At the MRC Pontiac council of mayors meeting on Sept. 17, council heard a report by MRC public security coordinator Julien Gagnon regarding the state of the courthouse in Campbell’s Bay.
Gagnon said the inquiry was prompted by an article by local radio station CHIP 101.9 that detailed bats and other structural issues at the courthouse.
The brief article, which was published on Aug. 28, reported that there had been issues with bats, birds, and insects in the building, as well as power outages that have disrupted services, according to anonymous sources at the courthouse.
Gagnon said he contacted the Société québécoise des infrastructures (SQI), the agency in charge of government infrastructure in the province, at the council’s request to inquire about the state of the building.
“The plan was to adopt a resolution to the SQI that they fix anything that’s required to ensure the operation of the courthouse,” he said. “[But first ] find out what have they done, give them the benefit of the doubt. It was raised and they did give some answers.”
In an email exchange between Gagnon and the SQI viewed by THE EQUITY, Véronique Lavallée, SQI property administration coordinator, acknowledged there had been two separate incidents with bats in the building, in the summers of 2024 and 2025. The email adds that no bird incidents had been reported, contradicting the testimony in the CHIP article. She added that there were traps added in 2024 for flies and ladybugs, and that combined with monthly exterminator visits, this measure seems to have halted any increase in insects reported.
Lavallée’s email details the work that’s been done to the building between 2021 and 2024, totalling $223,064.59, from fixing dents in the wall, to ventilation and weatherstripping.
She stated that the building has been rated “B” on their internal index, indicating “good condition”.
Her email also notes the government has planned a little over $2 million in renovation work to the building exterior that is scheduled to begin in 2027/28, including replacing windows and plaster, as well as masonry work.
Possible expansion of court services coming
Gagnon said that part of the reason why the state of the courthouse was of concern was the fact that MRC Pontiac is exploring contracting out its municipal court services to MRC des Collines. Municipal courts handle fines handed out on municipal roads, as well as municipal by-law infractions such as noise complaints.
Gagnon said that currently MRC Pontiac pays for the services of a lawyer to handle municipal fines, but des Collines has a whole team of clerks, security and other staff to run a municipal court in the regions they service, as they do in Maniwaki and Papineauville. He said that having a full team might increase the speed with which the MRC could collect fine revenue.
“It’s very, very preliminary right now but we’re trying to work with MRC des Collines, to get court services,” he said, noting that des Collines currently provides this service to MRCs Papineau and Vallée-de-la-Gatineau.
“What we’ve been doing for quite a few years, we’ve been offering our municipal court services to Papineau and Vallée-de-la-Gatineau,” explained recently re-elected MRC des Collines warden Marc Carrière. “I can’t remember how many times we go per year in either Papineauville or Maniwaki [ . . . ] It’s quite a good service for the other MRCs and it’s a proximity service, it’s in their own backyards.”
Gagnon said the incoming council of mayors would have to weigh the costs and benefits of expanded services, as Papineau and Vallée-de-la-Gatineau are larger in size (roughly 21,000 and 25,000 residents respectively) and would have a larger volume of files.
“Every MRC, we’re looking at how to get better services at the best cost possible,” Carrière said. “If we can work together, perfect.”
