Jennifer Quaile grew up in Otter Lake and moved to Ottawa after high school to pursue further education and a career with the federal government. In 2019, she retired from her job with Employment and Social Development Canada and moved back to her hometown. 

She was elected councillor in 2021, and acclaimed as mayor in a Dec. 2024 by-election after former mayor Terry Lafleur took a job with the MRC. 

Quaile said she first ran for council because she wanted to help develop the town’s economy. 

“I believe there to be high potential for economic growth in this area. We have a lot of positive things going for us here, and it’s sad to see that young people must move away to find jobs.”

Quaile’s putting her name forward for a full term as mayor because she feels she has the qualities to effectively lead the municipality, including a passion for the community and a vision for how to support its growth.

“Another key quality for a leader is the ability to open up communications with citizens. Decisions made at the municipal level can have a real direct impact on people’s daily lives [ . . . ] I’m happy to sit down with people and consider their ideas and viewpoints on any issue, and that really helps me and council, for that matter, to make a decision one way or the other.”

While the municipality has not opened its plenary meetings to the public, which Quaile had indicated she would like to do when she became mayor, she said council has worked to increase transparency through other means. 

“[At council] I’m open to explaining the resolution to the members of the public for their benefit, and I’ll take questions during that time too,” she said. 

Quaile said one of the most pressing challenges she sees in the municipality today is the protection of its lakes from Eurasian milfoil, an invasive aquatic plant.

“[Our lakes] are critical for our local economy, which relies on tourism, and my goal is to gain permission from the province to either have it removed by hand by professionals, or cover it with a special tarp.”

She also cited the need to keep property taxes low while maintaining services, as well as finding a way to improve the town’s water infrastructure.

“Our infrastructure is aging, and there are particular areas in the town where the tap water is discolored from time to time. While the water is potable, it looks really quite unpleasant, and I would like to have an independent assessment done of the system so that we can identify what the problem is and potential solutions.”

She said she is proud to have worked with council to have lowered the municipality’s waste management costs over the past year by diverting more compost and recycling from the waste stream, which are less expensive to dispose of.

With regards to her role at the MRC Pontiac council of mayors, Quaile said she would continue to be a strong voice at the table. She cited upcoming fire services agreements, the land management plan the MRC is required to do, and the need for diversifying the region’s economy as issues top of mind for her.

“The [other] issue for me is municipal shares and how they’re calculated. [ . . . ] That issue has not gone away, as far as I’m concerned, and I advocated strongly to revise the current [calculation] method, because I think it’s flawed, it’s not fair and equitable for everyone at all.”

Quaile said she’s been doing a lot of door-knocking, and that voters can reach her by email at jenquaile@bell.net.

Sonia St-Laurent moved to Otter Lake three years ago after working as a security guard in Gatineau for 26 years. 

She is running for mayor due to concerns she has about some of the municipality’s decisions in recent years, such as the closure of the Farm Lake boat launch to prevent the spread of milfoil. 

“They closed it two years ago [ . . . ] But the problem is, everybody on the lake, they have a boat, they have a pontoon and all that, and they can use the lake anytime they want. They don’t need to call anybody to take an appointment to go on the lake.” 

She said she disagrees with this policy and thinks that if the boat launch is closed, nobody should be allowed to use boats on the lake. 

“If we cannot use it, nobody should use it, or everybody should use it. That’s how I work. What’s good for one is good for everybody.” 

St-Laurent said she thinks closing the lake is affecting tourism to the community, one of its primary economies. 

“I have the solution – to reopen the lake and take care of the milfoil at the same time.” 

She said while she does not have prior experience in public office, she believes she would be a good mayor because she has worked a public facing job her whole life. 

“I love humans, I like conversation, I like to hear what people think, and I like justice,” she said. 

“I’ve been following politics all my life, from all over the world. [ . . . ] All we need is somebody honest, who’s transparent, and who has a heart at work. We don’t need university to be a mayor. We need common sense, justice, and equity between everybody.” 

She said she hears frequent calls for greater government transparency from people trying to get votes, but rarely sees action on this front. One of the places she believes there to be a lack of transparency is at council meetings, when motions are read out or financial information is shared.

“They say the numbers, so many numbers, so fast that nobody can remember anything. If I’m there, you can be sure that all the numbers are going to be in the hands of the people there.” 

St-Laurent said she is also concerned the municipality might install water meters to track water usage on Otter Lake homes, which she said would be too costly to low-income residents. 

While the municipality has said it has no plan to do this, but that this is something the province sometimes enforces if a municipality’s water consumption exceeds a certain amount, St-Laurent still fears meters would be introduced in the next four years.

She believes it’s important the municipality address the little problems in town first, like repairing sidewalks, realizing the completion of the roof on the town’s skating rink, and pushing the government to reduce the speed limit on the roads coming into town. 

“And I want to make economic development easier here. We need economic development. A village without that is dying,” she said. 

When asked about what her priorities would be at the MRC Pontiac council of mayors table, she said she was less familiar with this responsibility.

“I’ve never been there, like in the box, so I don’t know how it works, but there’s one thing I know. My voice is going to be real. I’m not just going to have a seat there, that’s for sure. I’m not that kind of person. I’m going to have a real voice and an active voice for our village.”

St-Laurent said she is accessible by way of her campaign Facebook page. 

Oct. 15. 11:45 a.m.: This article has been updated since publication to reflect the fact that Sonia St-Laurent moved to Otter Lake three and not two years ago, as was previously reported.