Sandra Armstrong was born and raised in Mansfield et Pontefract and graduated from École secondaire Sieur de Coulonge. Once she graduated she began to work at her grandparents’ hotel in Mansfield.

Armstrong got married in 1982 and a year later she had a daughter. She continued to work at the family business for a couple of years. In 1987 she started working at the Société des alcools du Québec (SAQ) as a part-time employee. She transferred to Gatineau in 1998 and worked there for 12 years.

In 2010 Armstrong moved back to the Pontiac to take up a managing position at the Shawville SAQ location. She then transferred to Mansfield as manager there and has been working there since.

Armstrong has been a municipal councillor for the past four years and has worked on a number of volunteer committees, including volunteer work for St-Pierre Parish in Fort-Coulonge.

Her volunteer experience also includes being an administrator on the arena committee (La Co-op des Draveurs) as well as being president of the Bryson Heritage House Committee since she moved back to Mansfield. She added that the committee was looking forward to hosting their Christmas market this year as a post-pandemic return to normalcy.

Armstrong said she is always up for a challenge and on board when people approach her to organize events, adding that she always makes time to listen to what people want or have something to say.

“What’s the purpose of your job on council if you don’t take the time to listen to the people, it’s important to listen to them and to respect them,” said Armstrong.

The reason she got into local politics, Armstrong said, is because she had a strong urge to help make her municipality a better place to live, adding that she wants to help bring back the younger generations and wants to help improve the quality of life for the elderly.

Economic development

“I think we have to focus on the unique strengths of each municipality in Pontiac and build on them,” said Armstrong.

“We need to work together to develop the local economy of each municipality, but it has to be done together,” she added.

Health care

Armstrong spoke about the importance of the obstetrics department at the Shawville hospital and said, “It has been closed for how long now? And we’re still fighting for that [to reopen],” adding that she was prepared to keep fighting for it.

Forestry

Forestry connected all of the municipalities in Pontiac, according to Armstrong who said, “No matter which community you lived in, people had ties to the forestry industry. I don’t think it’s a lost cause.”

Youth and generational care

“One of my main concerns is to help bring back the youth to Pontiac, and to take better care of our elderly. We need those two elements to work together.”

Armstrong believes one way of doing that is to attract investors to the area and see what kind of partnerships we can build with them so we can give back to the community.

Advertising things such as the cost of living here, the local culture, the schools and the activities that are available here are important first steps in doing so, according to Armstrong.

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