Dear Editor,
In response to the many articles recently published by our warden, I can not help denouncing the absurdities reported in them, and this, at the risk of making enemies.
First of all, the centre of the Pontiac is indeed Campbell’s Bay and not Fort Coulonge, not because of its demographic weight, but because of its geographical location within the territory of the MRC.
This is the reason why most government departments and agencies have settled there over the years, including the MRC headquarters. (According to the study on municipal amalgamation published in January 2013, Campbell’s Bay is the main service centre with a total of 13 municipalities whose population travels to to obtain a service).
Moreover, according to the “business plan for the construction of a pool in Campbell’s Bay” produced in 2010 by Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton on behalf of the MRC, Campbell’s Bay was chosen because of its location which allowed to serve the majority of the Pontiac population within a traveling distance of no more than 50 kilometres (beyond that distance, people will travel little or not); the selected site reaches more than 70 per cent of the total population within a radius of 25 km.
Another disturbing revelation, when it is mentioned that in June 2017 the mayors of the MRC supported the project of an aquacenter in the Pontiac, I do not really believe that all agreed on the location proposed in the articles. I think rather that they agreed to put the project back on track.
When it is mentioned that the project will be financed entirely by grants from the provincial and federal governments as well as by corporate donations, it should not be forgotten that grants never cover the full costs, are not always accessible and are not necessarily recurrent. As for corporate donations, here again the same scenario; and who are these “big companies”, that I question, having been fooled several times in the past.
Also, with regard to the fact that the Municipality of Fort-Coulonge is one of the poorest in the MRC, I wonder about fairness towards other municipalities that are just as poor and that will probably benefit very little if not at all from this infrastructure. Is it the role of the MRC to fund indirectly a municipality which faces eco challenges by installing a regional infrastructure to the detriment of its accessibility, or is it that there would be other benefits under this project which I don’t grasp?
I hope that the people who are behind this project in its current form realize that sooner or later we will all end up paying for this infrastructure, as it is the case for arenas and major tourist attractions.
Finally, when referring to the Minganie region, this is an MRC with only eight municipalities and one TNO and the aquatic centre in question is located in Havre-Saint-Pierre, seat of the MRC, just like Campbell’s Bay. This municipality is also geographically central and has more than 68 per cent of the total population (compared with 26 per cent for the proposed project), with 3,451 residents out of 5,041 (if we exclude Anticosti Island). As for Campbell’s Bay as the retained location, we are talking about a total of 10,422 of 13,987 people within 25 km radius, or 74.5 per cent of the total population.
So in conclusion, I completely agree with the basis of these allegations; we need structuring projects, including quality infrastructures, to attract people to settle in the Pontiac and the aquatic centre project is very commendable. However, I am very disappointed by the lack of transparency and fairness in dealing with this issue, and I deeply regret the lack of respect for the intelligence of the people of Pontiac.
Jean-Pierre Landry
Campbell’s Bay, Que.
Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton, Études de regroupement municipal pour la MRC Pontiac, Rapport final, 21 janvier 2013.
Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton, Piscine Pontiac, Plan d’affaires pour la construction d’une piscine intérieure à Campbell’s Bay, Rapport final, 24 août 2010
Données démographiques par MRC, Affaires municipales et Occupation du territoire Québec, avril 2017/ Demographic data on MRCs, Municipal Affairs, April 2017.
