CALEB NICKERSON
Campbell’s Bay
May 9, 2019
The MRC Pontiac council of Mayors held a special sitting on May 9 with local first responders and officials to address the flood response for the region.
The evening began with all 18 mayors going over the situation in their respective municipalities. Mayors Gaston Allard (Fort Coulonge) and Gilles Dionne (Mansfield et Pontefract) were absent, as they were hosting a meeting for their own residents.
They were represented by Mansfield Pro-Mayor Gerry Ladouceur. Clarendon Mayor John Armstrong was represented by Councillor Phillip Elliott.
The Mansfield and Fort Coulonge area was by far the hardest hit, with several hundred evacuees and homes affected, in addition to significant road and infrastructure damage. Several other communities with significant waterfront also had to evacuate residents and close roads. Portage du Fort Mayor Lynne Cameron noted that her municipality’s water filtration plant is having trouble sifting through the dirt drawn from above the dam, where the water levels are low.
After a brief from MRC Fire and Safety Coordinator Julien Gagnon and engineer Kim Lesage, the mayors passed a resolution requesting additional funding from the provincial and federal governments for road and water treatment infrastructure.
Council requested that Gagnon recruit more individuals to help coordinate the response to the flooding, and directory be set up for contacts from different partner agencies such as CISSSO, the Red Cross and the Ministry of Public Security.
Rapides des Joachims Mayor Jim Gibson called for a resolution to get answers from Ontario Power Generation and Hydro Quebec about the management of dams and water on the Ottawa River. Council requested that the Ottawa River Regulation Planning Board (ORRPB) work with the MRC to help them better understand the regulation of the river.
Council resolved to finalize its intermunicipal emergency plan no later than fall 2019 and include data collected during this spring’s flooding.
Representatives from CISSSO, Sûreté du Québec as well as the local fire and ambulance services gave the council a brief rundown of the services they have been providing, as well as any potential concerns.
