There’s now a fourth person in the race for MRC Pontiac warden, as Mansfield businessman Bruno St-Cyr has formally thrown his hat into the ring. He joins incumbent Jane Toller as well as Campbell’s Bay councillors Josey Bouchard and Jean-Pierre Landry.
Originally from the Quebec City area, St-Cyr said he has a background in health care administration, and worked as a vice-president at the research arm of the CHUL hospital in Quebec City. He said that he would make an effective warden because he has connections in the provincial government.
“I think because I have some contacts in the government of Quebec, not political but with [public servants], high level ones,” he said. “I think I can do a lot of things for people in Pontiac, specifically in two areas, in health care and in economy.”
He said that his connection to the Pontiac started when he joined his brother Hubert in purchasing the Davidson Sawmill in 2007, with the hopes of creating a cogeneration plant there. They announced in Aug. 2023 that they would be ceasing operations, citing an inability to obtain supply guarantees from the provincial government.
“The story was no good . . . We cannot undo the past. What can I do?” he said.
St-Cyr, who has lived full-time in the area since 2017 and also sits on the CISSSO Pontiac user’s committee, said his two priorities if elected would be health care and economy. Having never run for office before, he said his lack of political experience might be an asset.
“I think I don’t want to be a very good politician, what I want to do is be a good manager,” he said.
He pointed to a program in neighbouring MRC Vallée-de-la-Gatineau for attracting nurses from outside Canada and getting them certified in the province as something that could work in the Pontiac region.
When asked about his company’s dispute with the Municipality of Mansfield-et-Pontefract over unpaid taxes from the Davidson Sawmill site, St-Cyr said that it had been resolved, and that the business intended to pay what it owed in the coming months. Local radio station CHIP 101.9 reported extensively on the issue at the time.
“We have another amount to be paid this year and we [will] pay this other amount,” he said, noting that the amount still owed was roughly $100,000.
Mansfield Mayor Sandra Armstrong said the issue was currently being litigated and declined to comment further when contacted by THE EQUITY.
St-Cyr said that if elected he would be leveraging his rolodex to assist the Pontiac.
“The first thing I did was phone and ask people in government, ‘If I was there could you help me?’ They didn’t say no [ . . . ] I think that if I want to be warden, I want to be a good warden and first of all I need to get some good relationships with people in Quebec City.”
The election nomination period closes Oct. 3.
