At the MRC Pontiac council of mayors meeting on Apr. 16 it was announced that starting Apr. 20, there would be additional buses travelling between the Pontiac and Gatineau.
The service will be provided by TransCollines, which currently operates the 910 bus that travels between L’Isle-aux-Allumettes and Cégep de l’Outaouais (Gabrielle-Roy campus) every weekday.
According to the schedule on TransCollines website, the new weekday route will see a bus depart the Park-O-Bus des Allumettières in Aylmer at 6:42 a.m and arrive at the bus stop at the MRC Pontiac office in Campbell’s Bay at 7:50 a.m., with stops along the way in the Municipality of Pontiac, Bristol, Shawville and Bryson. It will then depart for the city from Campbell’s Bay at 7:53 a.m., arriving at the Parc-O-Bus station at 9:01 a.m. In the afternoon it will make a second trip to the Pontiac, leaving Aylmer at 3 p.m. and arriving in Campbell’s Bay at 4:08 p.m., and then depart for the city at 4:11 p.m. and returning to Aylmer at 5:19 p.m.
The resolution approved by the mayors was to request $200,000 per year from 2025-27 from the Ministry of Transport under their public transport fund (PADTC volet 3.2).
Climate plan
Also at the Apr. 16 meeting, the mayors approved a draft climate plan. The plan is meant to present ways for municipalities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and also mitigate the negative impacts of climate change.
MRC environmental director Kari Richardson said that there would be a consultation with various stakeholders this week, followed by one with the general public in the beginning of May. A preliminary version of the plan was reviewed by the MRC environment committee.
“Following the public consultation the first week of May, any comments that we think are relevant, we’ll integrate those, and then the draft will be published for presentation to the ministry,” Richardson said.
THE EQUITY requested a copy of the draft plan but did not receive it at the time of publication.
FLI/FLS loan changes
Also approved at the meeting was a policy update to the Local Investment Fund (FLI) and the Local Solidarity Fund (FLS), two loan programs that the MRC distributes to local businesses. The stated goal of these joint programs is to “support economic development, job creation and job retention through strategic investments in businesses located within the territory.”
The new policy is effective for 2026, replacing the previous policy from 2023.
The changes for 2026, highlighted in a document provided by MRC Business Financial Analyst Renée Lance, include several measures:
• Companies must have their head office in Quebec
• New regulations, such as French language obligations for businesses over 25 employees
• Changes to investment types including the removal of equity investments and loan guarantees for the FLI; and the possibility of amortizing loan terms up to 10 years (previously seven years)
• More flexible repayment moratoriums of up to 24 months, and up to 36 months for certain projects
• Addition by the Investment Committee of management fees in cases of delinquency
More details on these programs are available on the MRC’s website, or by contacting the economic development department.
