STEPHEN RICCIO
PONTIAC Oct. 2, 2020
A joint federal and provincial package of $1.2 million in financial aid is coming to Pontiac municipalities to help compensate for COVID-induced expenses.
The aid package will be distributed between MRC Pontiac municipalities as well the Municipality of Pontiac (MoP) and was announced by Mathieu Lacombe, the minister responsible for the Outaouais, on Oct. 2.
The question of whether municipalities would receive financial assistance in dealing with extra expenses from COVID-19 was raised by . . .
Shawville Mayor Sandra Murray during the September MRC Pontiac council meeting.
Murray said she was happy to hear that some assistance was coming with this announcement, adding that Shawville had multiple facilities where it had to adapt.
“We had to do a lot of things at the arena, the library and the town hall,” she said. “[We needed] glass partitions, cleaning supplies and sprayers and disinfectants for the arena.”
According to Pontiac MNA André Fortin, each municipality will receive a larger payment in December before receiving a smaller payment in March of next year.
Fortin said that while this financial aid is valuable to the region, he believes that the provincial government could have done a more nuanced analysis of where to send money.
“It’s only fair that municipalities and especially small municipalities that don’t have the means or the tax base to compensate those losses, get some form of compensation from the provincial and federal government,” he said. “The Government of Quebec typically sends money to municipalities based on the amount of permanent residents that it has, but they never take into account the fact that, this is especially true during COVID times, that there are part time residents who spend a lot of time in the area who rely on municipal services just as much as permanent residents.”
Murray said that she was unsure whether municipalities would receive an allotted sum regardless of their expenses or if they would need to present receipts.
Fortin said that his understanding of the announcement is that they will receive the entire amount regardless of receipts, but he added that the minister of municipal affairs, Andrée Laforest, has been unclear on details.
He believes there are two things that the CAQ government needs to do to help people deal with this pandemic: an acknowledgement that the Pontiac should be viewed separately from the rest of the Outaouais and an acceleration of investment into high-speed internet for rural residents.
“Being identified as a red region in the Pontiac right now would have a massive negative impact on our small businesses who in some cases are already struggling to survive this difficult period,” Fortin said.
The province announced on Oct. 10 that Gatineau and MRC des Collines would become red zones, but the Pontiac would stay in orange for the time being.
The total amount given to the Pontiac riding is $1,232,408. The MoP is receiving the largest amount at $381,666. Within the MRC Pontiac, Mansfield et Pontefract will get the largest sum at $129,842 followed by L’Isle aux Allumettes which will receive $97,698. Shawville will be given $81,740.
