Caleb Nickerson
CAMPBELL’S BAY
June 20, 2017
At the monthly meeting of the council of mayors last Tuesday, Warden Raymond Durocher announced that he would be running for the newly created position of elected warden. This comes on the heels of former MNA Charlotte L’Écuyer announcing her candidacy June 12.
Durocher has been warden for four years and was pro-warden under Mike McCrank before that. He said L’Écuyer’s announcement pushed him to run for the position.
“When the announcement was made by Mme. L’Écuyer, my phone was ringing off the hook … [she] pushed me, really pushed me to put my name into the race for one reason,” he said. “Every time she made a comment or every time she comments on the MRC or she questions anything at the MRC, it’s always in the past. Me? For four years I’ve been talking for the future, putting things in place for the future.”
He added that he thought he could do more for his community in the warden’s chair than as a mayor and said that an elected warden will have more sway with officials in Quebec City.
“It carries more weight, because a minister, deputy minister, anyone in government knows that you’re elected by the people, not by your peers,” he said.
He questioned some of the decisions made by the provincial government while L’Écuyer was MNA.
“When she says, ‘I don’t like how the forestry [industry] is going today,’ great, I don’t like it either,” he said. “But who was in power when they adopted a new regime in the forestry industry in the province Quebec? I was an elected official; I wasn’t an [MNA].”
“What happened to the MRC after the shutdown of the paper mill in 2008 and we start hearing about sawmills closing down across the province? Who was in power?” He continued. “I’m not criticizing her position but don’t say publically that you don’t like what’s happening today. Something happened when you were in power, my dear lady. She probably did her best, but I was unaware of what she was doing.”
He said that his campaign would be minimal, as he is still working as an elected official.
“I wish I could meet everyone in the Pontiac but it’s not feasible, I’m still warden until November and I’m still mayor of Fort Coulonge,” he said. “I’ve still got business to take care of but I’ll run the best campaign I can.”
At the meeting, the salary for the new position was also discussed and was pegged at $54,890. Allumette Island Mayor Winston Sunstrom dissented and said that the salary should be at least $65,000 in order to attract a larger pool of candidates.
“It places too low a value on the most important role at the MRC,” he said.
The council voted down the proposal, 13-4, with only the mayors of Bristol, Clarendon and Shawville siding with Sunstrom. Calumet Island did not have a representative present at the meeting.
A budget of $65,490 for the election was also passed.
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