Charles Dickson
Bryson Nov 24, 2021
Nine first-time mayors and nine re-elected mayors gathered at the Lions Hall in Bryson on Wednesday evening for the first public meeting of the Pontiac MRC Council of Mayors since the November 7 election, with Warden Jane Toller, re-elected for her second term, presiding.
In the course of the 90-minute meeting, some . . .
30 resolutions were passed, mostly with unanimous support, on a wide range of topics including the nomination of mayors to various committees and boards, donations for community events and activities, and approval of the budget for the coming year, among others, without any dissension, debate or even discussion. Any differences of opinion that might erupt among Council members tend to be hashed out at the closed-door plenary meeting that is held the week before the public session. At last week’s public meeting, the only interventions any of the mayors made was to announce upcoming events in their respective municipalities, mostly revolving around Christmas celebrations.
Petition to reopen obstetrics unit
Early in the proceedings, eleven members of the Pontiac County Women’s Institute (PCWI) brought forward a petition they are launching that calls on the Quebec government to reopen the obstetrics unit at the Pontiac Hospital in Shawville. Beryl Smart, president of the PCWI, spoke on behalf of the group.
“We feel that there is a cause that is really very dear to many of our ladies, in particular, and that is to have an obstetrics unit reopen in our local hospital,” said Smart.
In her presentation, Smart read the petition which notes that the obstetrics department has been closed for almost two years and that Pontiac mothers have to travel to Gatineau or Pembroke to give birth to their babies, “placing them in potentially dangerous situations,” she said.
The petition asks the provincial government to put measures in place to relaunch the obstetrics service in Shawville as quickly as possible. Smart said she hoped the mayors would support the petition by taking it back to their own municipalities where local residents could sign it.
In response, Warden Toller invited the mayors to give a round of applause for this initiative and assured the Women’s Institute that their effort would have the mayors’ support.
“We have moved many resolutions at the Council of Mayors about this, but I think there’s nothing like a petition,” said the warden.
“We will announce tonight that this petition is available in municipal offices for the coming five weeks,” she said, adding that Pontiac MNA André Fortin would then take the signed copies of the petition to the legislature in Quebec City where “he will stand up and make a speech.”
“And I believe our Premier will not be happy to hear that babies are not being born in the Pontiac, and they’re going to need [to go to] Ontario or even Gatineau over an hour away,” said the warden.
Eleven members of the Pontiac County Women’s Institute (PCWI) attended last week’s meeting of the Council of Mayors of MRC Pontiac to present their petition calling for the reopening of the obstetrics unit at the hospital in Shawville.
Questions on Pontiac’s economic ranking and population change
In the section of the meeting where members of the public may submit questions electronically, an email from Pat Goyette, of Fort Coulonge, raised two questions. Both were read out by Warden Toller, of which the first was on the issue of Pontiac’s status in the economic ranking of Quebec MRCs.
“Panorama Quebec published its findings for 2021, but it’s really 2019, your second year in office. Disposable income went from third worst out of 104 to second worst. Only the region of Kativik has done as badly as us. This is unacceptable. A comment on the rest of the report would be appreciated,” stated Goyette’s question.
In her response, the warden said that 2019 was a hard year for the Pontiac.
“We had the flood, we had a lot of people out of their homes,” she said, before turning to the subject of population growth in the Pontiac.
“When I talked about growth in our population, it was based on the fact that we did a survey of our mayors. And it was not an official survey, but the question that was asked of every mayor and every municipality was how many new homes have sold, how many properties have sold or been transferred, do you have more citizens coming to your municipality or new businesses. And the answer across the board with all 18 municipalities was ‘yes’,” she said.
“What we know is that COVID-19 has attracted people to the Pontiac, and that’s a great thing, because 50 per cent of people are leaving cities and they are looking for wilderness,” continued the warden.
“So, I agree with this report that 2019 isn’t showing much improvement from 2018. What will be significant is when we see the results for 2020 and 2021, because everybody on the street has noticed that the Pontiac is moving forward with revitalization, we have more people here.”
In his second question, M. Goyette challenged the warden on the question of population growth.
“In a previous statement, you said there was a population growth in the MRC Pontiac. Panorama Quebec 2021 differs from you. Data indicate negative population growth. Could you provide documents that would validate your statement?” asked Goyette’s emailed question.
“So, I could try to bring some numbers together,” responded Warden Toller.
“Again, we took a kind of an unofficial poll, but what I think will be interesting is, we’ve just had a census done . . . I don’t think it’s been completed yet, but this was the census for this year, 2021, so hopefully it’s going to show an increase,” she said.
“But I think that these are good questions, and I’m very happy we have the opportunity to hear from the public,” said the warden.
“She says there’s a population boom in the Pontiac. There’s no population boom,” Pat Goyette told THE EQUITY on Thursday.
When I checked it out with Panorama Quebec – that’s official statistical data for Quebec – it says we lost 29 people from the Pontiac in 2019, and another 24 in 2020.”
“In 2018, we were the third poorest in Quebec, in terms of disposable income per person. The only areas poorer than Pontiac were MRC La Tuque and the region of Kativik,” he said, referring to the northern-most region of Quebec, between Hudson Bay to the west and just across Hudson Strait from Baffin Island to the east.
“This year, when the data for 2019 came out, La Tuque beat us, and now the only one poorer than us is Kativik,” he said.
“So you can’t say to me that we’re doing good when we’re losing one spot. We’re the poorest MRC in Quebec,” said Goyette.
“The flood evacuated 400 households, that’s where the population comes from, people moving into Coulonge. When I checked it out with Panorama Quebec – that’s official statistical data for Quebec – it says we lost 29 people from the Pontiac in 2019.”
“In 2018, we were the third poorest in Quebec. The only areas poorer than Pontiac were MRC Lachute and Kativik,” he said, referring to the northernmost region of Quebec, between Hudson Bay to the west and just across Hudson Strait from Baffin Island to the east.
“This year, when the new data came out, Lachute beat us, and now the only one poorer than us is Kativik – there’s nothing there, trapping and mines, that’s it,” he said.
“So you can’t say to me that we’re doing good when we’re losing one spot. We’re the worst MRC in Quebec,” said Goyette.
Chatel’s resolution
Pontiac MP Sophie Chatel joined the meeting via Zoom to present an initiative to promote local engagement in the implementation of her government’s climate plan. The vision, branded ‘For a green and prosperous Pontiac,’ aims to help communities benefit from federal programs that seek to prepare Canada for the much-anticipated global green economy.
“There will be a significant investment into everything that will bring a shift towards a greener economy,” said the newly-elected MP.
“It’s very ambitious, but it’s the moment we need to be ambitious,” said Chatel.
A central feature of her plan is to convene discussion tables in the Pontiac on themes such as the environment, economic prosperity and social prosperity.
“Starting with environment would be a theme like sustainable farming, which is a big theme in the environment,” she said.
Chatel read a proposed resolution expressing the Council’s support for her initiative, for consideration by the mayors. She said that if the Council would pass the resolution, it would help her bring senior people to the Pontiac to participate in the discussion tables, possibly including environment minister Steven Guilbault.
Acknowledging that the mayors had not had a chance to review the proposed resolution, Warden Toller pressed for its adoption.
“We haven’t had a lot of discussion, we haven’t had a chance as a group of mayors, but I think that the spirit of this is something we can support,” said Toller.
“I think, as you say, it’s going to help you bring some important people to the Pontiac,” said the warden, upon which she called for a vote and the resolution was adopted unanimously.
The warden thanked the Pontiac’s representative in Ottawa for her commitment to spending time in the riding.
“Sophie has an objective of spending three or four nights a month in the Pontiac, and we really appreciate that,” said the warden.
“I think this is the way that you really get to know us and get to know our issues and concerns, so we thank you for that,” she said.
Armstrong named pro-warden
Sandra Armstrong, mayor of Mansfield, the MRC’s most populace municipality, was chosen by Warden Toller to serve as pro-warden, essentially a deputy that stands in for the warden when she is not available.
Warden remuneration
A Notice of Motion was issued alerting mayors to the intention to bring forward a by-law at a future meeting regarding the remuneration of the warden.
The Council of Mayors meeting was transmitted live via Facebook, as has recently been the practice, to enable public monitoring of the governing body despite restrictions due to the pandemic. Warden Toller announced that this would continue indefinitely, along with the posting of video recordings of the sessions on the MRC website.
