Pontiac water checked often: The tragic situation in Walkerton, Ont. has sparked interest around the world and people are beginning to wonder about the safety of their own water supplies.

In Quebec, each town providing a water supply has to have its water tested regularly by a Ministry of Environment approved laboratory in accordance with the Drinking Water Regulation of 1984.

Shawville town foreman Denzil Yach conducts the daily chlorination test of the Mill Dam pump house.

As well, the chlorine level of the spring-fed water supply is inspected each morning, seven days a week.
Shawville municipal secretary Denise Dowe says “We have to test for the safety of the drinking water to make sure there is no bacterial coliform,” she says.

Pontiac council freezes corridor two more years: The former CP Rail corridor that has been at the centre of controversy in Pontiac Municipality for several years now took another odd turn Monday.

Within a week of the Quebec Administrative Tribunal’s rejection of an appeal to have the former CP Rail corridor turned into a recreational trail, Pontiac Municipality council voted unanimously to extend the freeze for another two years.

The tribunal’s ruling upheld a Commission de protection du territoire agricole du Quebec (CPTAQ) ruling last fall that returned the land to a group of adjacent landowners.