Eddie McCann graduated from Victoria high school in Shawville and went on to the University of Ottawa where he obtained a BA in General Studies before he went to work in his family-owned hardware store, where he worked half of his adult life. McCann also worked at other Ottawa-based retail stores, including Home Depot.

“I always worked in the public sector,” said McCann.

McCann was Municipality of Pontiac Mayor for 12 years. He said he was elected as a councillor at the age of 24 and has continued being involved in the community.

He has been married to his wife Diane (née Martineau) for more than 45 years and together they have raised six children and are enjoying their 13 grandchildren.

“I have lived in Quyon all my life and have been part of many volunteer associations, including being president of the Lions Club and I was also on the Waterfront Committee for a year. It is my community involvement which has led me to become interested in politics,” said McCann.

Road conditions

McCann talked about the importance of maintaining a good road system and making sure that it is always in good condition. He went on to say that it was not currently the case and explained that a system must be put in place to add more emphasis on improving both the paved and gravel roads and streets, to ensure safe driving conditions for the citizens.

He goes on to speak about his commitment to support the maintenance of private roads areas, saying that as mayor he worked with council and beach associations to initiate a program that subsidized road maintenance expenses for private road areas.

“This helped these areas with summer grading and winter snow plowing expenses that were paid by the municipality on regular municipal roads,” he added.

Health care

McCann believes an important issue the residents face is the problem with the current health care services. While some might say that it is not a municipal responsibility, McCann believes it is. He plans to be a strong voice in requiring and acquiring these services for ratepayers so people can have access to good accessible and expanded health care services.

“I was a member of the last administration board for the CSSS Pontiac before the changes were made to centralize the decision-making and I think that was a mistake. I feel there needs to return to local based decision-making for health care,” he told THE EQUITY.

Lack of services in MRC

McCann believes all municipal services in general need to be improved upon. He expressed the need to have two boat accesses in place for the summer of 2022, as well as boat docks to accommodate the boating traffic, saying that the current structure was not safe. According to McCann, the municipality already owns land that has a great potential to solve this problem.

He is also adamant about rejoining his municipality to the MRC Pontiac, believing that it now belongs to the wrong MRC.

“We are a Pontiac county based municipality which belongs to a Gatineau county based MRC. This is a mistake. When you leave Gatineau and cross over Terry Fox Rd. on Hwy 148 you are entering the Pontiac. Our municipality is the largest municipality in the provincial riding of Pontiac, by far, and we belong to a Gatineau based MRC”, McCann stated.

“Our road system and our river system are the same. Our health service is provided by the city or by services located in the Pontiac. Not from the MRC des Collines. There is a process to follow that I will introduce to the council for the rejoining of our municipality to the MRC Pontiac and I will introduce this early in 2022.”

While he doesn’t believe you have to be on council to contribute, McCann believes running for office is a valuable thing to do.

“I put a lot of faith in people who do that, it’s important that people participate and it’s something that I’ve always enjoyed doing. I grew up in a family who was very public-oriented, they have always been active in the community” McCann said.

“I believe it is important to participate and that every council member’s input is of value. I am public-oriented, proper and polite. I believe I have a reputation of being fair in making even the toughest of decisions and I listen well to what other people have to say, I respect them whether or not I agree with them on certain issues,” McCann concluded.

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