The meeting kicked off with the announcement that Kim Lesage has been hired as the director general (DG) for the MRC Pontiac on a permanent basis. Lesage has been serving as the top civil servant in the MRC on an interim basis since November, after replacing Bernard Roy.

“You gave us the opportunity to show us what you can do,” MRC Warden Jane Toller said. “Not only were you still our engineer, but you also stepped in at full pace and have done an excellent job not only keeping all of our business moving forward but going back and looking after some things that needed to be done.”

Lesage was selected by the MRC’s hiring committee, which interviewed three other candidates. Her appointment to the position was confirmed by a unanimous vote by the MRC.

“Thank you for your confidence in me and my abilities as a manager,” said Lesage. “I believe in teamwork and I will work hard to have a positive dynamic between the MRC, our staff, our partners, and our citizens. I am positive that together we will continue to progress and revitalize the Pontiac.”

Lesage, a civil engineer by training, has served as Director of Engineering and Infrastructure at the MRC since 2019.

Toller said Lesage will focus on her role as DG, but added that Lesage would continue with the engineering projects that she’s already involved in. A job posting for a new engineer will be posted, and the future of the postion may involve the hiring of a junior engineer which Lesage will oversee, according to Toller.

Power outage resolution

A resolution was passed in response to the power outages Feb. 4-5 which saw some homes in Upper Pontiac lose power and means of communication for up to 36 hours.

The resolution accused Hydro Quebec of failing to accurately communicate the length of the outage to residents and the municipalities and highlighted the decades of prolonged outages the area has experienced.

The resolution also added the urgency of the infrastructure failure in light of moves by both the provincial and federal governments to encourage the adoption of electric cars and heating systems, which will add further stress to the grid.

The resolution requested a formal plan from Hydro Quebec which would create redundancy for hydro services in the upper Pontiac, improvements to communications with both clients and municipalities, and compensation for residents and municipalities who suffered unnecessary expenses of damage due to the event. The resolution also requested that Hydro Quebec send officials to a public meeting to be held in L’Isle-aux-Allumettes to address these three requests.

The resolution will also be sent to provincial officials.

“We are taking immediate action to address Hydro Quebec and their less-than-satisfactory service,” said Mayor Corey Spence of L’Isle-aux-Allumettes, who introduced the MRC version of the resolution.

The date of the meeting for the upper Pontiac is expected to be in March, though the exact date is still to be announced.

L’Île-du-Grand-Calumet issues

The Mayor of the Municipality of L’Île-du-Grand-Calumet, Jean-Louis Cor-riveau, requested during the meeting that the Council of Mayors pass a resolution that would “put pressure on” the shipping company Purolator to come to the island to pick up water tests. As it stands, residents must drive to Shawville to receive services from the courier company. A quick resolution making this request was passed and sent to the offices of MP Sophie Chatel and MNA André Fortin.

Staying with Calumet Island, the warden also spoke on the status of a proposal to build a bridge on the western part of the island to Mansfield-et-Pontefract and Fort-Coulonge

Toller’s comments concerned a recent study commissioned by local businesses on the cost and viability of a bridge. Toller said she went into the study feeling optimistic that the project could be done, though the study changed her mind.

“We had hoped it was going to come in at $5 million or less,” she said, about her expectations about the project going into the meeting on the bridge, held last May. “It’s the first time in my life that I’ve held a public meeting and been completely shocked. It was an unbelievable amount. It was just so over the top expensive that we would never consider, for such a short distance and probably limited use, building that bridge.”

Toller did not know the cost cited by the study off the top of her head.

She said the benefits of the bridge include connecting the francophone municipalities together and benefiting businesses in Fort-Coulonge and Mans-field, but technical and cost issues are just too prohibitive.

“We were just a little naive. We didn’t realize how deep the water is,” Toller said.

However, Toller also added that the idea of using a ferry to connect Calumet Island to Mansfield was brought up as a substitute at the meeting. Toller announced this was her preferred way of proceeding and mentioned that the operator of the Quyon Ferry has offered to sell an older ferry for the purpose for $100,000.

“I’ve spoken to a business person in the Pontiac who said right away that they would buy it. The person didn’t say whether they would be the operator, but they were interested in investing. And apparently, it’s in very good condition,” Toller said.

Toller said another public meeting will be held in the spring to further discuss the issue and identify the exact site of the ferry landings.

THE EQUITY hopes to follow up on the study Toller referenced to cite the exact cost and feasibility of building the bridge.

Other

A resolution was passed that authorized the Economic Development Department at the MRC to spend $10,000 from the tourism budget on a partnership with EKO Image Production, the production company which films the Alexis le Randonneur TV show. The partnership is for the development of an episode of the hiking TV show at Oiseau Rock in Sheenboro, which will be filmed for the next season of the series.

An annual report on PPJ was passed. The report detailed all the maintenance work performed on the trail and outlined its budget for 2022, which totals $86,329.62, half of which came from the MRC and the other half from Programme d’entretien route Verte.

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