One year out from the next municipal election, scheduled for Nov. 2, 2025, THE EQUITY checked in with the 20 people who have been voted in to lead the communities from Luskville to Rapides des Joachims, including the MRC Pontiac warden.

We will be publishing these interviews to offer readers a sense of what these local leaders feel they’ve accomplished since their term began, and what they hope to do with the last year before their seat is once again up for grabs. We will publish three interviews each week, working our way through the Pontiac from east to west.

Colleen Larivière — Litchfield

Interview by K.C. Jordan.

When you ran for mayor three years ago, what were your main priorities?

One of my priorities was to continue to maintain and upkeep our municipal roads. It’s our biggest challenge, so we put a lot of effort into it. Also we had been talking about the possibility of a new fire hall, working toward that, so that was definitely a priority. And yeah, the idea was to do some upgrading at the municipal halte [rest stop]. And to work with the residents and just be there to listen, and I think we’ve accomplished that.

How much of this have you achieved?

Quite a few. We’ve done some major road projects, we’ve paved Lawless Lake Road, which was a huge job. We’ve paved Church Road, we’ve changed some large culverts, and we’ve built a gazebo at the halte so people can go there, have lunch. It’s quite nice. And we’ve renovated our washroom up there. The fire hall project is up and running, and it’s going very well. The main projects that we wanted to put forward, we’ve worked on them, and some of them we’re still working on.

What do you think has been your greatest accomplishment this term so far?

First of all, it wouldn’t be my greatest accomplishment, it would be council’s, and I think just saying we’re going to do something and then doing it. Like the fire hall, it’s a joint project with Campbell’s Bay, and it’s far from being completed, but it’s at the architectural stage. So working together with Campbell’s Bay to get that to go forward, once it’s complete it’s going to be a pretty big accomplishment for Campbell’s Bay-Litchfield.

What do you believe are your municipality’s greatest needs?

For next year, in the upcoming months we will try to work on the fire hall project. We want to work with the MRC and the PGMR to help bring us closer to finding solutions to waste reduction. That’s something we have to work on in 2025, and continue to work towards that. When you reduce the garbage, you work on increasing the recycling and getting composting going, so those are all things that our council wants to work towards. We want to see what we can do to do our part to minimize garbage.

What are the challenges in meeting these needs?

It’s information and communication, and getting it out there, working together with the MRC to move this file forward. To me, we all need to get on the same page and move forward. Putting communication out there to the residents on what we want to do, how we want to do it, and just making it a priority. It has to be a priority.

What do you hope to accomplish in this last year before the next municipal election?

We’ll continue to do what we have been doing, and that’s putting an emphasis on our roadways and keeping our roads safe and clean, and the maintenance of them for Litchfield is our biggest challenge. We have a lot of roads.

One of our other interesting things come budget time for 2025 with the evaluations having increased, we will definitely try to ease the impact on taxes and so on by adjusting our mill rate if we can, and I’m sure the council will work on doing that as much as possible.

After three years as a member of the MRC Pontiac’s Council of Mayors, what do you believe the county should prioritize?

I think we need to work with the MRC and the PGMR on how we are going to solve our issues with garbage. I think that’s a big one.

We also have a great economic development staff, and we work with them to see the MRC move forward as far as economic development. I think that’s a priority, it always has been and continues to be.
From my own point of view, I would like to see about possibly opening up our meetings a little more to the public. I’d like to see that.

Sandra Armstrong — Mansfield and Pontefract

Interview by Sophie Kuijper Dickson.

When you ran for mayor three years ago, what were your main priorities?

The first vision was always to get the best services possible to our residents, but still without overpassing our budget. Priority two was bringing industries and business development to Mansfield.
And the firemen are the heart of the municipality, because they’re there to protect everybody. So to make sure that we take care of them, with the equipment and stuff like that, that is an important thing in our municipality.

How much of this have you achieved?

I’d say we’ve achieved most of our vision. Every year we chose another sector to fix the roads. The firemen, we’re pretty up to date with that. We did buy a new truck for [the firemen] because after so many years, the trucks are no good no more. In terms of industries, we didn’t get that yet. We’re still talking, but there’s nothing on the table, let’s say. Business development we didn’t achieve yet but we’re still working on that and I hope to achieve some things by next year. But tourism? I think we really went for it, with village-relais with Fort Coulonge. This year we received a prize for that, for the illumination of the red bridge and the halte routière.

What do you think has been your greatest accomplishment this term so far?

What I would be most proud of is me working with every different kind of people. I’m the kind of mayor that I’m all over town. I go have coffee in the morning, I’m into committees, I’m into the Filles d’Isabelle, I’m all over, really. I’m available through my own personal Facebook, and I do answer them back ASAP and I think people are very happy about that. I might not have the answer right away but I do get the answer for them.

What do you believe are your municipality’s greatest needs?

We do have a wish list. The greatest need would be a water system. Some projects in some sectors in the municipality need to get a well drilled, and can’t depend on water from the municipality. And some other sectors, we get the water from Fort Coulonge. Everybody has water, but a universal municipal system for all residents would be a dream. And fix our roads. I’d have to put the two of them together. I can’t choose.

What are the challenges in meeting these needs?

We’re talking lots of millions to get that [water system]. To fix everything we need money. [ . . . ] And I have people that are retired and living here on a fixed income, and you’ve got to think about those people when you make a decision too, that they have just so much money coming in every month and if our mill rate goes up . . . We think about everything like that. That’s why there’s only so many streets redone every year. And this year we had to buy equipment for the municipal garage. You’ve got to go little steps to get to the bigger things.

What do you hope to accomplish in this last year before the next municipal election?

It’s to continue our public services, and that’s the first thing. And then you know, again the streets, recycling, also waste. And the next thing for 2025 is [starting work] on a new municipal building and a new fire station attached to it.

After three years as a member of the MRC Pontiac’s Council of Mayors, what do you believe Pontiac leaders should be prioritizing to improve the quality of life for the people who live here?

Housing development, that’s for sure, because we don’t have enough in the Pontiac. Housing is important. But we always talk about development but we don’t talk about social development. I’m on the Table du développement du Pontiac, and it’s big. That is all Bouffe Pontiac, AutonHomme, Jardin Éducatif, Les maisons des jeunes, and I’m forgetting a ton of them. It’s very important to sit with these people. [ . . . ] When we get the grants from the government, that’s where we can inject the money and so it doesn’t have to be taxpayers’ money. Social development is as important as business development, and it’s important to get the message out there. These people are working hard with small budgets.

Christine Francoeur — Fort Coulonge

Interview by Sophie Kuijper Dickson.

When you ran for mayor in 2021, what were your main priorities?

It was mostly to develop housing and even beautify the town, because it was starting to look kind of draggy. So I wanted to make sure that there were ways we could bring our town up, back to standards. It needed a lift up and I think we’re doing a pretty good job of that.

How much of this have you achieved?

Towards beautifying we were lucky with the FRR [grants] at the MRC that the government provided us with. We had quite a few projects we were able to put together with that. With one of the FRRs we were able to plant trees [in Davis Park] this year, plant flowers, put sidewalks, tables, so it looks really nice now when you’re right in centretown.

Also we have the pump track, something that was a big thing we worked on while I was a councillor. It took quite a few years to get it done but it’s finally up and running. Kids, adults, there’s always somebody there.

Attached to the pump track we also have our kids park. And my oldest is 41 years old, so for 41 years I have been asking for a public washroom there. Bringing your kids to the park with no public washroom is not a good idea. So finally we will have one. We were accepted for the project and it will be built by spring. So we’re doing a lot, and I think people are noticing, finally.

What do you think has been your greatest accomplishment this term so far?

These projects, they helped beautify our town, so I’m very proud of that. Even our website, that is one of our good accomplishments. Now people can get the information that they want. And I think I’m out there a lot. I’m an approachable person so people can stop and talk to me.

What do you believe are your municipality’s greatest needs?

If we had the funds, I would update the underground water and sewage system, and then pave all of our streets. I think that would be the best accomplishment. Because we have so many streets that are in rough condition, and our water and sewage system, it’s getting older, so we do have to think about replacing all of that.

What are the challenges in meeting these needs?

Our water plant has to be upgraded and replaced. So we’re already in talks. But this is a process that’s going to take at least another year and a half, maybe two years. And we’re hoping the government is going to give us the maximum it can give us. We want to have new development projects, and to have these projects we need to make sure our water is good and safe. Also we are working on different projects for housing, and for these we had to change some bylaws, which can take up to six months.

What do you hope to accomplish in this last year before the next municipal election?

Well everything that I just mentioned, yes, we really want to accomplish that. Also we’re working with engineers to open up a new housing project by the arena. The engineers are getting our studies done and then we’ll see what happens with that. Before the end of this term, I really would like these projects to be in place. I really would like people to say, ‘OK, this town is moving now.’

After three years as a member of the MRC Pontiac’s Council of Mayors, what do you believe Pontiac leaders should be prioritizing to improve the quality of life for the people who live here?

I think 18 mayors working together, plus the warden, we’re doing one heck of a good job. For me, I think a lot of people don’t really know or see what we’re doing there. This is my first term sitting at the MRC table and my experience, I have to say, is a good one. I think they’re doing a great job with tourism. I find the Pontiac is known about all over now. But we need to communicate more, I think. Not criticize, not put down, but tell us what you think is wrong and then we can talk about it like adults. And we’re there to help the whole Pontiac. Because what’s good for Fort Coulonge or Shawville is also good for the Pontiac.