CALEB NICKERSON
PONTIAC Aug. 29, 2018
On Aug. 23, The Equity sat down with Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ)’s candidate for the Pontiac riding, Olive Kamanyana.
Though she resides in Gatineau, outside of the Pontiac, Kamanyana said she took an interest in the area due to her experience working as an economic development officer in different MRCs.
“I wanted to make a difference in my community, and the region,” she said. “I chose the Pontiac, I had other options but I chose the Pontiac because they say, it’s a little Quebec. There is everything in the Pontiac. You have urban in Aylmer, you have rural villages, you have an amazing landscape, rivers, lakes.”
This is her first time running for office and she is currently on leave from her job at Natural Resources Canada. She holds a Masters degree in land use planning and management from the Université Laval, and is currently working on her PhD at Université du Québec en Outaouais, studying corporate social responsibility. She has extensive involvement with volunteer organizations, and is also the mother of three children.
She strongly stressed that the CAQ does not support separating from Canada, but would champion Quebec’s interests.
“There’s no way we can continue to have a discussion about a referendum. We don’t need that, that’s old,” she said. “We just need to have Quebec strong in Canada.”
Kamanyana said she chose CAQ because they are looking to remove needless bureaucracy from Qubec’s public services.
“The aim is to give more power and autonomy to local government, so municipalities and MRCs,” she said, criticizing the Liberal government’s current programs. “We know that group tactique d’intervention (GTI), it’s another structure which has been added over the existing structures. We need to make sure that we help local government function.”
One of the most ambitious projects touted by the CAQ would replace school boards with “service centres.”
“What we’re proposing are service centres, they will be managing the school’s needs and they will be involving parents, teachers, people that know how to run schools,” she said, adding that there would be the same number of English service centres as there are current school boards.
Another bold plan from CAQ would see a new hospital built in the Outaouais, though they haven’t announced an exact location.
“We knew that there is a need,” she said, pointing to recently released studies that show a lack of funding for Outaouais healthcare. “The infrastructure we have is not enough, we need to make this work and remove bureaucracy in the health system.”
Kamanyana said she had been touring the riding and, due to her background in economic development, was especially struck by the effect the downturn in the forestry industry had on the local economy.
“I think the region needs an MNA that has a development officer approach,” she said.
“I wanted to make change, otherwise I would have stayed with the federal government,” she continued. “What did they accomplish in 15 years of Liberal government? How come this region is always behind?”
Kamanyana said that Pontiac residents can expect to see her around at community events in the coming weeks.
