investigation.
Second lockdown protest hits Fort Coulonge
On Jan. 10, the second Pontiac protest against lockdown measures took place in downtown Fort Coulonge. The gathering was slightly smaller than the one that took place in Shawville the previous weekend, but totalled around 30 people. Starting on rue Baume, the event began with a brief speech from one of the organizers, Paul Croteau. He acknowledged that many of the participants were protesting different things, from the recently enacted lockdown measures to questioning the existence of the virus. The regional health authority, CISSSO reported 14 deaths from COVID-19 over the past week and 430 active cases as of Monday, with a majority in the Gatineau area. The march travelled down rue Baume onto rue Principale, pausing for roughly 20 minutes outside of the Spruceholme Inn, a business owned by MRC Pontiac Warden Jane Toller. The parking lot was empty and though no one appeared present, the crowd directed some of their chants at the building.
Coyote attack in Quyon
On Jan. 5, a vicious coyote attack on a deer on rue Saint Andrew in Quyon which made for a rare incident as it happened right outside one resident’s home. Cecile Dumont, who lives on rue Ann in Quyon, said she was woken up at around 6 a.m. by her cat making unusual squeals, to which she ran downstairs. She looked out her window and saw seven or eight coyotes in front of her neighbor’s house. Dumont, who typically walks dogs for a local daycare provider in the morning, was making her way down rue Saint Andrew when she saw the remains of the deer, just next to the grass area behind St. Mary’s Church. Although Dumont said her and her neighbors are used to hearing coyotes howling at night, she’d never seen a coyote in town, much less an entire pack of them. Dumont said that anyone with pets that roam should be wary after such a bold coyote attack.
Friends of Chats Falls host presentation
On the evening of Jan. 11, nearly 30 people gathered virtually via Zoom to learn more about the natural wealth of the Chats Falls area. The presentation, which was held by the Friends of Chats Falls, was the first virtual presentation the organization had hosted and went from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. It was hosted by Daniel Toussaint, a biologist with over 30 years of experience in the field in Quebec. Toussaint, considered a regional bird expert, retired in 2016, but remains active in his field. During the presentation he highlighted the fact that swallow numbers are declining, but that Chats Falls is one of the hotspots for the bird, which would, in normal circumstances, bring in bird watchers and ornithologists alike from all over the world. Throughout the two hour presentation, attendees asked questions and it ended with Toussaint discussing many of the conservation projects in effect, including a significant effort to save the turtle population, which is in danger due to human interference.
COVID graffiti bandit on the loose
On Jan 12 a vandal was discovered in Shawville and the Municipality of Shawville offered a $100 reward to help identify the person defacing public property. The perpetrator spray-painted COVID-related messages on several different surfaces, including Pontiac High School (PHS) and the Shawville business directory sign. The messages alternated between “COVID-19 is a lie” and “COVID most fraudulent crime” and were also scrawled on the sign at Mill Dam Park and behind the Home Hardware lumber yard. Camera footage from next-door pharmacy Familiprix that has been viewed by THE EQUITY showed the man vandalising the business directory sign on Hwy. 148 at 1 a.m. on Tuesday morning. The footage is brief, but showed a male wearing dark clothing. It is presumed that the remainder of the vandalism also occurred around that time, as the message on a south-side wall of PHS was discovered on Tuesday morning. The municipality released a message on its Facebook page on Jan. 13 asking residents with any information related to the early morning vandalism to contact the police at 819- 648-2141, with the $100 reward being tied to it should the information lead to the vandal’s arrest. Graffiti was left on the PPJ in July and it had similar paint and message, although it is unclear if it was the same vandal.
New café in downtown Coulonge
A new cafe in Fort Coulonge opened its doors to the community on Jan 18. Café Downtown located in the heart of the community on rue Baume. The hipster new coffee shop owner Rémi Bertrand said that he was excited to try his hand at a different kind of business. Although at the time he was limited with what he could do due to COVID restrictions, Bertrand has big goals for when indoor dining is permitted. There is a stage set up for live music and the café’s windows retract for an open air, patio feel in the summer. The facility is also fully licensed for serving alcohol, and Bertrand said they would exclusively sell craft beer and specialty wines.
Pontiac welcomes new family doctor
Shawville welcomes a new family doctor, Dr. Maha Mikail, who has practiced medicine on three different continents and now hopes to fill in a crucial role to serve those in need. Dr. Mikail started her position at the Lotus clinic in Shawville in October 2020 as a general family physician. With an interest in working in obstetrics, Mikail will be a much-needed addition to the team at the Pontiac Community Hospital in the delivery room. From Egypt to Dubai to Calgary and fi nally Shawville, Dr. Mikail has been interested in the medical field since she was a young girl, living in her home country of Egypt. At the time, Mikail was doing follow-up with women throughout their pregnancies, but she is eager to begin work at the hospital and hopes it will reopen soon. As for her role as the Lotus Clinic, she has enjoyed meeting her new patients and being able to continue her work in rural health care.
Painted Hilltop Farm installs megadome
A new addition to an Otter Lake farm will allow people to ride their horses at any time of the year. The Painted Hilltop Farm announced they had completed construction on their new indoor riding megadome at the end of December 2020, after four months in the works. The new building is 60 feet by 180 feet, includes a heated feed room and viewing room and can safely accommodate six riders with room to spread out. The 425-acre farm already featured a 70- by 140-foot outdoor riding area, but farm owner Charlotte Becker wrote in an email to THE EQUITY that what she and the rest of the farm wanted was to offer a space where lessons and camps could happen without worrying about weather cancellations.
Golf simulator ready for action
There’s a new game in the town of Shawville. The curling club recently installed a state-of-the-art golf simulator and is open for bookings once lockdown measures get lifted. Club President Andrew Rowat explained that they had been discussing what to do with the squash court that’s attached to the club, since it saw very little use in the past few years. They had originally discussed a private venture between a group of golfers at the club to purchase a lower-end simulator, but once they found out about an MRC grant that could cover their costs, they jumped at the opportunity. The grant from the MRC totalled just under $52,000, and the machine they purchased is top of the line according to Rowat. It dis plays all kinds of data about the player’s game, from the angle of their club face to their swing path. Golfers can book a time on the simulator at shawville.hdgolf.com.
