One week out from THE EQUITY’s Conversation with the Candidates federal election event, and less than three weeks out from the election, we are sharing in-depth interviews with the five people vying for the Pontiac-Kitigan Zibi seat.

Each candidate was given the same word limit to answer our questions. The first three questions as well as the last question were put to every candidate, while the fourth, fifth and sixth questions were tailored to each candidate. Answers have been edited for clarity and length.

Q1: Why do you think you’re the best candidate to represent this specific corner of the riding, between Luskville and Rapides des Joachims, at the federal level?

I have the experience and the knowledge of the needs, I’ve been a strong voice for my community, and I think I can deliver what is needed to grow our regional economy. I see that for the MRC Pontiac there are key sectors with enormous potential for growth. Agriculture and food transformation is one, and the second one is eco and recreational tourism, and I’ve shown leadership in both. One example is the food transformation in Laiterie de l’Outaouais, so we have invested to enhance the transformation of food in our region.

Q2: Workers in the MRC Pontiac earn on average $36,300 a year (according 2022 data from the Government of Quebec). What do you believe is the best strategy to promote economic development and bring more jobs to this region?

I strongly believe that we can grow our regional economy in the MRC Pontiac. For our region, there’s really five top priorities for me. Eliminating interprovincial trade barriers would really unlock a regional potential, especially in the agricultural sector, because right now we cannot sell meat into the Ontario side. The second one is agriculture and the agri-food sector. As chair of the rural caucus, for several months I worked closely with other rural Liberal MPs, farmers across the riding, and the UPA and other farmers’ associations, to develop platform proposals that would ensure agriculture and agri-food are central to Mark Carney’s vision for a strong economy. The liberal plan released today [Apr. 2] confirms that this sector will indeed be a key pillar of our economic strategy. A third one is to unlock the full potential of our eco and recreational tourism sectors. The fourth one that will be top of my priorities and will bring more jobs in the Pontiac is that it’s time to build more homes, and also support municipalities in building infrastructure for housing projects. I think that will create very well paying jobs in the construction sector. Finally, I already had a vision for the Outaouais as a green and prosperous place. There’s a lot of value in nature both for tourism and for carbon storage and nature protection. So there is an increase in jobs in protecting and managing nature. I give you the example of the Gatineau Park. I’ve been a leader in introducing a bill to protect the Gatineau Park. Well that bill will enhance its value, will create additional jobs for protection and managing the park. So focusing on our nature protection – nature is our best ally against climate change – and also as an economic growth enhancer.

Q3: Aside from economic development, what would be one concrete change you’d like to make for the Pontiac region of the riding that would significantly improve life here?

I think housing is a big budget item for people. The lack of availability of affordable housing makes it more difficult on the budget of a family. The vision of Mark Carney to build more homes, and more affordable homes, I think would greatly help the affordability issue. The role of an MP is to make sure that those ambitious projects are being developed in your region. So I will be a strong advocate for investing in more homes in our region. Our community has ambition, and we need to give them the means to realize their ambition.

THE EQUITY clarification: What’s your understanding of the barriers to bringing more affordable housing here, and what your role as an MP is in helping us overcome those barriers?

There’s two main barriers, which is especially true for small communities. The first barrier is the complexity of the programs. It’s amazing the amount of studies and conditions they have to meet. Some of them are not fully designed for rural communities. The second big obstacle that I have identified was that the municipal infrastructure needs to be updated or enhanced in order to welcome more housing in a village. The lack of municipal infrastructure was a huge obstacle, because municipalities didn’t have the money. As a chair of rural caucus, we have been successful to open a new program – the Canada Housing Infrastructure Fund – dedicated to bringing more money to municipalities for housing infrastructure.

Q4: What are the implications of your “green and prosperous Outaouais” vision for Pontiac farmers?

We depend on the agricultural sector for our own prosperity because the farmers put food on our table. But at the same time they are at the forefront of climate change. I think in many cases farmers are ahead of government on solutions for climate change at the farm. They know the solution. They want to protect their livelihood. The role of the government is to help farmers realize those ambitions. What I’ve heard from small farms is they need support, because they’re busy, and they have a lot of red tape to go through, they have extreme weather events to deal with, and they need more assistance in the implementation of new technology. So I think this is where the government should do a key role to cut the red tape to make it easier to be a farmer and provide assistance in adopting new technology and new practices that will make both the agricultural sector more aligned with an emission reductions target and also more prosperous themselves because these new technologies and practices can increase the yield as well.

Q5: You were among the first wave of Liberals to call on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to step down, citing feedback from your constituents who wanted to see some kind of change in the party. Twenty-one of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s 24 cabinet ministers also worked for the Trudeau government. In what way is this the change you believe the people who elected you were looking for?

It is an enormous change of direction for the Liberal Party. [Mark Carney’s] policy and his vision are different than the previous government, so it is the change that the people were asking for. But beyond that, we are in a unique time in our history as we are facing three major changes. The first one is the change in the relationship with the U.S. from an economic partner to an economic threat. We’re [also] facing two major industrial revolutions at the same time: a transition towards a clean economy that is world wide [and] the AI revolution is also going to impact how we work in a way that will transform our economy and our jobs. We are very fortunate we are in Canada, a place where we have everything to succeed in these transitions, but we need a leader who understands the economy, and knows what are our strengths, and how to lever our strengths, and position Canada for a successful economy the next hundred years.

THE EQUITY clarification: So even though he’s essentially kept the same cabinet, the change you believe he brings is through a new focus on the economy?

It’s more than just a focus on the economy. It’s transforming our economy to be successful in those transitions and in this trade war.

Q6: What do you believe has been your greatest accomplishment for the Pontiac region in your last four years as MP?

For way too long we were left behind the digital economy because we didn’t have access to high speed internet. By working with the provincial government, we were successful at bringing high speed internet in our region. I did not do that alone, but as a rural caucus member, I was such a strong voice for high speed internet being connected in every house. On the campaign trail, that was the number one issue, to deliver the high speed internet, which by the end of 2022 we started to see as almost 90 per cent done, and the work continued in 2023. So now we have 100 per cent of Quebec households and businesses connected. Another thing is developing the eco recreational tourism sector has been a good thing for the MRC Pontiac area as we are developing for example the Fort Coulonge area and increasing the accommodation offer for tourists in the region, which was lacking.

Q7: What’s one of the most important things you were taught by your parents, or somebody else who had a big influence in your life, that you would bring to the job of MP?

A mentor told me a long time ago, and that’s a lesson I kept with me which was particularly helpful in politics, which is you have to spend 80 per cent of your energy in what you can control. You have to spend 20 per cent of your energy in things you cannot control but that you can influence, and zero per cent of your energy in what you can not control or influence. There’s a lot of problems out there, but we have control of certain things that will really make a big difference.