Author name: The Low Down

Drez Slezak and Kat Brooks pose with their daughter at their new shop, the Chelsea Wellness Market, which will sell health food products and host live workshops.

Chelsea gets healthier with new Wellness Market

By Trevor Greenway

It’s a snowy Friday morning at the Chelsea Wellness Market, and despite only being open for a week, owners Drez Slezak and Kat Brooks are trying to keep their shelves stocked. 

The two Chelsea residents opened their new shop on Old Chelsea Road on Jan. 29 and have already sold out of one of their popular products: Shilajit, a mineral-rich resin long used in Ayurveda healing.

“It’s an ancient resin that comes from the Himalayas, and it’s super dense in minerals, and people just really go crazy for it,” said co-owner Slezak. “We’re already sold out of this.” 

The market’s two owners and life partners said they hope the early product sell-out is a sign of things to come at Chelsea’s newest and only health food store. Given that Chelsea’s population includes health-conscious skiers, cyclists, joggers, hikers and yogis, Slezak’s and Brooks’ values are likely a good fit for the community.

“We’ve been living here four and a half, five years, and kept having to drive to Ottawa to Healthy Planet,” said Brooks, noting that Wakefield has also had a great health food store for the past 15 years – La Forêt. “We just saw that need in the [Chelsea] community.”

The Chelsea Wellness Market might be small, but it’s mighty in terms of the amount of products that will eventually line the shelves once it fully hits its stride, according to the owners. So far, they’ve only had a soft opening and are continuing to get more and more health-based products. 

Slezak said he wants the Chelsea Wellness Market to be a “one-stop shop” where residents can buy everything from food – local eggs, milk and cheese – to toiletries, like organic and natural toothpaste. 

“We are making sure we have good quality food and snacks, and that’s why we’re getting really high-quality milk, eggs, butter and stuff like that,” added Slezak. “Alternative flours or pasta, sauces – all those different things so you can cook meals. But then there are also eco-natural cleaning products, laundry detergents and supplements, protein powders and vitamins. We will have beauty products like hair and skin products and natural toothbrushes.”

While they aren’t nutritional experts, Slezak and Brooks have wellness backgrounds and run sonic yoga events, sound therapy retreats and ecstatic dance parties. Brooks is also a holistic grief coach. The couple plans to host educational health workshops inside their shop, inviting nutritionists, naturopathic doctors and other practitioners to help people learn more about health products and healthy habits. 

The Chelsea Wellness Market is hosting its grand opening on Feb. 22 from 4–9 p.m. at 183 Old Chelsea Road. 

Chelsea gets healthier with new Wellness Market Read More »

Cop shortages in Hills

By Trevor Greenway

The head of the MRC des Collines regional government says that the Hills’ police force is not the only precinct facing officer shortages, as the problem is also across Quebec and the country.  

MRC des Collines Prefect Marc Carrière told the Low Down that staff shortages at the region’s police force are putting pressure on active officers and creating a tension-filled working environment for those on the frontline. 

He said that the police force is facing a lack of resources, with senior officers working atypical shifts, and many officers are being forced to work long overtime shifts to make up the shortfall. He added that the MRC des Collines precinct is currently struggling to fill about 12 roles. 

“It’s all across Quebec and in Canada,” said Carrière about the shortages, referring to places like Montreal and Gatineau. He noted that, at one point, Montreal was short 400 officers and Gatineau was short 40-50 officers.

“We are at the point where officers are doing forced overtime and that doesn’t please anyone.”

Carrière said that he is working with local police unions to form a recruitment committee to attract more officers to the region. The MRC des Collines police force is the only MRC in Quebec to have a regional police force, with the rest of the province being served by either a city detachment or the provincial force, the Sûreté du Québec. 

One of the main challenges for this region’s police force, according to Carrière, is the sheer size of the region. The region covers six municipalities that are spread out over 2,000-plus square kilometres. 

According to Quebec’s Police Act, passed in 2000, municipalities with more than 5,000 residents must have their own police force. When the law was being enacted, instead of La Pêche launching its own police force, it banded together with Val-des-Monts, Chelsea, Cantley, L’Ange Guardian and Pontiac to form the MRC des Collines Police. 

Carrière said his government is studying the benefits and detriments of switching to an SQ police force in the region but added that those discussions are at the very early stages. 

Past problems at MRC precinct

This isn’t the first time the MRC des Collines precinct has had issues. A report by Commission des normes, de l’équité, de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (CNESST) in July of last year found that the work environment under the direction of former MRC des Collines Police Chief Yves Charette was “toxic and unhealthy.” 

The report was spawned by a 2021 complaint from a lieutenant who said he was the victim of psychological harassment at work for several years, which caused “major depression and a resurgence of post-traumatic stress.” The report did not name the lieutenant. 

“The actions of the police director towards the worker over a period of approximately three years are objectively traumatic, beyond the normal scope of work,” wrote Judge Manon Chénier in the July 2024 decision. “These events do not fall within the scope of a reasonably exercised management right,” the decision emphasizes. “These are events that take place in a toxic work climate, while the worker is constantly criticized, belittled and humiliated.”

Charette left the MRC des Collines Public Security in early 2022 after being celebrated for 40 years of “distinguished service in the police force” during a recognition ceremony. A year and a half later, CNESST released its damning report on Charette.

Despite the past toxic culture, Carrière said he feels like current Police Chief Martial Mallette has cleaned up his precinct. 

“We’re not looking backwards,” said Carrière, adding that the issues took place before he was prefect and before Mallette was named chief. “We want to go forward, find a permanent solution and that’s what we are working on.”

Cop shortages in Hills Read More »

La Pêche residents browse the municipality’s urban maps during a public consultation on future growth.

No Farm Point planned for La Peche anytime soon…

By Trevor Greenway

Higher density, wetland protection, commercial hubs and the possibility of converting the old railway in Wakefield into a multipurpose pedestrian trail – these are just a few of the things that urban planners in La Pêche are looking at as they plan for the next decade-plus of growth in the Hills. 

The municipality held its urban planning consultations Feb. 6 in Wakefield, where La Pêche Mayor Guillaume Lamoureux and urbanism director Jalloul Salah ran residents through a number of initiatives the municipality is looking at implementing to align with the MRC des Collines’ masterplan. 

Among other things, one of the biggest changes La Pêche could see is increased density in the municipality’s two urban perimeters – Masham and Wakefield – where the current maximum is 30 units per hectare, which must be serviced by a sewer system. However La Pêche is looking at increasing that maximum to 45 units per hectare, but Lamoureux explained that developments of that size would require both sewer and water services. 

“​​Such densities are not legally permitted in every zone of the urban perimeters,” said Lamoureux, explaining that, “If a developer comes forward with a project in a zone where high density is permitted, studies are then conducted to determine the site’s constraints, which may be lower than what is legally permitted.” 

Wakefield doesn’t currently have water services and has only a limited sewer system in Wakefield’s village core. Lamoureux explained that development approvals will be based on studies that determine whether the current infrastructure, including the area’s aqueduct, can handle the increased density. 

Part of the urban planning review process, according to Lamoureux, is to monitor urban expansion as more and more residents move into the Hills. However, despite La Pêche’s growth, Lamoureux said his council has no plans to expand or add to the municipality’s two urban perimeters in Wakefield and Masham. That means La Pêche residents won’t wake up anytime soon, according to Lamoureux, to find out there is a new urban perimeter in Edelweiss or Lac des Loups, as happened in Chelsea with regard to Farm Point.

“There is no plan or need to increase their current size. It could happen during a future review of the MRC masterplan if a need to do so was demonstrated, in the distant future, maybe,” Lamoureux told the Low Down, but added, “There is no talk of adding other urban perimeters and no reason to do so.”

According to Lamoureux, the municipality must review its urban plan (PU) to ensure that it aligns with the MRC des Collines’ regional masterplan, which was adopted last year. The MRC’s masterplan outlines things like zoning regulations, environmental setbacks and development rules. 

Among zoning changes, La Pêche’s urban plan is also an exercise in “cohesive” village hubs in both Masham and Wakefield through the promotion of “attractive commercial and industrial clusters.” In Wakefield, the idea is to make the heart of the village a dynamic shopping and visitor’s space by enticing more small and unique businesses to set up there. The urban planning document even talks about developing a promotional plan to promote natural and organic products from the village. 

Lamoureux told the Low Down that studies are already underway to convert the old railway tracks in Wakefield into a multi-use pathway, similar to what Chelsea did with its popular Voie Verte trail along the Gatineau River. 

“These studies are underway, and this project has been discussed in recent years,” said Lamoureux. “We have secured funding for the studies needed to connect both Chelsea and Low. We are including it in the PU because it’s an ongoing project.”

A big portion of the urban planning document focused on environmental protections, namely around protecting wetlands, local water sources and the Wakefield spring. 

According to La Pêche biologist Dominique Lavoie, the municipality will add bacteriological protection of 46 metres around the spring, as well as virological protection of 116 metres. 

“Groundwater migration time calculations show that beyond these setbacks, pathogenic elements should no longer be active by the time they reach the source’s collection point,” she wrote in an email to the Low Down. “As for the immediate 30-metres protection area, it’s defined by provincial regulations but takes into account the built environment. Ultimately, these setbacks will be taken into consideration for any decision-making regarding areas surrounding the spring.”

La Pêche is also adding extra protection around wetlands, shorelines and ecological corridors. The municipality is adding an additional 15-metre setback on shorelines in eco corridors and lakes, a 500-metre protection on blue heron nesting sites and additional protections around wetlands. 

“Unless authorized by the provincial level, no destruction of wetlands may be authorized, with the exception of work related to public utilities or public safety,” the document reads. 

La Pêche will now begin its adoption process of this new urban plan and by-laws that will go along with it. Lamoureux said that, based on the 60 or so residents who attended the meeting, he and staff will be holding several more meetings to update constituents on the process. 

No Farm Point planned for La Peche anytime soon… Read More »

Craig Stewart

Quebec flood maps to grow by 40%

By Trevor Greenway

Local Journalism Initiatve

The next generation of flood maps being developed by the Quebec government could spell out a nightmare for Hills homeowners who live in high-risk areas. 

According to Quebec’s Ministry of Environment, next-generation flood maps are being developed this spring. Due to climate change, the government expects flood zones to grow by a staggering 40 per cent. Insurance experts are sounding the alarm now that homeowners can expect big changes to their coverage—very high premiums or no flood insurance at all. 

“Although it is impossible to predict the outcome for a particular sector, it is expected that in the majority of cases, the next-generation floodplain maps will be larger following their new delimitation,” wrote Ministry of Environment spokesperson Josée Guimond in an email. “Sectors that were not previously identified on floodplain maps could thus become so. The Ministry estimates that the surface area of floodplains would increase by approximately 40 per cent in the next-generation maps, particularly due to the inclusion of the effect of climate change.”

In February 2024, the Desjardins Group announced that it would no longer offer mortgages to homes in some flood zones because the “impacts of climate change, including water damage, are growing in importance and causing substantial damage.”

Craig Stewart, a part-time Chelsea resident and the Vice-President of Climate Change and Federal Issues with the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) told the Low Down that these new maps could mean homeowners wake up one day and find that they can’t renew their mortgages. 

“Can you imagine: you go to renew your mortgage, and you’re on the Quebec map, as you’re now in a floodplain, and you didn’t know it, and now you can’t renew your mortgage?” Stewart told the Low Down. “This could happen, absolutely. And so suddenly everybody’s looking at this problem and thinking, ‘Oh no, we’re going to have to figure our way out of this.’ And unfortunately, Ottawa has dragged its feet.”

Stewart said the problems began in Calgary in 2013, when major flooding there led the insurance industry to pay out $1.4 billion in flood claims. The industry said it would no longer cover overland flooding—water coming in from ocean surges, lakes and rivers, or even heavy rainfall—because the flood maps were out of date. 

Stewart said the IBC then spent several million dollars mapping the entire country. In 2015, some companies started offering overland flooding insurance as a separate product for homes in low—or medium-risk zones. However, the mapping data showed that 10 per cent of homes—those in the high-risk, 100-year flood plains—would not be covered because “it’s not an accident; we know they are going to flood.”

“These are the ones inside the 100-year flood plain – it used to be once in 100 years. Now, it’s like every 20 years. We know they are going to flood.”

For this 10 per cent of uninsurable homes, Stewart said the federal government has stepped in and is working on a federal insurance program in partnership with insurance companies to offer high-risk flood insurance. According to Stewart, under the proposed plan the insurance company would charge a premium for the flood product and remit that money to the feds, who would “backstop the risk.”

The problem, according to Stewart, is that Ottawa has “dragged its feet.”

“These sorts of partnerships are very common, but in Canada, it’s taken us forever,” said Stewart, referring to places like the UK, France and the US, which have national insurance programs for flooding. Stewart said that these conversations started in Canada in 2017, and everything has now stalled with parliament prorogued until late March. 

According to Stewart, the bigger problem is Canada’s housing plan—thousands of houses are being built to address the country’s housing crisis, but there is no real guidance on how or where to build them. He said that  Canada’s building code needs updating so that contractors start building the right homes in the right places. Without new legislation in the building code, he fears many of these new homes will be built in flood zones and will be uninsurable until Canada catches up. 

“The insurance industry has been saying for years, ‘don’t build in high-risk places,’ and yet, municipal governments have continued to build homes in places where they probably shouldn’t be, and the federal government has kicked building codes for resilience down the road,” added Stewart. “It should be in the building code – ways to build wildfire resilient homes or flood resilient homes – but we’re not going to get to that till 2030. So now, as a nation, we’re building thousands and thousands of new homes because we have a housing crisis, but those homes are going to be built poorly, and they are potentially going to be built in high-risk areas.”

The Hills has seen its fair share of increased storms and flooding, including last year’s Hurricane Debbie aftermath, which left Chelsea in ruin. Multiple homes flooded, roads were completely washed away, and homeowners were left with debris and mud after landslides in Hollow Glen. 

Locally, the MRC des Collines is working with other regional governments—Papineau and Pontiac—to map local rivers and develop a new risk assessment for the area. However, La Pêche Mayor Guillaume Lamoureux said it’s too early to comment on what those maps show, as they won’t be ready until next winter. 

No flood risk? Still pay more

Chelsea resident Stephen Woodley lives on top of Juniper Road, his home has never flooded and he’s never claimed flood damage with his insurance, but two years ago, he received a letter from his TD Insurance that flooding would no longer be covered on his insurance plan. To get flood insurance, he would have to pay more.  

“I mean, our whole economy is based on the single biggest purchase in our life, which is a home. And if we can’t get insurance on a home, you can’t get a mortgage, right?” Woodley told the Low Down. “We had a couple of big rain events right in Chelsea that flooded all kinds of people’s basements. My basement doesn’t flood, but I do have a sump pump. I’ve never claimed against it, but they cut it off.” Woodley said that TD did offer him flood insurance, but the premium was $1,800 per year. He said that if his basement floods, it would maybe cost $10,000 to fix it and with no flood history, he didn’t feel it was worth it to pay nearly $2,000 extra every year. 

“I live up on Juniper Road at the top of the hill, so I’m not a big flood risk,” said Woodley. “But they don’t care about that. I’m sure it was a blanket policy.”

Quebec says that storms in 2017 and 2019 cost the province more than $1.4 billion, which, aside from impacts on infrastructure, public services and the economy, can also lead to “socio-sanitary impacts, affecting both health status and physical, psychological and social well-being.”

Quebec’s most recent floods
  • In 2017, a historic flood affected 293 municipalities, including some in the Gatineau Hills, forcing the evacuation of more than 4,000 people. 
  • In 2019, a historic flood affected more than 240 municipalities, flooded thousands of homes, forced the evacuation of more than 10,000 people and caused the closure of several roads. Municipalities in the Gatineau Hills were impacted.
  • In 2019, the sudden rupture of a dike in Sainte-Marthe-sur-le-Lac led to the flooding of more than 2,600 properties and the evacuation of approximately 6,500 people.
  • In 2023, flooding occurred in several regions, including the Hills. The failure of a protective wall in Baie-Saint-Paul caused a rapid rise in water levels, flooding nearly 300 homes and forcing the evacuation of more than 1,000 people.

Quebec flood maps to grow by 40% Read More »

WQSB cuts $1.1M from budget

By Trevor Greenway

Local Journalism Initiative

The head of the Western Quebec School Board (WQSB) says he isn’t worried about the $1.1 million he is being forced to cut from his budget, but he is concerned about how another round of expected cuts this spring will affect students. 

WQSB Executive Director George Singfield told a group of school board commissioners Jan. 28 that while the plan to cut more than half a million dollars in salaries, plus another $500,000 elsewhere won’t affect students this year, he doesn’t see how the school board can cut more without disadvantaging students. 

“We could all make the argument that everything that we’re doing – this meeting – should be impacting students, frankly, indirectly, in a different way than standing in front of a classroom in front of students,” Singfield said during a public school board commissioners meeting Jan. 28. “However, there’s an impact, and so how do we minimize that impact?” 

Singfield continued. “And as we are asked to cut more, that becomes more challenging and difficult, and hopefully it won’t be as bad as some people think it will be, but we turn on the news, whether it’s French media, English media in Quebec, you’re hearing about cuts everywhere. This is not exclusive to education. This is everywhere.”

The WQSB cuts are part of the Quebec Education Ministry’s effort to cut $200 million from its overall budget by March 31, and while Singfield praised his commissioners for finding savings in things like caretaking contracts, salaries and board training, he worries about where to make future cuts. 

His commissioners presented a detailed financial plan during the meeting, where it was revealed that the $1.1 million reduction this year is a “one shot” savings, meaning they can’t cut the same amount from their budget every year. According to commissioners, recurring savings will only amount to approximately $361,000 every year.

“The concern is going to be if the government comes back in April and says, ‘By the way, now here’s round two,’ and then if we come back in September and they say, ‘Here’s round three,’ and then come back again and again. I hope that doesn’t happen, but I would be very, very surprised if we don’t see more cuts coming.”

Part of the challenge, according to Singfield and his commissioners, is that the province’s mandate to slash budgets came with the caveat that the cuts couldn’t affect students. And if you look at the list of cuts, it’s nearly impossible to imagine that these changes do not affect students. 

Half a million in salaries is being cut; a school psychologist won’t be replaced and the school board is losing its important lunch program for low-income students. 

 “We require a lot more help than we used to,” said Lord Aylmer school commissioner Cathy Goldsbrough during the meeting. “We need psychologists, sociologists, we need all kinds of people involved because the schools are raising a lot of the children. It’s not just a family situation in many cases. So we need a huge support network.” She suggested that commissioners each write a letter to the Ministry of Education to show how future cuts would have a “dramatic” impact on students.

“As taxpayers, and everyone here is a taxpayer, these are services that are essential,” she said. “They’re not philosophical.”

WQSB Commissioner chair Joanne Labadie questioned the Quebec government’s priorities, namely in its 2024 fall economic statement, in which politicians announced a $22 billion deficit and an additional $2 billion investment to “address the housing crisis.” She argues that housing, health, and education all fit together. 

“When you increase housing to address the housing crisis, education and healthcare go hand in hand,” said Labadie. “It’s fine to build new homes, but new schools and new education infrastructure and healthcare services come with it.”

Singfield said while the cuts are challenging, they only represent less than one per cent of the school board’s overall budget. 

He said he sees it as an “opportunity” to become a more efficient school board. However, there’s a limit to the services his school board can cut, and they’re close to that limit already. 

CAQ MNA for Gatineau Robert Bussiére did not return the Low Down’s calls for comment. 

WQSB Budget cuts by March 31
  • More than half a million dollars in salary cuts
  • $182,000 reduction in caretaking contract fees
  • $65,000 reduction by cleaning exterior windows every two years instead of annually
  • $200,000 reduction in not hiring four professionals for half a year
  • $30,000 reduction by not replacing a school psychologist who is on extended leave
  • $31,900 reduction in training and travel costs for staff

WQSB cuts $1.1M from budget Read More »

Andre Fortin

Local MNA silent on education cuts, but Liberals vocal

By Trevor Greenway
Local Journalism Initiative

MNA for Gatineau Robert Bussière didn’t respond to this newspaper’s questions on the province’s plan to cut $200 million from the education sector by March 31, but his opposition didn’t mince words. 

“It’s preposterous,” said Liberal MNA for Pontiac André Fortin, also the official critic on health. He was referring to the notion that the CAQ government can force health and education ministries to make significant budget cuts by this spring: $200 million in education and a staggering $1.5 billion for the health sector –  without those cuts affecting services. He said that is impossible. 

“[The government] is saying the exact same thing in healthcare: ‘You’ve got to cut without affecting patients.’ And already we are seeing the tremendous impact that these cuts are having on students and patients,” Fortin told the Low Down. He referenced Quebec Premier François Legault’s promise in April to “prioritize health and education,” suggesting that Legault has gone back on his word to constituents. 

“That’s the first two places where we’re seeing cuts, in healthcare and education, and it is preposterous to think that these cuts can happen without patient and student services being affected,” added Fortin. “We’re seeing additional wait times at the hospitals already. When you cut staff, it means that you’re cutting services, so, it’s a ridiculous thing to think that you can have cuts of that magnitude without affecting services.”

Fortin criticized the CAQ government’s financial decisions to subsidize the North Volt battery plant, the millions it spent on bringing the Los Angeles Kings to Quebec City for an exhibition game, and the over $600 million it gave to the Office québécois de la langue française to protect the French language. Fortin pointed out that when Legault took office in 2018, he was sitting on a $7 billion surplus and has wracked up a historic $11 billion deficit with his spending in just seven years. 

“[Legault] has made some horrible financial decisions with Quebecers’ tax money,” said Fortin. “He has invested in things that, from the start, were doomed, and now Quebecers – patients, students, those who need the basic government services – are paying the price for this. It’s government mismanagement at its worst.”

Bussière did not respond to numerous requests for an interview with this newspaper. 

Local MNA silent on education cuts, but Liberals vocal Read More »

La Peche municipal sign

La Pêche urban plan needs your voice

By Trevor Greenway
Local Journalism Initiative

La Pêche is starting to develop its new urban plan across the municipality and is looking for citizens’ input on how they want their towns, villages and countryside to look and feel. 

La Pêche Mayor Guillaume Lamoureux said that the municipality’s current urban plan from 2003 is well out of date and he and his council are starting to tour the municipality’s various sectors to gather input from residents on how they want to see La Pêche grow. 

Lamoureux said that because the MRC des Collines regional government passed a new master plan, municipalities must revise their urban plans to ensure they align with regional priorities. Lamoureux is hoping to build a smart growth plan for the municipality while still preserving La Pêche’s “unique local character.”

“As you may know, our current [urban plan] is over 20 years old,” said Lamoureux in a statement. “Many changes have occurred since then, and it no longer meets provincial requirements.”

The Wakefield urban planning meeting will take place Feb. 6 at the Wakefield community centre at 6:30 p.m. Residents can consult the urban planning draft document online here: www.villelapeche.qc.ca/citizens/practical-information/regulations

La Pêche urban plan needs your voice Read More »

Cohabitat Wakefield takes giant leap toward housing project

By Trevor Greenway

One major barrier that the volunteers at Cohabitat Wakefield repeatedly encountered when trying to build their 41-unit cooperative housing project in the village was the lack of land. 

The lack of land left the group spinning its tires. They couldn’t apply for grants, conduct environmental, geotechnical, or hydrology studies, or present a feasibility study to show how crucial a cooperative housing model is in Wakefield, which lacks rental properties and has skyrocketing housing prices. 

But the project got traction after the municipality of La Pêche stepped up and donated 2.5 acres of prime land just behind the Wakefield Fire Hall and former car wash. 

“We were excited like you wouldn’t believe,” said Cohabitat Wakefield president Louise Chatelain, standing with co-volunteer Francine Costa in front of the land that will soon be the home of Cohabitat Wakefield. The land is rocky and heavily forested, and it will take much work to clear it and make it buildable, but the group is determined.  

 “We have a feasibility study that just got out in January this year,” added Chatelain. “The goal of having a feasibility study was to first of all demonstrate that affordable housing was absolutely an issue. It is an issue across Canada, but there’s no rental here at all.”

She isn’t wrong. According to the Association Provinciale Des Constructeurs D’Habitation Du Québec (APCHQ), in 2023, there was a shortfall of 15,000 rental units in Quebec. That number has likely risen over the past two years, especially with the Quebec rental board setting the 2025 rent increase to 5.9 per cent, the highest it has been in three decades. 

Locally, the stats are even more dire. A 2021 report by La Table de développement social des Collines-de-l’Outaouais (TDSCO) shows a significant divide between homeowners and those who rent in the region, where 31.6 per cent of renters in the MRC des Collines spend more than 30 per cent of their income on housing, while just 13 per cent of those who own their homes spend as much on their homes. Of the 835 residents surveyed, most identified a lack of housing diversity, a lack of affordable housing and housing conditions as the top three issues facing the region. The report also found that more than 3,000 residents, or 15 per cent of the MRC des Collines population, are spending more than 30 per cent of their income on housing – the 30 per cent benchmark set by the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) as “affordable.”

“It’s a universal need and when you realize it’s not being met by so many people – think about older folks that have been here forever, and they are alone in a big house – they are forced to move out; they can’t stay here anymore, and they really lose that connection to where they grew up and where they raised their family,” added Costa. “The question that we all ask ourselves as we age is, ‘Where am I going to end up? What do I want to do with this part of my life?’ And you know, a lot of the co-founders are already in their, I would say, 60s.”

The group will now use this feasibility study to approach “the big funders” in the hopes of getting the entire project 100 per cent funded through CMHC’s Co-op Housing Development Program, which received a $1.5 billion boost from the 2022 and 2023 Fall Economic Statements. If successful, the project could receive top-to-bottom funding from the federal government and, if all goes according to plan, be built within the next two years. 

While the housing project may be a drop in the bucket in the global housing crisis, the projected 41 units built in Wakefield will make a difference locally. The shared space will boast private dwellings for multigenerational families—single moms and dads, elderly folks, young families, and everyone in between. The project will also include shared recreational and kitchen spaces to encourage neighbourly connections among residents.

“Of course, we need our own space, but we also need a place to connect with people,” said Chatelaine. She added that the exterior space will be landscaped with lit pathways and common areas to increase the frequency of “spontaneous encounters.” 

“Often when you leave your house, you don’t see your neighbours; you just come out of your driveway there, and that’s it,” added Chatelaine. “But by having these pathways, we will connect with each other to have spontaneous encounters.”

Mayor Guillaume Lamoureux said that his council is fully behind Cohabitat and added that the group has received nearly $30,000 in grants from the municipality’s green fund. 

“It’s important because it’s one of the ways the housing shortage can be addressed in La Pêche,” said Lamoureux. “Council welcomes any opportunities to work with organizations like Cohabitat Wakefield or the Office de l’habitation de l’Outaouais.”

Cohabitat Wakefield takes giant leap toward housing project Read More »

Kaz 2025 budget promises to keep taxes down, invest in rec spaces

By Zenith Wolfe

As the population in Kazabazua slowly rises, the municipality is promising to keep property taxes down, build more recreational spaces and hire two more municipal employees, according to the annual and triennial budgets published in December.

The municipality anticipates around $2,490,000 in revenue this year, up six per cent from $2,350,000 in 2024. The annual budget also foresees $2,540,000 in expenses, up 8.5 per cent from $2,340,000 the previous year, for an overall budget increase of around 2.5 per cent.

Kaz Mayor Robert Bergeron says every year since 2020, between five and 10 properties have been built across the municipality. Combined with property assessment values that have increased by an average of 50 per cent across much of the region in recent years, this has increased the Kaz property tax revenue by around $1M. It’s allowed the municipality to reduce the tax rate to $0.55 per $100 of property assessment, down from $0.79 in 2024, he explains.

Bergeron says the tax for waste disposal has decreased as well: septic and organic waste went up by a total of $6 per household, but residual waste went down by $5, and recycling went down by $41.

“That’s a saving of $40 right there for all houses,” Bergeron says.

This increase in revenue coincides with the municipality’s population boom. According to Canadian census data, Kazabazua had a population of 786 in 2001, but Bergeron says now the number is close to 1,100.

“Cantley and Chelsea [are] overflowing, and we’re sort of inheriting the people. People want to buy, and now is the time because the tax rate is lower than most municipalities,” he says about Kaz.

To accommodate the growing population, the mayor says Kaz is increasing investments in recreational spaces. In 2025, $20,000 will go towards a small swing set, a picnic table, and a walking path at the Lee Road park, which the municipality hopes to name soon. Another $20,000 will finance a small wharf for kayaks and canoes on the Gatineau River.

The most expensive community development planned for Kaz in 2025 is a new splash pad and well, at a price of $137,000. The municipality will then spend $25,000 a year until 2027 to install a volleyball and badminton field behind the community centre and fix the current baseball field.

“We’re making the investment for our kids. It’s been long overdue,” the mayor says. “For municipalities to develop to bring in new citizens, [they have] to bring in new activities. Development is coming to Kazabazua.”

The higher population has also increased demand for road work, maintenance and municipal cleaning services, Bergeron says, so the municipality is using part of its budget to hire a road work employee. According to the triennial budget, Kazabazua will commit more than $580,000 to road maintenance between 2025 and 2027, subsidized by Quebec’s Local Roads Assistance program.

Kazabazua will then spend around $875,000 in 2026 to repair Chemin Village d’Aylwin after it was partially destroyed by a landslide. Bergeron says that, despite the provincial government pre-approving a grant for 75 per cent of the project costs in the early 2020s, the Quebec Ministry of Environment has since requested several environmental impact reports that have stalled construction.

“We never seem to be able to meet their ever-changing expectations. Now they turn around and say our analysis was three to four years ago, so we need to do another one,” he says about the environmental report on Chemin Village d’Aylwin. “In 2026 we should be able to start [repairs], and it takes about two to three months.”

The budget also includes funds for a new assistant director-general. That person will help the director-general finish revising municipal zoning bylaws for urban, heavy industrial and mining sectors, a process that has been ongoing since 2021.

Around $26,000 will also be used to purchase a new air compressor for the local fire department this year. The mayor says it will be shared with fire departments in Lac-Sainte-Marie, Low and Denholm, each paying the same amount. In 2026 Kaz will also invest $70,000 in a new fire truck.

$1.4 million municipal garage

Kaz Mayor Robert Bergeron says the $1.4 million municipal garage that began construction in 2024 will open in March this year.

“We’ve been gathering money since 2009 for the garage and that meant no loans or payments from the citizens,” Bergeron says, adding that the province subsidized around 70 per cent of the costs. “Because of the subsidies, we had extra, so we also purchased a snowplow, and the good thing is we still have some money left from that to start our triennial plan.”

The 4,000-square-foot garage behind the municipality office will be used to store fire trucks, snow plows and tractors, as well as welding equipment and other maintenance or construction equipment for municipal staff, Bergeron says. It will also have an office and kitchen.

Kaz 2025 budget promises to keep taxes down, invest in rec spaces Read More »

MRC property owners contesting assessment values more often

by Zenith Wolfe

As property assessment values increase significantly for taxpayers in MRC des Collines municipalities, the MRC prefect says property owners are contesting their values more often.

In 2024 property assessments increased around 49 per cent for Chelsea residents and around 70 per cent in l’Ange-Gardien, according to MRC Prefect Marc Carrière. That trend is continuing this year, with Cantley and La Pêche property assessments increasing around 50 per cent.

The prefect says this is likely because of how the pandemic impacted property sales. Assessors have to compare the current sale prices to the sale prices from 18 months prior, meaning 2022 – in the midst of the pandemic – prices were the point of comparison for 2024 assessments in Chelsea, Val-des-Monts and l’Ange-Gardien.

“Everyone was looking to go to rural areas [in 2022]. There’s also a lack of housing, so that’s another pressure on the market,” Carrière says.

This year, the MRC is evaluating properties in Cantley and La Pêche. If property owners want to revise their assessments, Carrière says there are a few steps to take.

The first is to call the MRC’s property assessment services number (819-827-0516, ext. 2239) and leave a brief voicemail explaining what should be re-evaluated. Carrière says they received around 800 of these service calls from Chelsea, Val-des-Monts and l’Ange-Gardien in 2024, with 87 of them ending in a revision. This is up from 63 revisions in 2021 and 85 revisions in 2018.

“Maybe the market was slower in the middle of the pandemic,” Carrière says when asked about this increase.

The prefect says callers should also mention their municipality, address and phone number. The MRC will call back within 15 business days and discuss a revision, free of charge. The MRC may decide to send a representative to visit the property in March 2025 and propose a new property value.

If a property owner disagrees with the proposed value, or if there is none, Carrière suggests submitting a Request for Assessment Review form to the MRC before April 30.

Carrière says they processed around 120 of these forms for Chelsea, Val-des-Monts and l’Ange-Gardien properties in 2024, up from 20 in 2021 and 59 in 2018. François Lanthier, assistant director for the MRC, said around 60 per cent of property owners in these municipalities who submitted forms got a lower assessment value.

Submitting this form requires paying a fee based on the assessment value of the property:

$88 below $500,000

$355 between $500,001 and $2M

$591 between $2M and $5M

 $1,183 above $5M

Lanthier recommends that property owners include information about defects, planned renovations and estimates for planned work on their forms so the MRC can make informed decisions. 

Lanthier adds that property owners should make arguments based on the sale values of properties on the market.

“People tend, usually, to look at neighbours’ assessment values and view their analyses based on that, but we’ll look at the sales comparables on the market and compare them with the property for the fairest value,” he explains.

Property owners who submit these forms can expect to hear from the MRC by Sept. 1. They must write back to accept the new value within 30 days. Lanthier adds that property owners submitting these forms should still pay their taxes for the higher property value so they’re not charged for interest.

“Pay the taxes,” Lanthier says. “If you get a new value, the municipality will reimburse you, but if you don’t pay and you don’t get a proposition, we don’t have control over the taxation.”

The last option for re-evaluation is to bring a case before the Administrative Tribunal of Quebec. Carrière said this is the slowest process of the three, but it’s usually resolved in a year. In 2024 there were 14 requests for tribunal cases – most submitted by the same property owner. There was only one request in 2021 and three in 2018.

Lanthier says only seven cases across the MRC have gone to tribunal since 2017. The MRC won around half and made deals with the property owner out of court for the other half, he says.

Neither MRC representative could give an estimate for how much this step costs, since it varies greatly based on the property.

MRC property owners contesting assessment values more often Read More »

Chelsea lawyer charged with fraud

by Trevor Greenway

A real estate lawyer in Chelsea has been charged with fraud, theft, false pretense and criminal breach of trust over real estate transactions completed between 2022 and 2024.

Chelsea resident Julian J. Hutchinson of Hutch Law was arrested and charged on Jan. 23 after Ottawa Police launched a fraud investigation in the fall of 2024. Police believe there are more victims who have yet to come forward and are urging those who have information to contact them immediately. 

According to court records, Hutchinson runs Hutch Law on Preston Street in Ottawa. He specializes in real estate, corporate, and environmental law and lives in Chelsea.  In a Dec. 30, 2024 tribunal decision, the Law Society of Ontario suspended Hutchinson’s licence and alleged that he “falsified documents in real estate transactions, provided false documents to parties as if they were authentic; made misleading statements in the course of real estate transactions; and  failed to co-operate with the Law Society’s investigation.”

The tribunal decision refers to 12 separate complaints in which Hutchinson’s clients allege that he tampered with documents, misled them, engaged in misconduct, and misappropriated trust funds. 

Ottawa police urge anyone with information to contact its Fraud Unit at 613-236-1222, ext. 7300. Anonymous tips can be submitted by calling Crime Stoppers toll-free at 1-800-222-8477 or crimestoppers.ca. 

The Low Down reached out to Hutchinson; however, he said that, on the advice of his lawyer, he would not comment on the case. 

Chelsea lawyer charged with fraud Read More »

Fatemeh Anvari

Bill 21 heads to Supreme Court

by Trevor Greenway

Fatemeh Anvari is exhausted. 

But the former Chelsea teacher who was banned from her Grade 3 classroom for wearing a hijab in 2021 says she will never give up the fight over Quebec’s controversial Bill 21. 

“I think that if I don’t speak out any chance I get, then it will just be forgotten,” said Anvari. “And this is not just about me; it’s just that so many people are affected. And you know, if I have the chance to speak about it, why wouldn’t I?” Anvari’s comments come on the heels of the Jan. 23 announcement from Canada’s highest court – the Supreme Court of Canada – that it would hear a challenge to Quebec’s controversial Bill 21. This will be the final legal battle between Quebec and civil rights and community groups who argue that the bill is discriminatory and unconstitutional. 

Bill 21 prohibits certain public workers in positions of authority, such as judges, police officers, prison guards and teachers, from wearing religious symbols while on the job. The Bill was passed in 2019 during the first mandate of the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) government. To protect the law from court challenges, Quebec legislators invoked the Constitution’s notwithstanding clause, a provision that must be renewed every five years. It was last renewed in 2024.

Anvari said while she’s happy that Canada’s high court will finally take on the case, it’s “alarming” that people are celebrating their right to be heard.

“It was a relief that it finally got to this stage,” Anvari told the Low Down. “But at the same time, it really made me think that, if in 2025 in Canada we’re being excited about having the right to be heard in the Supreme Court, that’s pretty alarming.”

The face of Bill 21

Anvari became the face of Bill 21 in Quebec after she was removed from her Grade 3 classroom at Chelsea Elementary School on Dec. 8, 2021. The Low Down first reported the story, which was later picked up by every major news outlet across the country, and some US-based publications. Anvari even penned an op-ed for Maclean’s magazine last October, defending her decision to wear a hijab in Canada. 

It’s been three years since her story reignited the debate over secularism in Quebec, and politicians as high up as the Prime Minister have weighed in on her personal story. 

“Nobody in Canada should ever lose their job because of what they wear or their religious beliefs,” PM Justin Trudeau wrote in a statement to the Low Down at the time. In his statement, he praised parents and students in Chelsea, who launched a “For Fatemeh” campaign that included letters from students and parents and green ribbons tied to the fence of the school – Anvari’s favourite colour.  “What we’re seeing in Chelsea is a community coming together to stand up for their neighbour – a teacher, Fatemeh Anvari. And parents are having really difficult conversations with their kids,” wrote Trudeau. 

Anvari also said the support from the school, her students, parents and this local paper are what keep her motivated to stay in the fight. 

Empowered by Chelsea community

“Honestly, it was just the community in Chelsea, you know, if it hadn’t been for you guys – the parents, the Low Down, the kids, it just, it wouldn’t have been at all possible because I wouldn’t have felt empowered to talk about it ever,” said Anvari. “I really hope everybody acknowledges that – that it’s not something that is achievable without this support. It takes a village.”

And she knows it will still be a big fight at the Supreme Court. Quebec Premier François Legault on Jan. 24 posted on X that the government will “fight” for secularism in Quebec.

“Quebec has opted for secularism in the public sector, banning religious symbols and covered faces for government employees in positions of authority,” he wrote on X. “We’ll fight to the bitter end to defend our values and who we are.”

This response isn’t surprising to the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA), especially since Quebec has won every Bill 21 challenge it has faced in the lower courts. However, the CCLA, which first launched a challenge against Bill 21 in 2019, is hopeful that the high court will provide some clarity and a precedent on Quebec’s use of the notwithstanding clause, which it used to push the bill through in 2019.

Restricted by notwithstanding clause 

“I think what the problem was that the lower courts recognize the harms of Bill 21, but they felt restricted because of the use of the notwithstanding clause,” said CCLA spokesperson Harini Sivalingam. “Because of the use of the notwithstanding clause, it’s an opportunity for the highest court to provide some clarity on what the rules should be of the courts when governments use the notwithstanding clause to pass laws that violate fundamental rights and freedom.”

The CCLA argues that the bill violates Canadian rights and freedoms, whether or not the notwithstanding clause was used. The CCLA also argues that the Quebec government has overstepped its powers. “There’s actually a power that is beyond the scope of the provincial government because of federalism and the distribution of power. The government is actually trying to regulate morality, which has traditionally been the domain of criminal law, which is a federal power.”

The CCLA said it won’t be satisfied until the bill is struck down in its entirety. 

Bill 21 heads to Supreme Court Read More »

John Ward

Ladysmith writer to launch Indigenous disability studies book at Wakefield Library

By Zenith Wolfe

Ladysmith resident John Ward is hoping to change the narrative around Indigenous disability studies with his new book, launching at Wakefield Library this weekend.

The 350-page ‘Indigenous Disability Studies’ is a compilation of essays that explore how Indigenous elders, government workers, teachers, and students understand and navigate disability. The launch event for the book, whose chapters represent 38 Indigenous peoples from 20 countries, will be hosted at 3 p.m. on Feb. 1.

Ward is a federal HR Advisor, a University of Sydney professor, and the book’s editor. He says most research on Indigenous disabilities comes from Canada, the U.S., Australia and New Zealand. This encouraged him to expand out into central and southern America, Asia, Africa, and Oceania to include as diverse a range of stories as possible.

“I wanted this global perspective to have an impact so that when the readers would look at it, they would be able to link things in their own ways and through their own perspectives,” he says.

The research for this book started in 2016 with Ward’s PhD in Education at the University of Ottawa. Ward, a self-described “mixed settler” of Algonquin ancestry with ADHD and dyslexia, decided to dedicate his PhD studies to how Indigenous Elders understand learning disabilities.

Three of the Elders he interviewed for his PhD would go on to write chapters for ‘Indigenous Disability Studies’. Ward says his book will contribute to an emerging field that can help Indigenous peoples process the traumas of Canadian education systems and prevent future abuse.

“I was abused by my principal to the point that I can never walk by that school today. I’ve heard other kids who have stories far worse than I ever had. Even the Elders had residential school experiences that were traumatizing,” Ward says. “In the area of Indigenous disability healthcare, a lot of people lack services and specialized equipment.”

The writing process was also a form of reconciliation for some writers, Ward says, because publishers have habitually dismissed them.

“You can’t write people off. You have to understand them,” he says. “Many of these people who are first time writers, it helped them to connect with readers. This was a form of healing.”

Ward says some writers take a “two-eyed seeing” approach to disability. Many Indigenous peoples hesitate to identify as disabled because Western labels uphold colonial systems of oppression, he says. This approach allows Indigenous contributors like Mohawk Elder Tom Dearhouse to instead incorporate traditional teachings to address the limits of labels.

According to Ward, Dearhouse writes about how many Indigenous people consider children with Down syndrome blessings who bring families together with their happy, empathetic attitudes.

“From [Mohawk] oral history, every child that was born was a gift from the creator,” Ward says. “The spirit went into the body knowing fully what challenges would happen later on, so who are we to speak against the creator?”

Three of the book’s writers will attend the launch event. Elder Annie Smith St-Georges will discuss her chapter on how Indigenous children with learning differences are taught. Kevin Morgan will talk about the colonial implications of the label “blind,” and Lexi (Giizhigokwe) Nahwegiizhic will explore the relationship between neurodiversity and the Seven Grandfather Teachings.

Ladysmith writer to launch Indigenous disability studies book at Wakefield Library Read More »

Logan Vaillant

Executive director of Wakefield palliative care home resigns

By Zenith Wolfe

When Logan Vaillant’s mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2022, Vaillant had less than a month to visit her before she passed.

He describes Marie-Anna Plouffe as the liveliest person he’s ever met; a woman who loved the outdoors, and who always did her best to help those around her. Vaillant has only good things to say about how Hôpital de Hull staff treated them, but he says restricted visitation hours and the small room made it harder to stay by her side. Shared bathrooms provided little privacy, there was no accessible kitchen and she was barely able to go outside.

If he had known about Wakefield’s palliative care home Maison des Collines, he says he would have admitted his mother there in her final weeks. 

“We receive people with prognostics of three months or less. They get in and say, ‘Well, I should have been here before,’ because they’re so comfortable, and family just gets to be with them,” he says.

Vaillant says that it was his mother’s death and philosophy on life that encouraged him to become the Maison’s executive director in October 2023. 

For the last 15 months, he’s kept a photo of his mother on his desk. But he’ll soon take that photo with him when he assumes a new role elsewhere: executive director of the aid society Bureau régional d’action sida (BRAS) Outaouais, working with people nearing homelessness or struggling with addiction, and survivors of abuse.

“Leaving is a very, very difficult decision, and I’m not leaving because of anything relating to the organization,” he says. “I’m following something that’s kind of a dream for me. But I’m a phone call away, so if the Maison needs some kind of information, I’ll always make myself available.”

During his time with Maison des Collines, Vaillant has helped bring more public awareness to the five-year-old care home, which has led to an increase in their volunteer team to around 60 people; up from 50 when he joined the team. He adds that they anticipate taking on 10 more volunteers by the end of January. 

Vaillant says he also improved their fundraising. In 2024, their golf tournament fundraiser brought in around $63,500, almost triple the revenue from 2023. Other campaigns improved to a smaller degree, he notes. 

They’re still not exceeding targets for the year, but Vaillant says they’re on the way to sustainability. The homes’ 2024 holiday campaign surpassed its goal of $50,000, as donors gifted more than $83,000 in December and January following the Low Down’s Dec. 18, 2024 feature article on its financial struggles. 

“We thank Dr. David Gold, who is our campaign chair this year, as well as everyone who’s donated so generously,” added Vaillant. “While $83,620 is an incredible testament of generosity from the community, we want to remind folks that we need over $500,000 per year to maintain our services. So, while the holiday campaign is an incredible success, we still have a ways to reach our yearly target.”

After he steps down from his post on Jan. 17, Vaillant says the Maison’s board will manage the executive director’s responsibilities and work on opening the application process to replace him. He says people interested in the position can contact board member Caryl Green.

Executive director of Wakefield palliative care home resigns Read More »

Before you kick it to the curb, register first!

By Trevor Greenway
Local Journalism Initiative

No more tossing your old, ‘70s, flower-patterned couch to the curb anymore as residents in La Pêche will now have to register for bulky waste pickup before getting rid of their unwanted larger items. 

In an effort to divert more items from the landfill, La Pêche has partnered with a new bulky waste company, Consifund, in Gatineau, which will use a list of registered households to map out its bulky waste route instead of touring the entire municipality in search of large items sitting at the end of driveways. 

“We’re trying to work with another company in order to really reduce the costs,” said La Pêche Mayor Guillaume Lamoureux. “It’s to be more efficient, really. That way their route will be planned according to where bulky waste is located. When it comes to bulky waste, we’re trying to minimize what was once sent to landfill as well. Our previous contractors – there was no effort to reuse or recycle.”

The municipality is also reducing its frequency with bulky waste pickup, dropping down to just four pickups throughout the year. Pickups will take place in: January, April, July and October. According to the municipality, residents can register up until the Friday before the collection date. La Pêche’s next collection will come on Jan. 29, and residents can register online via the Voila! app or by calling 819-456-2161, option 1. 

An online form will ask users to fill out their information and also add a description of what item(s) they are looking to get rid of. Lamoureux said this information will help the waste management company determine whether an item should be donated somewhere, recycled or if it’s suitable for the landfill. 

“This will be done by the collector,” added Lamoureux. “So, they will pick it up and then figure out, ‘Oh, we can donate this,’ or ‘We can throw this away’ – all in an effort to minimize what goes to the landfill.”

Along with the changes to bulky waste pickup, residents may have also noticed that their garbage is sitting in their driveway for an extra day. That’s because, according to Lamoureux, La Pêche has joined forces with Chelsea, Cantley and Val-des-Monts for a regional service, and the schedule has shifted for household pickup. 

Lamoureux said figuring out the new schedule is simple: “The days just shifted by one day. Basically, if you were on Monday, you’re now on Tuesday. If you were on Tuesday, now Wednesday, and collection days are between Tuesday and Friday.”

More information on La Pêche’s collection schedule can be found on the municipal website. The province has also launched a new expanded recycling and composting program with guidance on what to compost, what to recycle and information on where it all goes. Visit www.recyc-quebec.gouv.qc.ca for more. 

Before you kick it to the curb, register first! Read More »

Kaz councillor wants youth to ‘dream big’

By Trevor Greenway
Local Journalism Initiative

Brandy Killeen feels like the kids in Kazabazua aren’t dreaming big enough.

The municipality’s newest councillor says that there aren’t enough resources for up-the-line youth  – especially those aged 18 to 34 – and she’s working with the region’s Be and Become Youth Centre to change that. 

“In this area, I find there’s a disconnect between high school-aged kids and those who are 34 years old,” said Killeen. “We have resources for everyone in the two schools, but then, when they’re out of school or when they’re getting to an age when they are leaving high school, for example, there’s that drop off where a lot of youth don’t get anywhere –  they don’t get the resources they need.”

Some of these “resources” she referred to are simple things like giving youth access to computers and Wi-Fi, helping older students or fresh graduates apply for college or university, walking students through how to get a driver’s licence or applying for rewarding jobs in a field they enjoy. 

“I feel like we don’t dream big enough around here,” said Killeen. “You know, if you ask the kids what they want to be when they grow up, they’re not saying the same things as … kids who go to Ashbury College. There’s a drop off, and there’s no reason for it. Just because we maybe don’t have as much financially doesn’t mean you can’t have more, [that] you can’t be something more.”

And while Killeen has only been in the councillor seat since October, it hasn’t taken her long to become a part of the fabric up the line – although she said she’s always been a part of the community, even before she moved from Chelsea a year ago. 

The mother of five has children aged nine to 28 and many of them attended St. Mike’s while she was a Chelsea resident. As such, she’s been volunteering at the Low arena, the Be and Become Youth Centre, the Gatineau Valley Retirement Village and, lately, flooding the ice in sub-zero temperatures at the Kazabazua Community Centre so kids will have a place to skate. 

“I’m in that area of my life where I believe that I need to focus on doing what I love and giving myself the opportunity to work in the areas that I volunteer in, rather than work full time and do hours of volunteering,” she said. Since taking office in October, Killeen has become the chair of several committees, and is the social agent for the Table de Development for the MRC Vallée-de-la-Gatineau, where she works on mental health, youth and seniors. 

As for politics, she said she’s still getting to know her way around various municipal files, but one thing she said she wants to improve on are ambulance response times in the La Vallée-de-la-Gatineau region. 

While she didn’t have official stats and was clear that she was basing her research on anecdotal evidence, she said most people have reported waiting an average of 45 minutes for an ambulance to arrive at an emergency. 

Hockey fans in Low can verify that it took an ambulance close to an hour to show up to an emergency, which occurred during a Paugan Falls Rapids game last year, involving an opposing player, who got slammed into the boards and broke his neck. Killeen said she’s aware of the challenges rural municipalities face with limited health resources, and while she hopes to improve response times, she knows it won’t happen overnight. 

Kaz councillor wants youth to ‘dream big’ Read More »

La Peche municipal sign

La Pêche looking for input on urban plan

By Trevor Greenway
Local Journalism Initiative

La Pêche wants your help in planning for the future. 

The municipality is set to launch a series of urban planning consultations throughout the municipality to help guide the next phase of growth when it comes to urbanism.

“It’s a guide for future growth,” said La Pêche Mayor Guillaume Lamoureux, and the municipality wants to ensure it retains the “unique character” of the region. 

“Our urbanism plan is dated,” said Lamoureux, adding that the current urban plan is from 2003. “Of course, it no longer meets provincial requirements, so we have to draft an urbanism plan that aligns with the regional master plan and aligns with provincial orientations. But, in order to do that, we need to make sure that it respects our unique local character, and we want to hear people’s input.”

Lamoureux said the urban plan doesn’t focus on smaller details like paint colours or materials used on new developments, but it takes a broader look at everything from zoning and agriculture to forestry, tourism, environmental protection and transportation. 

“It’s a broad exercise,” said Lamoureux. “An urbanism plan really encompasses all municipal bylaws when it comes to urbanism and zoning.”

La Pêche was supposed to hold the Wakefield sector meeting on Jan. 20, but that meeting has been postponed to a later date. This week’s consultations were still held in Masham on Jan 21., and the upcoming Lac-des-Loups meeting is still scheduled for Jan. 23 at its community hall located at6 Ch. Lionel Beausoleil. The meeting starts at 6:30 p.m.

La Pêche looking for input on urban plan Read More »

Equity sale a good thing, says editor

By Trevor Greenway
Local Journalism Initiative

When an independent newspaper gets sold in Canada, it’s usually seen as a bad thing for journalism. 

But if you talk to the people running The Equity in Shawville, they’ll tell you that selling their long-standing media business to a digital advertiser will actually help the newspaper flourish and its commercial print shop thrive. 

“No matter what way I spin it, this is nothing but exciting for me,” said Sophie Kuijper Dickson, the editor of The Equity.  “I mean, just speaking selfishly, because I get to continue on doing the job that I love and with more support and new energy and a vision for what this business can be.”

The Equity, which printed its first issue more than 140 years ago and has been the voice of the Pontiac region ever since, has been sold to Calumet Media, a digital advertising agency owned by local resident Jon Stewart. Stewart helped The Equity revamp its website last year and said he isn’t oblivious to the plight most local independent newspapers face in Canada: constant threats of closure. It’s no different at The Equity, said Stewart, but he’s hoping his expertise gained while working as regional advertising director for Post Media will help The Equity stay alive. 

“[The equity hasn’t made money in forever,” said Stewart. “The print shop is the only thing that makes money on the operation, and [the profit] is getting thinner and thinner.” He said he believes that,, if the Equity doesn’t change or that a benefactor doesn’t come forward, it would cease publishing the newspaper

To help The Equity stay afloat, Stewart said he’ll be leaning on some of the things he implemented when he led the Ottawa Citizen’s foray into the digital ad world several years ago. He said the Citizen was one of the only newspapers to actually turn a profit during that digital shakeup, explaining that the Ottawa daily went further than just selling digital ads – it became a digital ad agency and diversified its revenue by running ad campaigns for large companies, like Myers Automotive. 

Stewart said he plans on testing this model out with The Equity and its customers. And, despite the newspaper not turning a profit, he said he intends to keep the print version alive for now.

“Everyone wants to focus on the death of the newspaper, but that is not the conversation we’re having today,” said Stewart. “We’re talking about, how do we … make sure that the equity survives in whatever format it’s going to take over the next few years? And that includes sustaining the print product for as long as we can.”

Part of helping The Equity stay alive, according to Kuijper Dickson, is reaching younger readers and understanding how younger generations find and consume their news. 

“I think there’s a lot of work we could do to sort of get that next generation on board. And part of it is figuring out, you know, what the news is that they actually want to be reading,” said Kuijper Dickson.  And the other part is figuring out how to get it to them in a way that’s relevant to them.”

Part of the revamp includes developing an app for iOS, implementing email newsletters and subscription drives to increase sales and establishing a new online paywall that will allow users to read up to four articles per month without having to subscribe. 

“We’ve had nearly 300 new people sign up to that,” added Stewart. “They get our email newsletter as well, and of course, that prompts them to subscribe as well.”

But with any generational shift, emotions accompany it. The Dickson family has been running The Equity for the past 72 years, since David and Rosaleen Dickson purchased it in 1953. Current publisher, Charles, and daughter, Sophie, plan to stay on indefinitely. 

Sophie said that this isn’t the end of The Equity but the beginning of something new. 

“Selling the business, because it’s been in our family for so long, has been – as I’m sure you can imagine – enough of an emotional roller coaster, you know, wondering if we’re doing the right thing or if we’re going to regret it, passing the torch in this way, but I’m staying on full time and dad is [too],” she said, adding, “We realized what we need to do in order to be able to continue doing what we both love.”

Equity sale a good thing, says editor Read More »

Taxes up and down in Low

By Trevor Greenway
Local Journalism Initiative

Taxes in Low are going up and down depending on where you live. 

The municipality passed its $3.958 million 2025 municipal budget in December of last year, which represents an 8.86 per cent increase from 2024. To limit the tax increase on residents, Low dropped its mill rate to reflect a four per cent increase for the average resident. 

What does this mean for the median homeowner?

If you own a home serviced by water that is worth around the median price in Low – $200,718 – your taxes are going down a whopping $22.31 per year. However, if your house is worth approximately $405,000, you will see an increase of just over three per cent or $117 extra per year. 

For a residential property roughly  worth $308,000 that is not serviced by water, your tax bill will go up just over four per cent or $106 per year. For a home in the same sector that is around $535,900, your tax bill will increase by $264 per year. 

According to municipal documents, the biggest jumps in Low came in snow removal services, which increased by 25 per cent or just over $80,000 for 2025. Low’s contribution for Sûreté du Québec police services also jumped six per cent. However the municipality’s overall MRC Vallée-de-la-Gatineau contribution came down over seven per cent to just over $307,000. Low was also reimbursed for recycling materials last year, a significant $264,000, which decreases the municipality’s waste management budget by 18 per cent. 

One of the main challenges in Low has been recruiting and retaining quality staff over the years. The municipality just hired its seventh director-general in as many years last August and hopes to make staffer jobs more attractive with a greater than 10 per cent increase to municipal salaries in 2025. 

“The main challenges we are currently facing, in terms of territory, are to continue catching up on investments in municipal infrastructure, to attract and retain a diversified commercial service offering and to attract and retain qualified personnel due to our proximity to the major urban centre of Gatineau-Ottawa,” wrote Mayor Carole Robert in her budget speech in late December. “Internally, we intend to continue improving internal controls, enhance communications channels and support workforce skills development.”

To improve infrastructure, Low presented its triennial investment plan for the next three years, and the future has a focus on roads, equipment and a new town hall. Low has budgeted $6 million in investments through 2027. Here are the 2025 expenditures:

  • hire an architect to draw up plans for a new town hall;
  • purchasing fire safety equipment;
  • replacing a grader;
  • Purchasing public Works equipment (tipper, signalling barrier, calcium tank);
  • purchasing a grass cutter for roadside verges;
  • acquiring Hydro-Quebec land near the municipal boat launch.

Taxes up and down in Low Read More »

Edelweiss fire kills woman days before Christmas

by Trevor Greenway

MRC des Collines Police are still investigating a fatal house fire that claimed the life of a 63-year-old woman in Edelweiss over the Christmas holidays. 

Police got a call for a fire at a home on Beech Rd. in Edelweiss just after 7 a.m. on December 23, 2024. According to MRC des Collines Police spokesperson Martin Fournel, the woman’s son made the call. 

“He got out safely, but not his mom,” Fournel told the Low Down. 

The woman was found on the second floor of the home unresponsive. Fire trucks and other first responders’ vehicles were lined up along the road all morning. At one point, a neighbour said they saw a plume of smoke or perhaps water vapour rising from the rear of the home. 

The woman was transported to Wakefield Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Police continue to investigate, however Fournel said the fire was likely accidental. Police aren’t sure yet where the fire started or what caused the blaze. 

Police said they will not release the victim’s name.

Edelweiss fire kills woman days before Christmas Read More »

Wakefield snowboarder wins first Cup of the year

by Trevor Greenway

Griffin Mason is starting the year on top – the very top of the snowboard cross circuit in North America – after he earned gold and silver at the first two NorAm Cup races of the season in B.C. Jan. 4 to 5. 

The 20-year-old Wakefield snowboarder has already qualified for the Quebec FIS Snowboard Cross World Cup this upcoming March, a berth he didn’t earn until well into the season last year. 

“It was awesome,” Mason told the Low Down after returning from Sun Peaks Resort in B.C. with two medals around his neck – one gold, one silver. “I’ve been looking for a win and podium spot for a while now racing in the NorAm races, and it was awesome to get it done.”

It’s the first time Mason has landed on the podium in a NorAm race and he said he’s hoping to keep the streak alive throughout the season. And with Olympic gold medalist Jaycee Jay Anderson’s new, innovative board strapped to his boots, he said he thinks he now has the best shot at doing just that. 

“I’ve been working with Jaycee for a while now designing border cross race boards, and this year I went a little bit longer,” said Griffin, explaining that his snowboard went from 169 centimetres long to 175 centimetres – the extra six providing that additional speed he needed to zip past his competition. “[The boards] are solid. They carry a lot of speed through the berms. I brought both boards to test them at Sun Peaks, and the longer boards are faster. That definitely helped.” 

Snowboard cross is a fast-paced sport in which four to six racers head down a narrow, winding track at the same time, with the first to cross the finish line named the winner. 

Mason praised Anderson’s work, crediting the six-time Olympians’ attention to detail that can turn a 10th place finish into a podium spot, with every millisecond counting. 

“Normally the races are pretty close, like the first few spots are within a second,” said Mason. “My boards were going really fast in the time qualifications, that’s for sure.”

Mason said his recent NorAm races – especially the one he won – are extra special this year, as a knee injury sidelined him for several races last season.

“It was the first one where I was back feeling 100 per cent,” added Mason with excitement. 

Mason’s mom, Carly Woods, couldn’t be in B.C. to see her son earn the biggest win of his career but was able to watch the race via video, and said she and her husband, Tom Mason, were “on cloud freaking nine.”

“Tom and I are both literally,” she paused. “I don’t know how else to describe it. I was able to watch him finish and win like I was there. My kids said I shook the house from jumping and screaming so loud.”

Woods said seeing her son reach the pinnacle of his snowboard career is extra special, given how hard the young snowboarder has worked over the years. He has been dedicated to hours of weekly training with his Mont Ste-Marie snowboard team and earned a spot on the Quebec provincial snowboard team. 

And snowboard racing isn’t cheap. Woods said a race typically costs a family around $3,000, but Griffin has been selling hoodies and running local fundraisers to help his career, like the recent spaghetti dinner at the legion last December, which raised just over $3,000 – money that directly funded his trip to B.C. this January.

Griffin’s next NorAm Race is in Colorado in early February, and the family will be launching another fundraiser in the coming days, likely a raffle for some ski and snowboarding gear. Mason does have a number of local sponsors, but consistently needs financial support to keep his season going every month. Supporters can donate to Griffin online at www.griffinmason.com 

“I’m kind of always looking for more sponsors,” added Griffin. “It’s been an expensive enough sport, and the more races I can get to, the better I will get. There is lots of travelling and staying in Airbnbs and tuning boards and all that,” he explained.

Wakefield snowboarder wins first Cup of the year Read More »

Calling all parents! School cuts on the agenda

By Trevor Greenway

A local school board commissioner is asking for parents’ help to figure out how to cut nearly $1 million from the education budget without affecting students. 

Chelsea Elementary School Board commissioner Caryl Green told the Low Down that staff from the Western Quebec School Board will present their proposed budget cuts at its January board meeting, and she’s calling on parents and the general public to get involved and have a say in the region’s education plans. 

“The WQSB must cut $906,000 for the remainder of the 2024–2025 fiscal year. Staff will present the commissioners with their proposed cuts at our January meeting for discussion and approval,” Green told the Low Down. 

“It is important for parents with children in the WQSB system, and the community at large, to be aware of the consequences that, for example, a complete hiring freeze and no further spending for school expansion projects could have on their children’s education,” she said. “Although the government states that the budget cuts should not have a direct impact on student services, the reality is that they will impact education now and for years to come.”

The cuts are part of wider provincial austerity measures that will see $200 million cut from the education system. Green said the cuts represent 0.6 per cent of the WQSB budget. 

Other schools in the Outaouais – including French school service centres – will also see cuts. The Portages-de-l’Outaouais (CSSPO) board will be forced to reduce its expenses by $2,164,556.08. 

Green also said that, while the details of the cuts are not yet clear, a number of portable buildings that were planned for Chelsea Elementary will no longer happen. 

The upcoming Jan. 28 board meeting is open to the public and is offered both in-person or virtually. Those who wish to attend can show up to 15 Rue Katimavik in Gatineau at 7 p.m. or log on virtually. Those who wish to attend are asked to RSVP 24 hours before the meeting via the website at www.westernquebec.ca 

Calling all parents! School cuts on the agenda Read More »

Wakefield Emergency Fund delivers help for those in need

By Shauna McGinn

The holiday season can make many folks feel stretched thin, juggling the financial demands of bills and necessities with gifts and extras. That’s where the Wakefield Emergency Fund (WCEF) comes in.

For more than 25 years, it has provided over $30,000 annually in relief to locals in need, acting as a safety net for tough times. 

“Families start to feel the financial crunch as soon as school starts in September with added expenses, and then the additional costs that winter brings,” board member Andrée Grand-Maître wrote to the Low Down in an email.

Knowing this, the WCEF plans for their winter season initiatives as soon as the fall hits, with their snowsuit campaign starting as early as October. This year, they outfitted 26 local kids with warm winter gear. 

“We work directly with local schools to identify families in need,” Grand-Maître said. “We have always been able to provide for every child.” 

They also recently wrapped up their annual Toy Mountain campaign (for which the Low Down is a partner), providing gifts to nearly 100 children in need. Still, she noted that donations are down this year for some programs. 

“It’s a reality of our current times, when more and more families struggle to make ends meet,” she wrote. While she said the WCEF feels confident all needs will be met, there is always room for extra help. 

Right now, the Christmas Hamper program is underway in partnership with the Wakefield General Store. The Fund is aiming to provide at least 20 hampers, and could use support in terms of volunteers, food or financial donations. Grand-Maître noted that the WCEF supports local food banks and school breakfast programs that have also felt financial strain this year, so donations there would be an important boost.

She also highlighted the points transfer program currently underway at the Wakefield General Store. Until the end of December, “Folks can transfer their points to the WCEF account. Donations help provide much needed supplies and fresh goods to local families in need throughout the year.” 

Grand-Maître said the community’s year-round support makes this work possible and “enables the WCEF to be effective in its quick response as the need arises.” 

As their mission statement reads, the fund is “by the community and belongs to the community.”

Wakefield Emergency Fund delivers help for those in need Read More »

La Lanterne lights way for locals living with disabilities

By Shauna McGinn

If one of your favourite holiday activities is taking in the festive decorations, consider adding a new place to your list: La Lanterne, a local organization whose members have crafted all kinds of unique handmade decor. 

“They made up the Christmas tree, and this year we reused books and made table centerpieces,” said La Lanterne director Ginette Marcoux, adding that most of the crafts were made with up-cycled items. 

Located in Masham, La Lanterne serves adults in the Hills living with intellectual disabilities, in both languages. The centre runs programs and activities during the day, from crafts and gardening to outings around the nearby community. 

They also host an annual Christmas gathering for participants, their loved ones and the community, which took place on Dec. 19. It’s an event participants work hard to prepare for, and Marcoux said herself and the other staff would like to direct some of that holiday cheer back toward them. 

“We really want to spoil them because they work so hard all year, especially when we’re doing our Christmas event,” she said, noting that participants often lend helping hands and companionship to local groups, such as the senior’s residence.  

Marcoux said participants are currently in need of self-care items such as hair, body and facial care products, towels and blankets, and general toiletries. Treats like chocolates and candy or tea, coffee and hot chocolate also go a long way. There are currently 15 participants, and Marcoux said there’s room for more; she’s inviting local families to reach out and meet with her and La Lanterne staff. 

Donations can go beyond winter or holiday-specific items, as Marcoux said they’re already looking to plan activities for the warmer months. 

“We can always take something to use because, the day after Christmas, they’re going to start doing crafts for summer, for the gardens and things like that,” she explained. “We take everything that people don’t want, and we reuse it and try our best.”

For those looking to give with their time, Marcoux said they’re always welcoming volunteers to help and spend time with the adults at La Lanterne.

“Somebody could say, I can come once a week just to read a story, show them how to do something – we’re always looking for new things to do,” she said. “We’re looking for people even to just come and talk with them for an afternoon and hang out.” 

Even if a donation or product doesn’t fit for them, Marcoux said La Lanterne staff are tuned in with the needs of the wider community. 

“We never refuse a donation, and when it’s not useful to us, we’re always looking for families outside of here that it would be good for,” she said. You can reach Marcoux or other staff at La Lantern via phone, at 819-456-4896, or email, at direction@lalanterne.ca. More information is on their website, at www.lalanterne.ca.

La Lanterne lights way for locals living with disabilities Read More »

Basketball heroes ‘saved my life’

By Trevor Greenway

Local Journalism Initiative

Mike Kavanagh says he is lucky to be alive after he went into cardiac arrest and collapsed on the gym floor of the Wakefield Elementary School during a basketball game Dec. 5. 

His quick-thinking teammates started CPR immediately and shocked him with a defibrillator to kick-start his heart.

“All of the people that were at basketball are really heroes,” said Kavanagh two weeks after the incident. “The amazing group of basketball players I play with, and their quick and decisive actions, saved my life.” 

The incident occurred when Kavanagh said he began feeling dizzy during intermission, and his sight became “dark and narrow,” before he blacked out and collapsed. He regained consciousness in an ambulance  a short time later, where paramedics told him that his teammates’ calm, quick actions saved his life. 

Kavanagh told the Low Down that he has fully recovered from the episode with no heart or brain damage. He didn’t have a heart attack but suffered cardiac arrhythmia, an abnormality in the timing or pattern of the heartbeat. At the Hull Hospital, doctors discovered that Kavanagh’s main artery was 85 per cent blocked, and another secondary artery was 60 per cent blocked. Had it not been for the actions of his teammates Jamie Bartle, Alex Dubien, and Chloe Rothman, among many others, Kavanagh likely would have died on the court. 

“The chest compressions and shock of the defibrillator saved my life, while first responders were en route,” said Kavanagh. “The paramedic point blank told the gang that this definitely saved my life. I had the blockages cleared, and two stents put in and was told I will have no heart damage at all. Truly a miracle. I get a second chance at life thanks to being in the right place at the right time with a group of people that I will treasure forever for what they did for me and my family.”

Kavanagh’s 15-year-old son, Aodhan, was at the game when it happened, and he called his mom immediately, who was travelling to Vancouver with her two daughters to see a Taylor Swift concert. Stephanie Mullen-Kavanagh was in an Edmonton hotel room when she got the call. She said it was excruciating to helplessly listen to her husband receive CPR. 

“I was on the phone with Aodhan, listening to them do the chest compressions,” said Mullen-Kavanagh. “I could hear them saying, ‘Come on, Mike. Come on.’ It was just, I can’t even,” she paused. “It was…it was heartbreaking because there was so much uncertainty, and I was worried about my son as well. He’s only 15. I can’t even describe it, and my girls were so upset.”

Mullen-Kavanagh said she and her daughters then endured the most worrisome hour of their lives as they waited for news. 

“We didn’t know if he was alive,” said Mullen-Kavanagh. 

They immediately booked flights home – the final flight out of Edmonton – and then the phone rang, a FaceTime call from Kavanagh himself. 

“And he was totally fine,” said Mullen-Kavanagh.

She and her daughters bailed on Taylor Swift, and headed back east to be with their dad.

Kavanagh spent three days in hospital and was out by Dec. 8. 

“I can’t even put into words to express my gratefulness to all those folks at basketball,” said Mullen-Kavanagh. “First of all, they stayed calm, and they kept my son safe as well. The physician told my son that, when Mike got to the Hull Hospital, they saved my husband’s life. They really did. It would have changed the trajectory of our family.”

Quick-thinking teammates

According to several people who were at the Dec. 5 game, the players – many of them with first aid training – sprang into action, with Bartle starting CPR immediately and others doing anything they could to help.

“The most incredible part about all of this is that, within 45 seconds…compressions were happening, people were looking for an [automated external defibrillator, AED], and I was calling 911,” said Rothman, adding that Kavanagh had “no pulse” when he first collapsed. Other players were removing Kavanagh’s clothes, directing traffic outside and waving the ambulance into the building. “The response was amazing,” added Rothman. 

Bartle, a canoe-maker, has over 20 years of first aid training – advanced courses like river rescue and winter survival – and said that when he saw Kavanagh collapse on the court, both his training and his instincts took over. He said at first he didn’t know what was wrong with Kavanagh, but as soon as he got close, he realized it was serious. 

“Pretty quickly we could see that he was not breathing…,” said Bartle. 

Fellow player, Alex Dubien, was also there and said that, after about a minute of CPR, Kavanagh regained consciousness slightly and started breathing again momentarily, but then they “lost him again.” That’s when Dubien said he realized they needed a defibrillator, and before he could even look for one, another player had already grabbed it. Dubien said there was a key moment when another player suggested not to use the defibrillator and instead wait for paramedics. 

“My first aid training kicked in, and I was like, ‘No, no, it’s the first thing we need to do,’” said Dubien, who is a tree-climber and arborist by trade. “So I prepared the AED, followed the instructions and then we applied it to Mike.” 

Dubien administered the shock, and Kavanagh was immediately responsive.

“It instantly seemed to have revived him,” said Dubien, adding that the defibrillator then instructed them to continue CPR, which they did. “And then he just looked better. He was breathing. So we put him back into a recovery position, and then the first aid responder showed up.”

Kavanagh said that he is a relatively healthy person; a non-smoker, who is active. The heart condition is hereditary, he said, and doctors told him there was nothing he could have done differently to prevent the episode. However, the Kavanagh family is now championing CPR courses for locals and are hosting their own training weekend for friends, family and basketball players in the new year. 

Bartle echoed that message, noting that, had it not been for his extensive training that took over, he’s not sure if this incident would have had such a happy ending. 

“So many of us, especially around here, are in the [Gatineau] Park skiing, doing canoe trips. Those advanced level CPR courses have impacted my life in a big way just by preparing me for stuff like this,” said Bartle. 

Defibrillator installed a decade ago

Wakefield Elementary principal Julie Fram-Greig told the Low Down that the school’s defibrillator was installed 10 years ago, around the time that the new school opened. Quebec’s Ministry of Education made it mandatory this June for all public schools in Quebec to have a defibrillator. Fram-Greig said she is grateful the school made the choice to install it in an easily accessible place. 

“Ours is located outside the gym so that it could also be accessible to the community if they are using the gym,” said Fram-Greig. “Good thing, as it was an important step in saving him,” she added about Kavanagh.

After such a harrowing and terrifying experience, the Kavanagh–Mullen family will be having an extra special Christmas. And, even if they had no gifts under the tree, Kavanagh said he already feels like his family “won the lottery.”

Basketball heroes ‘saved my life’ Read More »

La Pêche drops a ward, councillor in electoral shakeup

By Trevor Greenway

Local Journalism Initiative

La Pêche is getting smaller, electorally and it will save the municipality $30,000.

The municipality will officially move from seven wards to six after the province’s Ministry of Municipal Affairs approved the latest proposed boundary changes. 

La Pêche Mayor Guillaume Lamoureux said that the wards will now be better distributed and the constituents will have a more balanced representation. 

“We didn’t have the proper representation in some of our wards, and we felt like there was nothing specific to La Pêche that justified willingly maintaining an over-representation of particular wards to the detriment of other wards,” said Lamoureux. 

He explained that in its electoral boundary review, which is required by every municipality in Quebec every four years, La Pêche had grown by more than 800 registered voters since 2016 and the influx shifted some wards beyond the permitted deviation limit of plus or minus 25 per cent of equitable voters. According to La Pêche’s electoral boundaries map, Ward 7 (Edelweiss) was at plus 27 per cent, while Wards 1 (East Aldfield) and 2 (Lac-des-Loups) were at minus 20 per cent and minus 14 per cent, respectively. 

La Pêche is the only municipality in Quebec with fewer than 20,000 residents to have seven wards. The current population of La Pêche, according to Lamoureux, is 9,300. 

And the move saves money. By reducing the number of wards, it also reduces the number of councillors, which will save $30,000.

The most significant changes on the new boundary map will be felt in the new Ward 6 (Wakefield–Edelweiss), where voter numbers will be reduced by 14.5 per cent, and in the former Edelweiss ward, where voters have been moved to either Ward 6 or Ward 5 (Lascelles–Farrellton). 

“If you look at every municipality in the MRC that is of comparable size, they all have six districts. Now we all have six districts and six councillors,” said Lamoureux. “I think it’s just a more fair way to divide the boundaries.” 

The boundaries will be in effect for La Pêche’s next municipal election on Nov. 2, 2025.

La Pêche drops a ward, councillor in electoral shakeup Read More »

School board to cut nearly $1M from budget

By Trevor Greenway
Local Journalism Initiative

A local school board commissioner says that it will be impossible to cut nearly $1 million from its budget without affecting students. 

Chelsea Elementary school board commissioner Caryl Green told the Low Down that the province’s Ministry of Education has ordered the Western Quebec School Board (WQSB) to chop $960,000 from its budget by March 31, 2025 – without affecting students. 

“It is concerning, because we have to make cuts with no direct impact on students, but everything we do has an impact on our students,” said Green. “The impacts could touch Indigenous education, support for rural schools and even the extra resources for schools with high socio-economic needs.”

The cuts are part of wider provincial austerity measures that will see $200 million cut from the education system. Green said the cuts represent 0.6 per cent of the WQSB budget. 

Other schools in the Outaouais – including French school service centres – will also see cuts. The Portages-de-l’Outaouais (CSSPO) board will be forced to reduce its expenses by $2,164,556.08. 

Green said commissioners aren’t sure yet where the cuts will come, however she did say that a number of portable buildings that were planned for Chelsea school will no longer happen. Green said the current board hiring freeze won’t help either. 

“This is just for the fiscal year, and then there’ll be a new budget in April from Quebec,” said Green. “But certainly, education has taken a big, big hit.”

School board to cut nearly $1M from budget Read More »

La Pêche hits tax target, keeps hike under 4%

By Trevor Greenway
Local Journalism Initiative

Taxes are going up 3.8 per cent for La Pêche residents in 2025. 

The municipality passed a “course correcting” budget Dec. 16, and while Mayor Guillaume Lamoureux and his council were eyeing a potential five per cent increase, they were happy to land at just under four per cent. 

“I’m satisfied,” Lamoureux told the Low Down following the Dec. 16 budget meeting – the first public meeting held in La Pêche’s new town hall since it opened on Nov. 18. “It’s always a difficult exercise. The last years have been challenging, but, ultimately, it’s a compromise.”

La Pêche’s 2025 budget comes in at $23,424,512. What median homeowners will notice on their tax bill next year is an increase of $104.77, according to the municipality’s financial documents. 

La Pêche residents were up in arms in November when they received their triennial property assessments in the mail, which skyrocketed 65 per cent for the average homeowner. Lamoureux said the municipality is scaling back on some planned projects next year to keep taxes as low as possible, especially for those whose home values increased significantly. 

“I think that I’m most proud of the fact that we’re able to, again, course correct – reconsider things that we have done in the last few years and reassess them, realign ourselves and re-evaluate our priorities,” he said.

Projects like the new municipal garage and depot, planned road works and a new fire hall in Masham were some of the projects that may be scaled back or pushed down the road when the municipality is in better financial shape, according to Lamoureux.

Referring to a new fire hall and municipal garage, Lamoureux said, “Both of these projects are typically highly subsidized. We’ll do this when the time is right and when the funding is available. But that’s an example of something that we’re pushing down the road.”

Among the biggest jumps are animal control, which has gone up nearly 30 per cent, from $63,000 to $83,000 in 2025. Administration is also up by 8.7 per cent, from $3.6 million to just over $4 million next year. La Pêche will also increase its Transcollines budget to just over $400,000, an increase of around three per cent for the public transportation service. 

The municipality’s current debt load is just over $11 million

La Pêche hits tax target, keeps hike under 4% Read More »

Dying with dignity in the Hills

By Trevor Greenway
Local Journalism Initiative

You wouldn’t expect people facing inevitable death to be happy, but when you walk the halls of Wakefield’s palliative care home, that’s what you generally find. 

The employees at La Maison des Collines – compassionate nurses, volunteers and pain management doctors – do everything they can to make life as comfortable as possible for the six residents who stay there. More than 400 residents have spent “the last moments of their lives” at the home, surrounded by friends, family, volunteers, nurses and doctors who help them through the dying process. 

Chelsea resident Carrie Wallace’s mother, Mary Colleen Colligan, died Nov. 7 after a long battle with cancer and spent her final six weeks at La Maison. Wallace told the Low Down that it was “incredible” to see her mom’s fears and worries melt away when she arrived at the palliative care home. 

“My mom spent her last six weeks at La Maison, and honestly, it was incredible to see how much joy and grace she displayed during that time,” said Wallace. “The worries and fears of being sick at home just seemed to fade away, and she blossomed into a funny, confident and deeply grateful version of herself. The transformation was amazing. The thing that is really remarkable is that, despite the stress of a terminal diagnosis, she was genuinely at her happiest during her time there.”

While Wallace called the six weeks her mother stayed at La Maison “incredibly magical,” she also said they were the most “painful and difficult six weeks of my life.”

“Losing my mother was and continues to be shockingly devastating,” said Wallace. “I can’t begin to imagine what it would’ve been like without La Maison.”

Wallace said the home took much of the worry away from her family – the fear of not being able to help if her mom needed medical intervention, the fear that she could be in chronic pain or the fear of dying. But Wallace said, ever since her mom was moved to La Maison des Collines, her spark returned, and the two could bond again.

“It gave us quality time that we never would have had. And it just created this space for something really deep – just deep connections. It wasn’t even philosophical; it just became this very gentle kind of real place where we could be together moment to moment,” said Wallace. She added that the staff and volunteers make La Maison des Collines “off the charts of amazing.”

In her eulogy, Wallace spoke of how Dr. David Ian Gold brought her mom’s smile back – a smile that would remain until her final breath. 

“While he couldn’t cure her, he did save her life,” wrote Wallace. “His attentive care brought her immediate relief, and, from that moment on, she smiled constantly and never really stopped.”

Wallace’s story is but one tale of a transformation, but staff at the home talk about this daily; how many patients come in feeling anxious or fearful, only to find love, support and acceptance once they settle in. 

“Our mission is comfort and dignity, so we take care of the patient from A to Z,” said Executive-director Logan Vaillant. “Anything they need, so when family and friends come to visit, all they have to do is spend time together. And on good days, it smells like bacon,” he joked.

Every room has a view, its own television and private washroom. 

For employees, it can be a bittersweet job, as many nurses and volunteers make real connections with the residents – all while knowing that death is imminent. For nurse Julie Demers, she said the heartbreak and loving moments are all worth it.

“There is so much that I can give in helping in their final days that, when they finally leave, all of that richness that has helped them is very rewarding,” she said. She added, however, “There are some cases that are more difficult.”

The Low Down toured the home in early November with board members Caryl Green and Michael Geisterfer, who are campaigning this month to raise more money for the home. La Maison des Collines’ operating budget is $1.3 million, and just over half of that – around 55 per cent – is covered by provincial and municipal grants. The rest – close to $500,000 each year – is needed to keep the facility up and running. 

Fundraisers like the annual golf tournament and the Wall of Hearts donations keep the organization afloat, but Green told the Low Down that it needs more baseline funding – recurrent donations – to keep operating at the level it has been. 

“We need to expand our reach because many of our patients are now coming from Aylmer or Gatineau, and our funding really only comes from the des Collines region,” said Green. “So we will be expanding our ask to the City of Gatineau and into the Pontiac MRC.”

Green said board members are also encouraging donors to think about other ways of donating to the home, like putting money from wills or estate sales towards the future of Wakefield’s palliative care home.  It costs La Maison des Collines $600 per patient per day to operate its facility or $150,000 on average per year per bed, and it receives $110,000 from the province. Green said Quebec’s palliative care association, Alliance des Soins Palliatifs du Québec, is lobbying for an annual increase per bed and is currently in negotiations. 

Visit www.lamaisondescollines.org to donate, support or sign up for volunteering.

Dying with dignity in the Hills Read More »

Transcollines a victim of its own success

By Trevor Greenway
Local Journalism Initiative

Lynda Brown can’t count the number of hours she’s spent waiting for her Transcollines ride to take her to and from her medical appointments at the cancer centre in Gatineau. 

The Wakefield resident, who is battling Stage 4 breast cancer, has relied heavily on the on-demand taxi service since it launched in 2022 and said, while the first couple of years were “working great,” the last several months have proved a struggle to book rides. 

“I was going to the Gatineau Hospital – the cancer centre. I went in for tests; I went to the Hull Hospital…” said Brown. “And the thing about it was…I allowed my whole day to be taken up with getting a ride in and then a ride back. And that would be many hours.”

Brown told the Low Down that after Transcollines delays got so bad, she would book rides to doctor’s appointments, not knowing if she could even book a ride back home. She’s said she’s been stranded multiple times for hours at hospitals and medical clinics throughout the region. 

“Last week I tried to make an appointment to go to Masham, but I didn’t get a two-way ride. It wasn’t possible,” said Brown, explaining that the Transcollines booking site had no return trips available to book. She said that lack of reliability is killing her chance at leading a “normal life.”

“I am over 70, I’m a cancer patient who goes to medical appointments,” said Brown. “I’m trying to have a part-time job and have a kind of normal life. I can’t walk to the General Store. I can’t walk anywhere.”

According to Transcollines spokesperson Chantal Mainville, the organization is aware of the issues plaguing the public transportation system in recent months but explained that the delays are a product of the service’s success, adding that the service saw “remarkable growth” since it launched two years ago. 

Mainville explained that the service is at its full capacity. Despite the organization’s customer base growing, it hasn’t been able to add drivers or cars to its fleet in the past two years. 

“All government grants allocated for its creation and implementation have been fully utilized, and we are now operating at full capacity within the limits of our existing budget,” said Mainville. 

Transcollines’ annual budget is $6 million, with funding coming from the MRC des Collines (33 per cent), user fees (10 per cent,) advertising and other revenue sources (seven per cent) and the rest – close to $3 million – coming in the form of provincial grants. 

Since the service is at capacity, Mainville said Transcollines will ask for more funding from municipalities to improve and expand the service. 

“To support future development, we have submitted a financial framework to the municipalities, outlining several scenarios for consideration in their upcoming budgets’” said Mainville. “Our objective is to secure increased funding for on-demand transportation in the coming years while remaining mindful of municipal financial constraints.”

Mainville said that ridership numbers alone are enough to justify more funding from local municipalities, as close to 3,000 residents were transported across 57,155 trips in 2023 alone. This year, from January through Oct. 31, 2,698 users have completed 50,670 trips, working out to about 225 riders each day. To date, 9,825 people have signed up for the Transcollines On-Demand online platform. 

“These figures highlight the growing demand and importance of our service in the community,” said Mainville. “The on-demand service is gaining significant attention and is increasingly being adopted by public transportation organizations worldwide. It continues to generate strong interest within the Hills community, with the numbers clearly reflecting its impact. We are confident that the growth and development of this service will remain a top priority in the municipal budget for years to come.”

Until the service can secure increased funding from municipalities, Mainville said Transcollines is looking at revising some of its systems to improve wait times and efficiency, including revising trip durations and time slots; converting to higher-capacity vehicles; and integrating routes with existing regional transportation networks, like the STO buses in Gatineau. 

Mainville said the organization is also working on ways to improve efficiency, like encouraging ride-pooling trips by switching from cars to larger vans that can accommodate more passengers. Mainville said, while the ride-pooling system “was not optimal” during the first year since Transcollines On-Demand launched, it has improved: the average number of passengers per trip in a three-seat taxi was 3.47, while five-seater vans took an average of 4.96 passengers per trip. 

“When a taxi transports a single passenger, we also agree that it is not the ideal solution for the environment. However, it can still help reduce overconsumption if that person chooses public transportation instead of purchasing a car,” added Mainville. “Moreover, most stops served by the on-demand service (TAD) are strategically located transfer points for accessing other public transit services in the region. A user travelling by taxi for part of their route can easily continue their journey by bus. We view the TAD service as an excellent gateway to incorporating public transit into users’ travel habits.”

For people like Brown, all eyes will be on municipal budgets for 2025 with the hope they’ll be putting aside cash to improve the service. 

Transcollines a victim of its own success Read More »

Wakefield Mill sold to new family

By Trevor Greenway

Lynn Berthiaume never thought her vision of owning a hotel in Quebec would have taken her as far as The Wakefield Mill has taken her and her family. Her former business partner, Bob Milling, always knew it would.

“Bang on,” says Milling, sitting in the main bar room of The Wakefield Mill after being asked if his 27-year-old vision was fully realized. He and Berthiaume are sitting in front of the hotel’s central fireplace, potentially the last time they will be in the room together as business partners. 

Milling and Berthiaume officially sold The Wakefield Mill to a new family of owners and say that, while it’s bittersweet, the timing was just right to move on. 

“It’s joy and sadness,” says Berthiaume, pulling up memories from the nearly three decades she spent with her family running the business. And when she says family, she truly means it. Not only did her and former husband Bob’s two sons, Luc and Gabe, work at The Mill while growing up, but Berthiaume’s mom, Patricia, also worked there as an interior decorator. So did her father, Guy. He worked as an historian, who documented the construction and spent hours digging through archives at the Gatineau Valley Historical Society.

“To me, this place is all about family,” says Berthiaume. “In this beautiful place in space, there is a magic in the air here, and it creates families and deepens family connections. We have had many mothers and daughters, sons and fathers and aunts and cousins and nieces and nephews all work here together, and that itself becomes its own family.”

Berthiaume tells the Low Down that she will miss the people the most: the employees, the community and the guests she’s witnessed making lasting memories. For Milling, he says he’ll miss the rhythm, the daily hum and bustle of running a busy hotel in Quebec. 

“The privilege part of my job was to set the table, metaphorically, for connection,” says Milling. “That connection could be celebrations of life, funerals, weddings, engagements, just special memories. When you’re in a memories business, it’s a pretty good business to be in, especially in a world of artificial intelligence. The future is about authenticity, and this is something real.” 

Some of those special memories, he says, included some pretty high-profile guests. Readers may recall the day American snipers and secret service agents descended on Wakefield as they secured the village for a visit by then U.S. secretary of state Hillary Clinton. Clinton had lunch at The Mill in 2010 with then-conservative MP Lawrence Cannon and it was a first for Wakefield residents to see American snipers posted on the roof of The Wakefield Mill, their guns trained at whatever looked the least bit suspicious. 

Milling and Berthiaume put years of work into the 186-year-old property, which used to be an old abandoned flour mill, and later a museum. When Milling leased the building from the National Capital Commission, he says it was in complete disrepair. Following months of construction – complicated construction because the structure is a heritage building owned by the NCC – the building was transformed into an 18-room hotel, complete with restaurants, a spa and an attractive lookout over the La Pêche falls. Milling and Berthiaume later built the Eco River Lodge, the first-ever – and now one of only two – LEED-certified hotels in Quebec today. 

New owners don’t “foresee any big changes” in immediate future

The future of The Wakefield Mill now belongs to the Nahon family of Ottawa, who officially purchased the business in early December and spent their first week greeting new employees, getting a lay of the land and meeting with the local newspaper. They are operating on a lease through the NCC until 2099. 

“I don’t think we foresee any big changes, certainly not in the first year,” says Daniel Nahon, sitting with his son Julien, who will help run the hotel. “After that, we’re going to listen to the customers and listen to the employees. We certainly have the resources to make changes. That’s in our plans.”

Daniel’s family is originally from Morocco, and he moved to Montreal with them when he was four years old, while his wife, Donna, is from Poland. The pair moved to Ottawa in the 1980s, where he worked as a mechanical, medical and bio-medical engineer for decades. He then started investing in real estate and purchased The Calobogie Lodge Resort with the idea of renovating and flipping it for a quick profit. But after running the resort for several years, he says his family started to fall in love with it – the routines, the guests, the employees and the sheer joy of helping others create lasting memories. They decided to keep it and are now growing their hotel footprint by purchasing The Wakefield Mill. 

“There was a lot of stuff I had to learn, but then, progressively, as the years went on, it became easier and easier, and at one point, it actually became enjoyable,” says Nahon about running the Calabogie Lodge. “So my original idea of just buying it and flipping it sort of went away.”

The family still owns the Lodge at Calabogie and has gotten it to a point where it’s nearly self-sufficient. They say they will now focus their attention and energy on The Wakefield Mill, getting to know the staff, the many buildings on the property and the community. 

Wakefield Mill sold to new family Read More »

Black Sheep is baaack

By Trevor Greenway
Cue the music, Wakefield, because The Black Sheep is back. 

After a long four years, Wakefield’s iconic music venue, The Black Sheep Inn, will finally reopen its doors this January – and its new proprietor can’t wait to turn the volume back up to 11. 

“It doesn’t feel real yet,” says Wakefielder Christina Stobert, who is taking over the live music business from former owner Paul Symes. 

It was March 13, 2020, when Wakefield songwriter John McAlpine unknowingly strummed on his guitar what was to be the final note played at the Sheep before the COVID-19 pandemic closed the bar down for what everyone thought would be a short hiatus while we “flattened the curve.” 

But as other establishments began to open back up in 2022, the Sheep remained shuttered as the snow came and went, spring flowers bloomed, wilted and bloomed again. It remained closed for the next four-plus years, with locals, musicians and reporters wondering if the iconic music venue, which has hosted everyone from Arcade Fire to Serena Ryder and locals Fiftymen, would ever reopen. 

But when the building’s co-owner Jennifer Nesbitt approached Stobert to revive the old sonic stomp, she said she couldn’t say no. 

“I was approached by Jennifer Nesbitt, and she told me, ‘If anyone can do it, you can,’” says Stobert. When asked how the flattering vote of confidence made her feel, she says, “Like I was doomed to be here,” quickly correcting herself to say, “Like I was meant to be here.”

One act already booked

It’s Dec. 9 in snowy Wakefield and Stobert is standing behind the bar at the Sheep. The room is in disarray – a construction zone with materials strewn about and tools buzzing in the background as workers toil to complete a number of jobs – from painting to washroom repairs. She’s on hold with Revenue Quebec to set up a new tax file and answers questions between table saw cuts. 

“I’m extremely excited but strangely calm,” she says. “I think that’s my age and my experience creeping in, and that I am doing this in a place that I know so well.”

Stobert says she will be a “major stakeholder” in the business and added that Symes’ “guidance” will stay on board. However, details of the business deal are still being finalized, and the ownership model isn’t yet clear. But Stobert will be the new head of The Black Sheep Inn, and she says she’s already booked one show. 

“Bobby Watt has confirmed for Jan. 26 for his Robbie Burns Day show,” says Stobert. She says she isn’t certain if that will be the first reopening show and admits there are a lot of local options to choose from. Much will depend on construction timelines, she adds.

Stobert has plenty of experience in the hospitality industry. She was the manager at Restaurant 18 in the Byward Market for several years, has worked extensively as a sommelier, was the food and beverage manager at The Wakefield Mill, and was a former co-owner of the Motel Chelsea in Farm Point and Le Hibou in Wakefield. She says she’s aware of the prestige that comes with the name The Black Sheep Inn and intends to continue to build on its reputation, even if that reputation is a bit sleepy these days. 

“It’s the intimacy of the room, the lack of pretension and the skill of the players,” says Stobert, reminiscing about the first time she ever stepped foot inside the Sheep some 20 years ago as a singer-songwriter opening for a last-minute gig. “I met Serena Ryder here when she was just starting out.” 

She says she also wants to bring back the “community centre feel” that the old Sunday matinee shows brought to the village, as well pop-up chef nights and wine-tasting events down the road. 

If you step inside the Sheep today, you’ll still recognize the space, but it’s going through a significant facelift. Gone is the bright, Ninja-turtle green ceiling that hovered over the dance floor. It’s been updated with a warm blue canopy. All of the countertops have been sanded down and stained; the faded, smoke-stained, yellow walls are a bright white; and the bold red trim has been switched for a more muted tone. But the classic, checkered dance floor remains, and you can bet that it’ll be soaked with beer – like it should be – during its first, second and last shows. 

Former owner Paul Symes could not be reached by press time.  

Black Sheep is baaack Read More »

La Pêche hopes to cap taxes at 5%

By Trevor Greenway

After property assessments went through the roof in La Pêche this year, the municipality says it is doing its best to keep the tax rate low on next year’s budget, but with increasing costs, labour shortages and pandemic recovery, the tax increase could be close to five per cent or higher.

“Council’s objective is to adopt a budget that limits the increase of the tax burden of median household owners to approximately five per cent,” said La Pêche Mayor Guillaume Lamoureux, whose council will adopt its 2025 budget on Dec. 16. “Of course, these are preliminary numbers and could change. There are a lot of variations in property evaluation increases. If your property value increase is below the average property value increase, you may see a reduction in your tax bill, for instance.”

This year’s eight per cent tax increase, coupled with next year’s potential five per cent increase means La Pêche residents are facing a 13 per cent tax hike over the past two years. 

On average, property values in La Pêche went up close to 60 per cent on average this year, with the median home increasing from $296,000 in 2021 to $454,500 this year as part of the MRC des Collines triennial assessment roll. Lamoureux said that those living in the median home – $454,500 – will see a $135 increase on their tax bills. 

“Ideally, on a normal year, a municipal budget should not increase by more than a few percentage points,” Lamoureux added. “The cost of contracts go up, salaries go up but at rates that are generally manageable. At a local level, council recognized that we had both a managerial and infrastructure deficit. We decided to hire more staff and invest more in infrastructure. And then the global context in recent years – the pandemic, the labour shortages, the inflation – had its impacts on the cost of labour, contracts, materials and interest rates.”

Lamoureux said that 2025 will be a year to “course correct,” as the municipality may opt not to replace every vacant position. He also said council intends to “considerably reduce the size of our triennial investment plan” to keep costs down. 

“We’ll focus on essential projects and projects for which we expect external funding,” added Lamoureux. “That should limit the increase of the part of our budget that goes toward servicing the debt in coming years.”

La Pêche will adopt its budget at a public meeting on Dec. 16. 

La Pêche hopes to cap taxes at 5% Read More »

School board reps face Bill 40, 96, other issues

By Trevor Greenway

Eleven out of 12 commissioner seats at the Western Quebec School Board (WQSB) went uncontested this year, and with just nine per cent of eligible voters casting ballots, Hills representatives say their roles are more important than ever. 

“I’m very interested in education. I always have been. And when there didn’t seem to be other candidates coming forward, I just felt like, ‘No, we can’t leave this seat vacant,’” said Caryl Green, commissioner for the WQSB’s Ward 5, which covers Chelsea Elementary. Green is the former mayor of Chelsea, who spent 12 years running the municipality. 

“In light of Bill 40 that was wanting to abolish the [English] school boards, and did abolish the French school boards, I felt it was very important…to have a full complement on the school board of commissioners,” Green said. 

Green has experience on school boards, having spent time on the governing board of D’Arcy McGee High School when her sons attended. She also spent two mandates on the governing board at a CEGEP in Gatineau. 

In 2020, the CAQ government pushed through Bill 40, which abolished school boards and replaced them with school service centres. The Quebec English School Board Association (QESBA) argued that the reform was unconstitutional and would be detrimental to English education in Quebec. That argument won over Superior Court Justice Sylvain Lussier, who struck down large parts of the Bill in August of 2023. However Quebec appealed that ruling, and the case is still pending. 

‘A lot of issues’

Green told the Low Down that, aside from Bill 40, the WQSB is facing “a lot of issues.” She specifically named Bill 96, now Law 14, as one of those issues. After the CAQ government overhauled the Charter of the French Language, it imposed restrictions on how and when government institutions can communicate in English. 

Green said she also wants to focus on climate change, classroom resources and fostering relationships with Indigenous communities. She was also elected to the governance and ethics committee and said she feels that her dozen years of political experience will allow her to make an on-the-ground impact at her local school, Chelsea Elementary.

“I do hope to have a relationship with the school itself – through the principal, through the governing board and the parents committee,” said Green. “It’s to bring the concerns from…the students and the parents and the staff back to the school board.”

Northern ward brings diverse challenges

Kazabazua Coun. Brandy Killeen, who just took outgoing councillor Craig Gabie’s seat in a by-election in October, was acclaimed for Ward 4, however she has a much larger area than that of Green – or arguably any other commissioner. Killeen’s massive ward includes Queen Elizabeth Elementary, Wakefield, Maniwaki Woodland, St. Michael’s, and Maniwaki’s Continuing Education. 

“There’s going to be different things for each school. They’re not in the same demographic, right? So I think there’s probably going to be a couple of different issues,” said Killeen. 

She said a consistent issue for all schools has always been transportation; contract issues like last year’s provincewide bus strike, which left parents stranded to get their kids to and from school for the last two months of the school year. 

“It’s not just the transportation itself, but it’s the cost and the availability,” said Killeen. She explained that it costs “thousands” just to use a bus for a couple of hours to take students on a field trip. “That is actually stopping a lot of the kids from being able to have a lot of great experiences that will add to their education, like being able to go to different cultural events and museums.”

One in five students hungry at school: report

Killeen added that one of her main priorities will be tackling food insecurity, ensuring no student in her ward shows up without breakfast or endures the day without lunch. 

“It’s only getting worse,” said Killeen. “With the food prices now, even if you have a good salary, you’re struggling to buy your food.” 

A 2024 study by The PASUQ project, found that one in five Quebec students lives in a family experiencing food insecurity, and significant inequalities persist in access to school food services across the province. The PASUQ project is an initiative of the Breakfast Club and members of the Quebec collective of the Coalition for Healthy School Food. The organization is advocating for a universal school breakfast program for the province. 

“It’s really sad, and I know that we’re trying from every angle,” said Killeen. “Queen Elizabeth school has a good breakfast program every morning, and they have one free lunch a week.”

Philemon Wright and Hadley implemented a No Student Hungry (NOSH) program in 2023, which feeds between 40 and 60 students each day. 

School board reps face Bill 40, 96, other issues Read More »

New library for Alleyn-et-Cawood

By Trevor Greenway

Scores of residents, politicians and kids celebrate inside Alleyn-et-Cawood’s new library at Danford Lake, which got a near $30,000 facelift this fall through a grant from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing. The library’s renovation was completed on Nov. 22, and the public was invited to explore the cozy reading nooks, browse the library’s expanded collections and use the updated technology. The celebration was kicked off by Danford Lake Mayor Carl Mayer, who was joined by fellow councillors and residents. From left: custodian Cody Baker, library staffer Stephanie Bellemare, director-general Isabelle Cardinal, MRC Pontiac Prefect Jane Tollar, Mayor Mayer, deputy mayor Sidney Squitti, Coun. Guy Bergeron, Coun. Susan Tanner, Coun. Mona Giroux, Coun. Darryl Mayer, librarian Sheila Emon-Forman, Foreman Pat Miljour, Coun. Jim Giroux, socio-economic development coordinator Sabrina Ayres and administrative assistant Melinda Lafleur. The library is open Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and is located at 10 Ch. Jondee in Danford Lake. Photo: courtesy Alleyn-et-Cawood

New library for Alleyn-et-Cawood Read More »

Gatineau Hills foodbanks struggling to meet increasing demand

By Zenith Wolfe

Food banks in the Gatineau Hills region are struggling to meet increased demand as prices continue to rise. Some reports suggest the food bank system is hitting its limit.

According to Food Banks Canada, a national charity, Canadians visited food banks a record two million times in March 2024. This year’s food bank usage is up 90 per cent from March 2019, the report continues.

Moisson Outaouais provides food to around 50 soup kitchens, homeless shelters and food banks in the Outaouais region. Marie-Pier Chaput, Moisson Outaouais’s director of community development and charity relations, says they’ve gotten around 91,000 demands for food per month in 2024. This is up from around 62,000 per month in 2021.

Chaput adds that around 20 per cent of the people they served in 2024 were employed. That’s up from 10 per cent in 2022.

These findings are echoed by food banks that receive produce from Moisson Outaouais, including Grenier des Collines. 

Paul Desbiens, the director of Grenier des Collines, says they had around 2,000 food bank visitors over the 2023–24 period, up from 1,500 the previous year, and more of them were full-time workers.

Chaput says that among the employed people they serve, more used to have “temporary or situational needs: a family crisis, a move, or sudden unemployment… But more and more, we’re seeing people coming to get food bank services once a month despite working.”

She says most of these visitors are minimum-wage workers or single parents struggling to keep up with the increasing cost of rent. They’re largely from the urban parts of Gatineau, Chaput adds, saying that Moisson Outaouais has gotten more demand from areas on the region’s outskirts.

“More and more, people are living further away from urban areas because they want to save on housing costs, but what happens is that people moving to these areas have a harder time accessing our services. It’s because of things like transit, which are sometimes harder to use than in urban areas,” she says.

Food Banks Canada found that housing and food inflation “hits those with low incomes hardest.” The report also says a third of food bank visitors were children in 2024. This is consistent with Chaput’s observations that they’re sending more food baskets to families with children than usual.

Since 2023, Moisson Outaouais has been working with six schools in the Outaouais region to provide hot meals to students. The schools use a flexible price model that reduces meal costs based on financial need.

“We frequently have schools that approach us to say there are more children coming to school without lunches or snacks or without having eaten breakfast,” Chaput says.

“There’s some things that don’t work in the system right now,” Desbiens says. “Help coming from governments is decreasing year by year, and it’s more difficult to obtain finances. The way [the government does] it currently is great, but the amount of money they give is not accurate to the demand.”

Desbiens says people have gotten more sensitive to the needs of food bank users, but their donations are not enough to offset demand. Grenier des Collines is continuing to ask for donations, but he says there’s little they can do to adapt if conditions worsen.

“If the food and money that comes here goes a little bit lower and the users increase, it’s not going to work for a long time,” he says. “It could be dangerous one day. I don’t know when, but it’s the same [right now] for all organizations in Quebec.”

Moisson Outaouais has received more funding over the last year than in previous years. According to annual reports, over the 2023–24 period they raised around $675,000 from third-party fundraisers and campaigns with companies like Metro or Walmart. This is up from the 2022–23 and 2021–22 periods, where they raised around $475,000 and $455,000 respectively.

Chaput says their organization operates with the help of over 200 local volunteers, but they’re still looking for additional volunteers to receive and sort produce at their warehouses. 

Moisson Outaouais also needs help preparing food, which includes washing, cutting and packaging.

As the winter season approaches, Chaput encourages anyone who has financial stability to donate their time or money to local food banks.

“We’re anticipating a winter that won’t be easy, so we want to give a moment of respite to families everywhere through our Christmas baskets. We’re at 3,000 baskets this Christmas, but that won’t meet the demand across the region,” she says. “There’s a need everywhere.”

Gatineau Hills foodbanks struggling to meet increasing demand Read More »

Wakefield Rec Association could fold

By Trevor Greenway

After 13 years at the helm of the Wakefield Recreation Association (WRA), president Patrick Poitras is stepping down. 

And with no candidates stepping up to take his place, the association, which manages the Wakefield Sports Pad and Skatepark, the outdoor rink in the winter and various recreational programs – including the ever-popular pickleball – could disband altogether. 

“There is at least a 50 per cent chance, if not more, that the Recreation Association is going to fold, and it’s just going to dissolve,” said current WRA president Poitras during the WRA Annual General Meeting on Nov. 21. 

“That will be it. It’s not my objective to do that, and it’s not my choice.”

It was clear that Poitras was dejected at the November AGM, after he said he has spent the past two months trying to drum up support and rally the public to attend this year’s AGM with the hopes that a fresh new crop of volunteers would be interested in taking over the reins. But just six residents showed up: one was this reporter, another was community centre cooperative president Jewel Coté, three were from the pickleball group, and the last was Karen Bays from the membership involvement group MING. 

“So we’re looking as a board of the Rec Association to hand over the reins to others,” added Poitras. “And I invited people, but nobody is here. I mean, you are not nobody, but none of the people I talked to came. We have tried hard. We have made publicity, and we’re trying to get people, but it’s not working,” he said to those six people who attended the AGM.

The WRA was founded in 1979 and has been the driving force behind some of the village’s biggest events and projects: from the annual Canada Day and Dragonfest parties to the Kraft Celebration Tour, which saw Wakefield get $25,000 in funding for a new skatepark in 2010. 

Perhaps Poitras’ biggest contribution has been his dedication to the Wakefield outdoor rink, where he has spent countless hours in all kinds of weather with his crew of “rink rats” flooding the surface to ensure locals have a place to skate and play shinny. But that project has also taken its toll. With climate change bringing warmer winters, Poitras said he has watched the outdoor hockey season shrink to just six weeks.

“The outdoor rink in the winter is really weather dependent, and the last two years, it was very bad,” said Poitras. “It’s not so much fun to maintain because it’s a lot of thinking and planning what the weather is going to be – what do you need to do when you get snow and rain.”

Poitras said that the sports pad in the summer gets far more use than the outdoor rink does in the summer, with skateboarding, basketball and pickleball increasing in popularity. 

“It’s growing – we are over 200 people now that play [pickleball] indoors and probably similar numbers outside,” said Blair Richardson, who manages the booking for the new-ish sport, which has proved particularly popular among senior citizens. “Over 500 have played at least once in the gym.”

According to WRA treasurer John Parker, the association is in good financial standing and brought in just over $17,000 of revenue for the 2023 year, most of which came from municipal and federal grants. The WRA had just over $18,000 in expenses, reported Parker.  He said the majority of the WRA’s expenses this year were due to the $14,000 it budgeted for Canada Day last year when it featured a drone show. Poitras said he will stay on as president for the next two months in the hopes that a local steps forward to take his place, but he said he isn’t optimistic. The WRA will likely be absorbed into the Wakefield community centre cooperative, but it leaves a number of looming questions around planning for events such as Canada Day, Dragonfest and other WRA events as the centre is negotiating a building transfer agreement with the La Pêche. 

Wakefield Rec Association could fold Read More »

Senior, 73, survives two nights alone in the bush without supplies

By Trevor Greenway

She’s been dubbed “the toughest bird” of the Gatineau Valley after 73-year-old Grace Early endured more than 40 hours alone in the bush without water, food, shelter or a cellphone. 

And she said she wasn’t even afraid. 

“I just wasn’t scared,” Early told the Low Down sitting up in her hospital bed in Shawville where she is recovering from hypothermia, pneumonia and minor bumps and bruises. She added that she was always confident that search and rescue workers would find her “one way or another.” 

The Low mother of seven spent two full nights alone in the bush after she got lost on her sprawling family farm Nov. 21. She was found two days later after an army of volunteers 400 strong showed up to help look for her. 

Early told the Low Down that she was overwhelmed with joy when she saw a group of “nice-looking men” coming to her rescue. 

“I was never so happy in my life to see them,” said Early. 

The exhaustion of her ordeal has taken its toll, but it has left her sense of humour intact. While this reporter sat at her bedside, she was cracking jokes and laughing with her daughters and other family members. Despite her harrowing experience, Early said she remembers it clearly.

“The first thing I asked [the rescuers] was, ‘Does somebody have a cigarette?’” She said one of them lit one up right then and there. When this reporter asked how that first cigarette tasted, she breathed a deep sigh of relief, closed her eyes and said, “Heaven,” while her daughters scoffed and shook their heads. 

Early was driving on her 2,000-acre farm between Low and Otter Lake around 5 p.m. Nov. 21 when her truck became stuck. Already getting dark, Early got turned around and started walking in the wrong direction. It didn’t take long for fatigue to set in. It was cold, pitch black and raining, and Early had no supplies. She found a rock near a tree, wedged herself between the two and fell asleep. 

“I slept there,” said Early. “I couldn’t see because it was so dark, and my legs were just like rubber. I was so cold, my whole body was shaking.” 

In the morning, she said she got up and tried to walk some more, but she was too tired, and she decided to stay put. She said her second day was hazy but remembers finding another hollowed-out tree where she would later sleep for the night. The next morning she said she couldn’t move. She was too weak and tired, and her legs were starting to atrophy. By then, search crews were making their way through the area, and she said she could hear dogs, ATVs and the whirring of a helicopter above. 

“The first thing I heard was a helicopter,” said Early. “And to get the helicopter’s attention, I took my rubber boot off, and I put it on the longest stick that I had, and I started waving it. I was screaming and praying.” 

Not long after, Early said she was rescued by a group of volunteers. She said she remembers getting tended to by Low firefighter Ellen Rice-Hogan and then waking up in hospital. 

It wasn’t until the next day that her daughters told her that more than 400 locals scoured the bush for hours to look for her and that businesses like IGA and local restaurants donated enough food to feed them all. When asked what she had to say to her community, she was speechless. She placed her hands over her mouth and slowly wiped the tears rolling down her cheek. She motioned to her daughter Maggie and said, “You know what I want to say.”

“She just wants to say thank you,” added her daughter. “She’s so appreciative.”

Early is expected to make a full recovery and should be back at home within the next few days.

“We’re calling her the toughest bird of the Gatineau Hills,” added Maggie with an exhausted, relieved laugh.

Senior, 73, survives two nights alone in the bush without supplies Read More »

Masham charity to create immigrant meeting group despite limited space

by Zenith Wolfe

An MRC des Collines charity is starting a meeting group for immigrant families in the new year despite the organization’s limited activity space in their current office. It just doesn’t know where this space will be.

Maison de la famille l’Étincelle runs youth events and redistributes food to families in need in the La Pêche region. The charity is planning to open Espace Parents in January in Masham as a space for immigrant parents to bond and talk about community issues, such as employability, and will be in collaboration with organizations like Carrefour Emploi des Collines, an employment centre in Cantley.

“We also offer suppers for the parents, and we take charge of their kids to make sure they can enjoy the moment,” says executive director Carolanne Beausoleil.

But Beausoleil says it’s hard to expand their operations in their current office, the La Pêche Sports Complex. 

Maison l’Étincelle has developed plans for a new office in Masham, but construction from the MRC’s multi-year park revitalization project has made them consider temporary office spaces in nearby commercial areas.

The organization’s new office would have a multifunctional basement, a bigger kitchen and a dedicated activity room for children aged zero to five, according to Beausoleil. The charity also wants to install computers, printers, a couch and coffee machines on a main floor.

“If we go and build our house, I estimate that we’ll need around $700,000. But if we move into a house somewhere just for the next few years, it might be less,” Beausoleil says. 

She says that the charity has saved around $130,000 from a Ministère de la Famille grant. She says the organization would make up the remaining cost through fundraisers and various provincial or federal subventions.

Beausoleil says the charity helps feed between 30 to 40 families a week by redistributing unused food from nearby food banks. Maison l’Étincelle also offers a meals-on-wheels program for seniors and people who “lose their autonomy” due to surgery or injury. She says last year they served around 3,800 meals through the meals-on-wheels program, but their waitlist is always full because of consistent demand.

“We want to lower the food waste, of course, because lots of good stuff is going in the garbage,” she says. 

Beausoleil became the charity’s new executive director in April 2024 after Daniel Lafleche stepped down. Beausoleil says she’s volunteered with the charity for many years, and she was the president of the administrative council for the last three years.

Masham charity to create immigrant meeting group despite limited space Read More »

Region’s health cuts will bring ‘more suffering’

By Trevor Greenway

An ER doctor in Gatineau says that if the region cuts $97 million out of its healthcare budget, it will “lead to more suffering” in the Outaouais. 

Dr. Peter Bonneville, who is also president of Conseil des médecins, dentistes et pharmaciens (CMDP) of the Integrated Health and Social Services Centre of Outaouais (CISSSO), told the Low Down that he is “very worried” about the impacts to local health services in the region. 

His concern comes after the province’s new health authority, Santé Quebec, ordered hospitals and clinics across the province to slash a total of $150 million from its budgets by March of next year. 

Santé Quebec said the cuts are in an effort to avoid a $1 billion provincial deficit, and said the Outaouais’ portion will be about $90 million. 

“The people in the trenches – people who are actually doing the job, being with patients, evaluating them, treating them, doing the tests that they need – everybody is worried right now,” said Bonneville. “I think it’s with great certainty that anybody who looks at the math behind the numbers will see that this is totally unrealistic. It’s unrealistic that we are going to be able to cut $90 million and people will not suffer.”

Bonneville said the cuts to this region will be felt tenfold compared to other regions across the province, since the Outaouis has been chronically underfunded in health and social services for the past decade. 

According to the Observatoire du développement de l’Outaouais (ODO), there is a shortfall of $181 million to bring the Outaouais region up to the provincial average in healthcare funding. What this suggests is that the new health authority, which officially takes over on Dec. 1, is making significant cuts to an already historically underfunded region. 

Bonneville said the cuts will lead to fewer nurses, fewer technicians and, ultimately, fewer beds for patients. He said he worries about home care services for patients who require follow-up care once they leave the hospital. He said waiting lists will skyrocket, and patients who need a gallstone operation, for example, will wait up to three years in Quebec for surgery, where those who go across the river to Ontario can get the surgery within a month.

“This is not going to improve,” added Bonneville. “I also see patients that go back home and need to have care at home through different people – social workers, physiotherapists, occupational therapists – and we’re going to lose staffing for that, and I’m very worried that we’re not going to be able to give them the care they need after leaving the hospital.”

‘We can do it’ says CISSSO head

CISSSO CEO Dr. Marc Bilodeau told the Low Down that the projected $1 billion deficit in the province’s healthcare is aimed at home care services and agency workers, who have been brought in temporarily to help with the region’s staffing crisis, and is also because CISSSO will not be reimbursed this year for inflation or the rise in cost of living. Bilodeau said that he sees inefficiencies throughout the entire health sector that could be streamlined to reduce costs. 

“Obviously, $90 million is a significant amount for us,” said Bilodeau, adding that this number represents about six per cent of the CISSSO’s overall $150 billion budget. “The good news is we can do it, and I’m confident we can do it without impacting care. We have a target to basically completely remove those agency employees, in the fall of 2026, so that will definitely make significant savings for us.”

Those “agency workers,” according to health watchdog group Vigi Santé, costs CISSSO $15 million every year, but with staffing levels operating at between 30 and 40 per cent at the Gatineau and Hull hospitals, the region didn’t have much choice in hiring them. 

Wakefield Hospital safe but will change

When Santé Quebec announced the cuts in mid-November, watchdog groups and health critics became concerned about the future of the Wakefield Hospital, which has been threatened with closure on and off for the past decade. 

Bilodeau assured the Low Down that services in Wakefield would remain intact.

“The intent is not to impact services negatively,” said Bilodeau. “This doesn’t mean that there’s going to be no change in services, though. The intent is to maintain the same level of care but with less resources.” 

Bilodeau used the example of cutting walk-in blood testing and moving to appointment-based services to cut down on hours worked. Bilodeau said he would also look at reducing overtime hours for nurses and other hospital employees as areas to cut. 

Agency workers too expensive: Vigi Santé

Vigi Santé spokesperson Marcel Chartrand said the Outaouais got into this trouble because it relied too heavily on these agency workers, which cost CISSSO between $10–15 million every year. 

He explained that, because the region is so close to Ontario, the Outaouais consistently loses healthcare workers to Ottawa – namely nurses and technicians who travel across the river where they can make significantly more money and work under better conditions. 

“So you pay [agency workers] more, and in some cases, you have to lodge them. You have to provide transportation. So it all adds up,” added Chartrand. 

The CAQ ‘mismanaged spending’ 

Liberal Health Critic and MNA for Pontiac André Fortin said that CAQ leader and Quebec Premier François Legault broke his promise earlier this year when he said that healthcare wouldn’t be cut amid provincial spending cuts. He argued that the CAQ has “mismanaged spending” since it came into power in 2018. 

“When the CAQ government came in, they had a $7 billion surplus. Now we’re facing an $11 billion deficit, and it’s growing, even though they are making cuts left, right and centre,” said Fortin. “And so they’re turning to the healthcare network, which the premier himself promised would be unaffected by potential cuts. It goes directly against what the CAQ had promised.” 

“They had promised that the Outaouais would be able to catch up with the rest of the province in terms of healthcare funding,” he continued. “Now we’re being cut just like everybody else. And we already have some of the worst healthcare in the province. We know it’s already immensely difficult for people to access [the] healthcare network. This will only get worse.” 

Fortin said he has been paying attention to what services other regions have targeted, and it includes dialysis projects, needed renovations for youth centres and cuts to the hiring of nurses and other medical staff. 

SOS Outaouais executive-director Jean Pigeon said that the cuts, combined with a hiring freeze in the Outaouais, will put more pressure on current employees and lead to longer wait times for patients. 

“When an organization is asked to cut spending on this scale, it confirms that the system is inadequate to meet the needs of its population,” said Pigeon, head of health watchdog group SOS Outaouais. “These cuts will have a negative impact on services, whether we like it or not. These are the citizens who will pay the price in a region that is already playing catch-up.”

SOS Outaouais is calling for $181 million in funding to correct the region’s shortfall and “differentiated compensation and incentives” to attract and retain staff in a cross-border context. 

Region’s health cuts will bring ‘more suffering’ Read More »

More than 400 volunteers show up to rescue Grace Early

By Trevor Greenway

It was a dramatic rescue like no other in recent Gatineau Hills history. A well-known, much-loved senior from Low went missing from her family farm on Nov. 23, and a legion of locals showed up to find her. 

More than 400 volunteers hiked the hills and combed the forest for hours to look for 73-year-old Grace Early after her family made a public plea to find their mother. At 12:30 p.m. Saturday afternoon – after Early had spent over 40 cold hours alone in the bush – she was found huddled in the fetal position at the base of a hollowed-out tree. She was cold and dehydrated and sustained some minor bumps and bruises on her legs.

Early, a mother of seven, endured two full nights in the cold, with rain and temperatures hovering around 0 Celsius. She had no water, no toque and no cell phone. 

“My dad called her the toughest old bird he’s ever seen because he admitted that he doesn’t think that he would have been able to last as long out in the woods as she did, and he’s been in the woods his entire life,” said Grace’s daughter, Maggie Early, fighting off joyous tears at the rescue of her mother. “She was not scared. She didn’t think about wolves and coyotes. And I was out there Friday night, and the wolves and coyotes were screaming around us.”

Early is now recovering at the Shawville hospital with pneumonia and hypothermia, and Maggie told the Low Down that she has the community to thank for showing up by the hundreds within hours of her public request for help. 

Maggie’s family posted a plea for help on Facebook at 6 a.m. Nov. 23 and said they would have been thrilled if 50 locals showed up to help. The post told locals to: “Please don’t message, just show up.” And show up they did. 

By 10 a.m., her family farm was swarming with volunteers, local restaurants and grocery stores donated a spread of food and rescue groups joined officers with the Sûreté du Québec (SQ), who had been searching with dogs and drones the night before. An SQ helicopter was whirring across the Hills in search of the missing senior. 

“I knew people would show up, but I didn’t expect that many,” said Maggie, adding that volunteers ranged from firefighters and search and rescue workers to old friends who used to refer to Grace as their second mom. Fire departments deployed, including Low, Kazabazua, Danford Lake, Bryson and Otter Lake. Even players from the Paugan Falls Rapids senior hockey team were out looking for Grace. 

“These people are our friends. We grew up together. We went to school together. We hang out together,” Maggie told the Low Down. “She’s our mother of seven, but growing up and still today, every time one of our friends comes over, it’s ‘Mama Grace,’ or ‘Gracie,’ or ‘Grandma Grace.’”

An ‘epic’ community response  

According to Maggie, Grace was driving up the mountain on their family farm between Low and Otter Lake around 5 p.m. when her truck became stuck. She hopped out of the cab to head towards the farmhouse. Maggie said the farm is over 2,000 acres, and the sky was “black dark.” She said that her mom simply got turned around and became lost. At some point a trail camera picked up her movements, and the family could tell which direction she went, but they couldn’t find her. They spent Nov. 21 looking for her with drones and dogs – well into the early hours of the morning. 

“The first night, she said she crawled in tight to a rock and with a big tree and stayed put. And she said she just sat there and prayed,” explained Maggie. “And then, Friday morning, she woke up still with us, and she said she got up, walked about 20 feet and couldn’t make out any landmarks. So she stood up against a tree facing the sun and prayed all day. 

Then she woke up, and it was dark, so that would have been Friday evening, and she said she could hear four-wheelers and sirens.”

Grace said she stayed put, fell asleep and woke up the following day to rescue workers and volunteers aiding her. She was found lying on the ground with her eyes closed in the fetal position. According to firefighters on the scene, she was dehydrated, hungry and suffering from hypothermia. 

Despite spending close to 40 hours alone in the cold, dark night, she was in “good spirits” when they found her, according to Low firefighter Maureen Rice.

“The boys that found her gave her a banana, yogurt and water. She was definitely cold and weak,” said Rice.

Rapids player Nolan Peck was among the volunteer group that found her Saturday afternoon and said that he was “impressed” at how cognisant and stable she was after spending two full nights alone in the bush.

“​​My first thoughts upon seeing here was, ‘That is tough as nails to be able to do that,’ and especially at that age,” said Peck. “I was just in wonder.” Peck said when he heard that Grace was missing on the Friday night, he was ready to drop everything to find her – as were 400 others, something he says is not out of the ordinary for a place like the Gatineau Valley. 

“It’s honestly unsurprising to me,” said Peck who called the Early family “pillars of the community” who volunteer at hockey games, figure skating and many a community event. 

“I think everyone knows that there’s something special going up there in the Gatineau Valley. it just, it kind of just reinforced what everyone knows: everyone’s got each other’s backs. That  was very clear and evident on on Saturday.” Peck said many were fearing the worst as they looked over the family farm, section by section. 

“You think you’re going in there and, you hate to say it, but you’re expecting the worst,” said Peck. “But it doesn’t surprise me that Grace was able to get through all that. Everyone knows that she’s one of the toughest women around, and she just showed it again.”

When the search group found her, Rice said she heard the sounds of victory cheers and screams echoing across the farmland. She added that the community response was “epic.”

“The group of volunteers that found her did an amazing job getting her warmed up and helping with the evacuation,” said Low firefighter Ellen Rice-Hogan. “Grace and the whole family are such a loved family. I wouldn’t have wanted to be anywhere else. The community coming together the way it did was truly amazing. When we did the evacuation, you had people clearing a path – moving rocks and trees. We all came together as one team and moved a mountain.”

Maggie said she had “no words” to describe how she felt when she finally saw her mom after the ordeal. 

“I jumped off my four-wheeler and ran up the side of the mountain just to see her myself,” said Maggie through tears. “And when she got down to the ground, I touched her face.” Grace was transported to hospital by ambulance and is recovering from hypothermia, dehydration and minor scrapes.

At 73, she’s ‘tough as nails’

She’s been dubbed “the toughest bird” of the Gatineau Valley after 73-year-old Grace Early endured more than 40 hours alone in the bush without water, food, shelter or a cellphone. 

And she said she wasn’t even afraid. 

“I just wasn’t scared,” Early told the Low Down sitting up in her hospital bed in Shawville where she is recovering from hypothermia, pneumonia and minor bumps and bruises. She added that she was always confident that search and rescue workers would find her “one way or another.” 

The Low mother of seven spent two full nights alone in the bush after she got lost on her sprawling family farm Nov. 21. She was found two days later after an army of volunteers 400 strong showed up to help look for her. 

Early told the Low Down that she was overwhelmed with joy when she saw a group of “nice-looking men” coming to her rescue. 

“I was never so happy in my life to see them,” said Early. 

The exhaustion of her ordeal has taken its toll, but it has left her sense of humour intact. While this reporter sat at her bedside, she was cracking jokes and laughing with her daughters and other family members. Despite her harrowing experience, Early said she remembers it clearly.

“The first thing I asked [the rescuers] was, ‘Does somebody have a cigarette?’” She said one of them lit one up right then and there. When this reporter asked how that first cigarette tasted, she breathed a deep sigh of relief, closed her eyes and said, “Heaven,” while her daughters scoffed and shook their heads. 

Early was driving on her 2,000-acre farm between Low and Otter Lake around 5 p.m. Nov. 21 when her truck became stuck. Already getting dark, Early got turned around and started walking in the wrong direction. It didn’t take long for fatigue to set in. It was cold, pitch black and raining, and Early had no supplies. She found a rock near a tree, wedged herself between the two and fell asleep. 

“I slept there,” said Early. “I couldn’t see because it was so dark, and my legs were just like rubber. I was so cold, my whole body was shaking.” 

In the morning, she said she got up and tried to walk some more, but she was too tired, and she decided to stay put. She said her second day was hazy but remembers finding another hollowed-out tree where she would later sleep for the night. The next morning she said she couldn’t move. She was too weak and tired, and her legs were starting to atrophy. By then, search crews were making their way through the area, and she said she could hear dogs, ATVs and the whirring of a helicopter above. 

“The first thing I heard was a helicopter,” said Early. “And to get the helicopter’s attention, I took my rubber boot off, and I put it on the longest stick that I had, and I started waving it. I was screaming and praying.” 

Not long after, Early said she was rescued by a group of volunteers. She said she remembers getting tended to by Low firefighter Ellen Rice-Hogan and then waking up in hospital. 

It wasn’t until the next day that her daughters told her that more than 400 locals scoured the bush for hours to look for her and that businesses like IGA and local restaurants donated enough food to feed them all. When asked what she had to say to her community, she was speechless. She placed her hands over her mouth and slowly wiped the tears rolling down her cheek. She motioned to her daughter Maggie and said, “You know what I want to say.”

“She just wants to say thank you,” added her daughter. “She’s so appreciative.”

Early is expected to make a full recovery and should be back at home within the next few days.

“We’re calling her the toughest bird of the Gatineau Hills,” added Maggie with an exhausted, relieved laugh.

More than 400 volunteers show up to rescue Grace Early Read More »

Pepper Pod to bring some early Santa magic

By Trevor Greenway
Local Journalism Initiative

The big jolly man is starting his naughty and nice lists early this year, and he will be checking it at least twice at the Pepper Pod Veteran Holiday Market on Nov. 24. 

And while Santa Clause’s appearance will be a highlight at the Pepper Pod Market, the real stars of the show will be the vendors – all of them families of veterans.

“It’s a very small market,” said Pepper Pod executive-director Cathy Priestman, referring to the five or so vendors that will be set up in the Pepper Pod’s new outdoor classroom, which gets a fairytale treatment on market day with lights and a cozy atmosphere with its central stone fireplace. 

The Pepper Pod is a retreat centre in Chelsea for women veterans. 

And while the main market is a small event for the centre, Priestman said there’s a lot more shopping to do at the retreat during their holiday market. 

“In the She Shed, we have items from over 30 different military or veteran community members,” she said. “So everything that we will have for sale is either from a veteran family, a serving military family or kids thereof or military spouses.”

Chelsea’s Pepper Pod has been offering women veterans a safe place to settle back into their home lives after serving in conflicts overseas. Priestman said the Pod is an important part of the transition back into regular life after serving a tour in the military or RCMP. 

“The Pepper Pod is important because we help women veterans, military spouses and veterans from the RCMP transition out of the military into the very next exciting phase of their life,” said Priestman. “This is an open house and holiday market. And it’s a great opportunity for people to come learn more about what we do, and, you know, share the information with their friends, so that veterans that we may not have reached already may have the opportunity to come by and just learn more about what we do in the programs that we offer.” 

The weekend market is open to the public, and Priestman said she hopes more than just military families come by to check out some of the wares, including candles, jewelry, dog toys, honey and maple syrup, cutting boards and fresh coffee. 

“We also really wanted to open it up to the community of Chelsea because Chelsea has been so supportive of everything that we’ve done, and it’s a great opportunity for them to come and see what we do,” she added. “It’s a kid-friendly event. We’ll have s’mores and hot chocolate, and there’ll be tours of the facility, as well as games and a photo booth.”

In 2021, Sandra Perron, Canada’s first female infantry officer, founded the Pepper Pod in Chelsea as a way to help female veterans transition into civilian life. The Chelsea veteran spent 15 years serving in the military before leaving after enduring harassment and abuse from her male counterparts. She started the Pepper Pod, which has brought more than 350 female veterans from across the country through their programs, including their Life Shop weekend retreats, No Agenda Weekends and Beyond Trauma one-day workshops. 

“We found that when a lot of women get out of the military or the RCMP, they aren’t very connected to their communities because they’ve been moving so much,” added Priestman. “Serving as a woman can be quite isolating. So the Pepper Pod brings women together and creates tribes of women all across the country so that they can connect and have a support network moving forward into the next phase.”

 In the military, to “pepper pod” means to cover your team while advancing toward an enemy and that’s the entire mantra of the Chelsea non-profit. The Pepper Pod Holiday Veteran Market runs from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. on Nov. 24, located at 35 Ch. Nordik in Chelsea. For more information, visit them online at www.pepperpod.ca. The event is free for everyone.

Pepper Pod to bring some early Santa magic Read More »

La Pêche’s new town hall the first Passivhaus institutional building

By Trevor Greenway

Local Journalism Initiative

La Pêche officially unveiled its new $11.5 million town hall on Nov. 18, showing off the swanky new digs that will house employees, politicians and space for public council meetings and consultations. 

Flanked by politicians – MP Sophie Chatel, Minister of Culture and Communications Mathieu Lacombe and the elusive Pontiac MNA Robert Bussière – La Pêche Mayor Guillaume Lamoureux gave members of the media and other dignitaries a tour of the new space. He was visibly proud to announce that the new building is the first-ever Passivhaus institutional building in Quebec. 

“To see how it impacts people’s everyday life – people who’ve been working here for 30 years – to finally be in a new building that’s inspiring and that’s been designed for their work as opposed to converted from a rectory,” said Lamoureux. “This will be a lasting symbol in La Pêche.”Indeed, at $11.5 million the new town hall is La Pêche’s most valuable asset, and it certainly looks it. The impressive 1,426-square-metre building, just off Hwy 366 in Masham, overlooks the iconic, red Masham bridge that spans the La Pêche River in Gatineau Park. 

The interior is bright, spacious and open, with glass walls defining the various spaces and offices throughout. Lamoureux joked that his office is “the aquarium,” a large, central, transparent office overlooking the rolling hills of Gatineau Park. 

A giant spiral staircase is the centrepiece of the building’s main floor.  Residents will notice first the multiple peaks that frame the new building against the Masham skyline – 18-metre, cross-laminated, timber panels positioned against one another at a 40-degree angle. According to architect Dominique Laroche, this construction will allow snow build-up to act as extra insulation, which he likened to “reinforced concrete.”

Laroche told the Low Down that energy from the sun will be the building’s main heating source. 

“Most of the windows are oriented south, so you get the light but also the heat from the sun,” explained Laroche. 

Part of what makes the building so energy efficient is because it’s what Laroche calls, “carbon sync.” That means that, because it’s made entirely of wood, it doesn’t technically have a carbon footprint. Carbon storage is the concept of using wood materials in buildings to “store” carbon in homes rather than releasing it into the atmosphere. The heavy doors and windows were imported from Germany and are triple-paned, high-quality glass. They’re so heavy that it’s a test of strength to open them. 

The exterior is wrapped in an impressive 12-panel, porcelain mosaic art piece by Lisa Creskey, which she said took “a million hours” to create, including 80 kiln hours. The larger-than-life piece depicts the flora and fauna of the Outaouais region and, fittingly, a large fish on the east side of the building. 

According to Lamoureux, more than half of the $11.5 million price tag for the building is being covered in provincial and federal grants. The municipality is taking a 20-year loan to pay off the building through the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. 

La Pêche’s new town hall the first Passivhaus institutional building Read More »

Low gives big for injured roofer, friend 

By Trevor Greenway

Dwight Leslie didn’t know what kind of life he was returning to when he arrived home in Low in October. 

After spending over five months in a Montreal hospital following a severe ATV accident this past spring, Leslie wheeled up his mobility ramp for the first time. But he wasn’t alone – he had nearly the entire town of Low behind him. 

As he was wheeling into his home, his wife handed him a flyer for a benefit show at the Low arena. When Leslie flipped it over, he realized that it was a benefit for him; all of his closest friends, including his bestie, Howard Hayes, were getting together for a night of music and fun to support their injured pal. 

“They really caught me off guard because I came home on a Thursday and the party happened on the Saturday,” said Leslie from his home in Low, speaking about the benefit that took place Oct. 26. “It made me feel so much like at home and made me feel so relaxed and excited. I bet I probably shook over 100 hands that night.”

More than a dozen local musicians – most of them Leslie’s pals – volunteered to play the benefit, which raised more than $13,000 for Leslie and his family to help him adapt to his new life. 

An accident earlier this summer left him paralyzed from the waist down. Leslie was driving his ATV in Low on May 17 when the accident occurred. 

“I ended up going up this hill by a little creek and lost control and ran into the bank of the ditch,” he said, recalling the life-changing accident. “I went flying over the front of the bike, landed on my left shoulder and busted it. That’s all I remember.” 

He said he had a broken shoulder blade and sustained injuries to his spinal cord.

Leslie said he woke up in a Montreal hospital and couldn’t move the lower half of his body. He spent over five months recovering in hospital before returning home to Low in October. 

He said he still can’t move his legs, and although doctors have told him to stay positive, he said he doesn’t think he’ll ever walk again. Leslie said it has been difficult to accept that he may never walk again, especially for an active roofer, avid outdoorsman and someone who loves working around on the farm. 

“Right now, it’s beautiful days outside. I go outside in my wheelchair, and I look around and see all the stuff I could be doing, but I can barely do anything anymore,” said Leslie. “That is the tough part. But you know what my doctors all told me? ‘Never look back. Mr. Leslie, look ahead.’” He said he’s used that mantra to move on with his life and accept his fate. He’s been spending time with local friends, watching them cut wood at their sawmills or cruising down to the end of his driveway and back in his wheelchair, which he said he’s getting good at wheeling around in. 

He said he’s trying to focus on the good things that have happened in his life. 

“I’ve had a lot of positives in my life, I’ve had a lot of good things happen,” said Leslie. The 54-year-old has lived in Low all his life and said he wouldn’t want to live anywhere else. 

Leslie said he’s aware that he has some tough times ahead of him, but with his wife, Peggy, by his side – and his scores of friends – he said he looks forward to facing the challenges head on. He said he’s still blown away that his friends were all thinking of him while he was recovering.

Low gives big for injured roofer, friend  Read More »

Lest we forget…Hills honour fallen soldiers 

By Trevor Greenway

It was a somber but poignant Remembrance Day ceremony in Low, as scores of residents gathered around the Heritage Hall cenotaph to pay their respects to those who lost their lives in war. 

Mayor Carole Robert opened the ceremony just after 11 a.m. and invited members of Low’s fire services to lay wreaths at the foot of the cenotaph. Coun. Maureen McEvoy read the names of local soldiers etched into the cenotaph from the First World War, the Second World War, the Korean War and other conflicts. 

Coun. Maureen Rice read ‘In Flanders Fields’ by Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae, before Low firefighter Benjamin Mallory played ‘The Last Post’ on the bugle. 

In Wakefield, mourners gathered at Parc de la paix for a ceremony, wreath laying and a moment of silence for local soldiers who lost their lives in both world wars. 

At the Pioneer Cemetery in Chelsea, hundreds gathered to participate in the ceremony led by councillor and veteran Cybèlel Wilson. Chelsea’s Castenchel Choir provided beautiful music throughout the ceremony that included prayers from chaplains and local clergy and wreath laying from over a dozen organizations. 

Chelsea Mayor Pierre Guénard laid a wreath at the Chelsea cenotaph with resident Harold Milks whose brother, Earl Milks died in the Second World War. 

Other wreaths were laid at the grave of Richard Thompson, who was awarded a scarf made by Queen Victoria following his involvement in the Boer War.

Overhead, four F-18 fighter jets circled waiting to fly over the ceremony on Parliament Hill.

Kazabazua also held its Remembrance Day ceremony at its new cenotaph located at 30 Ch. Begley. Refreshments followed the ceremony inside the Kazabazua Community Centre. 

Lest we forget…Hills honour fallen soldiers  Read More »

Neglect and abuse uncovered at Villa des Brises care home

By Trevor Greenway

It’s been more than five months since Aline Besner died while under the care of an elder home in Gatineau, and her Masham family still has no answers about the circumstances surrounding her death. 

Besner’s son, Guy Maisonneuve, and his wife, Shelley, have been anxiously awaiting a coroner’s report and said they’ve been left in the dark about how their mother and mother-in-law died. The Masham couple have a running clock for how long they’ve been waiting for answers. It was 144 days when the Low Down visited their Masham home on Sept. 12.

“We feel just utterly abandoned,” said Guy. “We haven’t heard from anybody,” added Shelley, explaining that they have now filed a complaint with the ombudsman because of the multiple delays in their file. 

Besner died on April 14 after her cries for help three days earlier were ignored by staff at the Résidence Villa des Brises care home, according to several other patients who were staying at the facility. 

Doctors at the Hull Hospital later discovered bed sores all over Besner’s torso, neck and back and immediately filed a complaint against the care home, which triggered a coroner’s investigation.

Following Besner’s death, the Maisonneuves have been trying to wade through mounds of government red tape and said that over the past five months, nobody from the Centre intégré de santé et des services sociaux de l’Outaouais (CISSSO), the health minister’s office, their own MNA Robert Bussière or even the care home itself, has attempted to reach out to the grieving family. They have sent multiple letters and emails to the ministry and to Bussière’s office, but said their pleas for answers have been ignored.

“It’s excruciating,” added Shelley. “But I get the funny feeling that everybody’s under a gag order – ‘Don’t talk to the families because you could say something,’” she suggested. “It is mentally and physically exhausting to have to chase this down,” she added about getting answers to her family’s inquiries. 

The Maisonneuves said they’re also shocked and appalled that nobody from the ministry, the CISSSO or MNA Bussière have reached out to them following Besner’s death – no sympathy calls, no apologies and no commitments from political leaders to bring about change. 

Their heartbreaking letter sent Aug. 21 to Bussière, Minister Dubé and Premier François Legault details the grief the family has endured since Besner’s death. 

“Not only am I now faced with the grief of losing my mother, but I also have the added stress of dealing with a coroner examining the cause and circumstances of my mother’s death,” wrote Guy. “My mother has now been dead for 130 days, and we still haven’t received a response to our complaint from the Office of the Service Quality and Complaints Commissioner, the first step in the complaint process that your office directed us to.”

This was the second letter the family has sent since March 17 – the first one was sent before Besner died asking for help to get her out of the care home. That first letter coldly referred them to a complicated, multi-step complaints process, and the latest one was ignored. 

The Maisonneuves have a thick binder on a table full of documents, witness statements and other information they’ve compiled for their case. And despite sometimes feeling overwhelmed or deflated, Guy said he won’t give up until he gets the answers he and his family need to fully grieve their 95-year-old “Grandmama.”

“It feels intentional; it feels like they’re trying to wear us down,” said Guy. When asked if it was working, he replied, “there’s no goddamn way.”

“The memory is so, so fresh, and I’m constantly reminded of it,” he added, referring to the horror he and his family endured when discovering the state of his mother’s body – and after learning that her screams three nights earlier went ignored. “I just have to conjure my mother. And that’s my motivation.”

Care home routinely ignoring patients

Low resident Steve Connolly was another patient at the home and documented the daily neglect he and other patients witnessed at Villa des Brises. His 44-page diary shown to the Low Down describes orderlies at the home routinely ignoring patient alarms, neglecting patient needs and one instance where Besner’s calls for help were ignored, and Connolly found her lying on the floor alone, helpless. 

According to CISSSO, which jointly manages Villa des Brises’s second floor as a post-acute and overflow ward for those needing rehab or a transfer to a long-term care home, an “improvement plan” has been initiated at the care home since Besner’s death. CISSSO spokesperson Camille Brochu-Lafrance told the Low Down in June that the health organization has a full-time manager at the home to “report discrepancies” if any are found. 

“The CISSS de l’Outaouais takes each of these events seriously, and they were investigated with the support of the Nursing Directorate (DSI) and the Quality, Performance Evaluation and Ethics Directorate (DQEPE),” wrote Brochu-Lafrance. “In accordance with our anti-abuse policy, as soon as there is suspicion of neglect or abuse, a report is made and safety nets are immediately established in collaboration with the residence. A complete analysis of each situation is then made with a view to correction or improvement.”

Health Minister Dubé and MNA Bussière did not respond to the Low Down’s queries regarding Besner’s death. CAQ spokesperson Léa Fortin told the Low Down that, because Villa des Brises is in the Hull sector, it is under the responsibility of Hull MNA Suzanne Tremblay. However it’s important to note that Guy and Shelley Maisonneuve both live in Masham and are constituents of Bussière. 

Following our interviews with the family, Bussière’s office finally responded to the Maisonneuve’s on Sept. 16. Pascale Labelle, Bussiere’s political attaché emailed to “offer you and your family my deepest sympathies following the death of your mother.”

“Once again, Mr. Maisonneuve, I would like to apologize for the situation. Mr. Bussière has immense respect for the citizens of the riding he represents. It is very important to him that citizens who contact the office are satisfied, receive the necessary support, are directed to the right resources, are accompanied if necessary, etc. Regardless of age, social status, culture or other, all citizens are important and deserve respect.”

However, the family still has not received a call, email or letter from Bussière himself. 

Neglect and abuse uncovered at Villa des Brises care home Read More »

Low brings Action to fight over mining

By Trevor Greenway

A group of concerned citizens, politicians and firefighters in Low are fighting to save their town from mining companies that have already staked out 20 per cent of the municipality’s territory. 

Action Low said that its expansive farmland, extensive riverfront and sprawling acres of agro-tourism are no place for a graphite mine. 

“The fundamental thing is that we have an economy already, and it’s agriculture,” said Carolyn Raab, one of the founders of the citizen action group, Action Low. “The economy is running well. It’s a variety of different operations, but it’s been here for, you know, at least 150 years in one form. So there are smaller farms, but they’re niche, and they’re profitable, and they need all the land that they can possibly get.”

The group, which started as a small citizen group by Raab, has grown close to 300 members. 

According to Action Low, mining companies have staked their claim on 13,000 acres of land throughout Low, which works out to roughly 20 per cent of the municipality. 

Much of this is private land – farms and residences like Ellen Rice-Hogan’s farm. 

She said she was surprised to learn in 2023 that On Track Exploration, a mining company, had claimed 538 acres of land– claims that popped up sometime between September and December of 2023 without notice. 

Wally Brownrigg is another longtime Low resident who said he saw claims pop up on his farm – land he said he has spent 50 years maintaining. He told the Low Down last year that, “[I] invested my life into this.”

According to Raab, what Action Low is scared most by is the fact that a mining company is already at the exploratory stage at the La Loutre graphite mine near Duhamel, which is just 80 kilometers away from Low. The company leading that project, Lomiko Metals, has vowed to continue extracting graphite and lithium despite Quebec pulling funding for the mine. Lomiko also has several claims in Low and Kitigan Zibi, and, according to Action Low, the fear is that the company could start digging locally in the coming months or years. 

“In the case of cattle farming, most operators are leasing lands beyond what they themselves own, and so taking away any acreage is going to impact agriculture. 

It’ll just mean that these farms can’t operate because they can’t be at the scale they need to be to earn a decent living,” explained Raab.

“Mining doesn’t bring anything, it just leaves us with noise and a blasted hole in the ground,” she added.

Action Low has been attending the MRC Vallée-de-la-Gatineau council meetings, and said it is hoping the MRC itself submits a plan to protect the region from future mines. 

The group is pressuring Quebec to change the Mining Act to give regional governments more power when deciding whether or not a mining operation can start to explore in its territory. 

Action Low said it has attended rallies in Montreal and Quebec City and is working with the 17 other municipalities in the region to ward off the multiple companies. 

Low council and mayors from the 17 other municipalities that make up the northern MRC passed a resolution to protect water sources across the region from mining operations. That protection is only temporary and has to be renewed every six months. 

“The nature of mining is – it’s a business,” said Low Coun. Maureen McEvoy, one of Action Low’s spokespeople. “It’s an extractive business that has 10 to 15 years of collection. And it changes the landscape forever.”

According to the group, Action Low will continue to attend rallies, meetings and pressure its MRC to submit a protection plan to the province. 

Low brings Action to fight over mining Read More »

Feds recognize plan to support minority languages

By Zenith Wolfe

The federal government recognized a 10-year plan that aims to develop, work with and improve funding for communities across Canada whose language is a minority in their region.

The Economic Development of Official Languages Minority Communities plan was first presented to parliament in October. The report offers 20 recommendations that would improve the economic conditions of Canada’s Official Language Minority Communities (OLMC), identified in 2023’s Official Languages Act. OLMCs include French communities outside Quebec and English communities in Quebec.

Sylvia Martin-Laforge, director-general of Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN), says the plan will help their organization’s mission of connecting and supporting English communities across Quebec. Some recommendations encourage the government to invest in tourism to improve economic development for OLMCs and make French language courses more accessible.

“We’re happy with what the recommendations say, and it’s a fair representation backed by data,” Martin-Laforge says. The report uses 2021 census data to show that unemployment rates for English speakers in Quebec increased to 10.9 per cent, up from 8.9 in 2018. Meanwhile unemployment for French speakers stayed at 6.9 per cent.

Chatel is the Liberal MP for Quebec’s Pontiac riding. She says the fact that this data came from the 2021 census report shows the need for more consistent studies on the economic status of OLMCs. She highlights one recommendation that urges the government to collect data in monthly Labour Force Surveys.

Chatel says the recommendation that ministers outside the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages consider OLMCs when making grant decisions is a productive “holistic” approach. She also says she supports the recommendations to remove language barriers for funding, encourage collaborations between the English-speaking communities and governments and invest more in tourism.

“One of the growing sectors in the MRC Pontiac and des Collines is tourism. There’s growth potential,” she says. Chatel adds that the recommendation will help support music festivals like Pontiac Enchanté, which features English concerts.

Mario Beaulieu, the Bloc Québécois MP for Quebec’s La Pointe-de-l’Île riding, wrote a dissenting opinion for the development plan. 

“Some of the report’s recommendations violate the letter and spirit of Quebec’s Bill 101 and disregard constitutional jurisdiction,” he writes. 

Chatel says she isn’t aware of MP Beaulieu’s statement, but she says she found nothing unconstitutional in the report.

Martin-Laforge says the dissenting opinion is part of Bloc Québécois’s broader stance that English-speaking communities in Quebec are not OLMCs and don’t need financial support. She says it’s a “myth”, which has delayed the inclusion of English-speaking communities in past action plans.

“In 2002 when the first action plan came out, Official Languages programming was seen mostly as a remedy for francophones outside Quebec. Policy changes and provincial legislative changes have negatively affected our communities’ access to services, programs and funding,” she says, citing Bill 96 as one of these changes.

Raymond Théberge, Commissioner of Official Languages of Canada, says in an email statement that “there seems to be confusion between the majority status of the English language in Canada and the minority status of the English-speaking communities in Quebec.” He writes that these communities show signs of “socio-economic vulnerability” despite the misconception that they’re a “privileged elite.”

MP Beaulieu did not respond to a request for comment.

Feds recognize plan to support minority languages Read More »

Mental health first aid empowers locals to help those struggling 

By Trevor Greenway
Local Journalism Initiative

Hilary Jocelyn wants to help you calm your breathing while you’re helping someone calm their breathing. 

The Wakefield social worker, who has worked in the field of mental health and suicide prevention for over two decades, is hosting a mental health first-aid training course, which she said she hopes will give participants the confidence to help someone who is struggling with their thoughts. 

“I’ve personally known a few people who’ve gone through, well, deaths by suicide,” said Jocelyn. “There have been overdoses, and I know parents are worried. People are struggling.”

This newspaper has reported on three suicides in the past two years, with locals Patrick Thompson, Steve Young and Declan Thomas all taking their own lives. Their deaths devastated friends and family who knew them. 

Jocelyn’s mental health first-aid course aims to empower people to recognize signs of depression, anxiety and other mental health issues before they become unmanageable. Jocelyn admitted that it’s much harder to spot someone struggling with mental problems than it is a physical ailment. 

“If you meet with your friends, they quite often talk about their physical things, you know, ‘Oh, I’ve got a sore back,’ or, ‘I’ve got this or that.’ And…we very rarely talk publicly about what we’re going through, you know, our mental well-being,” said Jocelyn. “So I think one of the things that the course aims to do is to sort of bring that conversation out from behind the shadows and talk more meaningfully about mental health.”

Jocelyn said her course is based on regular first-aid training methods – the ABCs – airways, breathing and circulation. However, she explained that mental health training is based on approach, listen and hope – encouraging and empowering the person struggling to push themselves to reach out for help. 

“It’s about bringing people together in the community to talk about mental health and learn,” said Jocelyn. “We talk about practical things – we talk about how to help someone who has overdosed; we also talk about suicide; we talk about postpartum depression. I’m not teaching people to diagnose, but they can get an idea of what the signs are and what someone might be going through. 

The four-session workshop began Nov. 4. However, Jocelyn said there is still room, and she will consider adding a make-up session at the end for those who missed the first week. The course is certified, and those who graduate will receive a Mental Health First Aid Training Certificate. 

For more information, visit the Wakefield community centre’s website or email Jocelyn at hilaryjocelynmail@gmail.com. The course is $120, however Jocelyn said it’s a sliding scale, and nobody will be turned away for financial reasons. 

Mental health first aid empowers locals to help those struggling  Read More »

Chelsea CEO wins awards for entrepreneurship, renovations

by Zenith Wolf

A Chelsea entrepreneur has won several  prestigious business awards for the renovation and electric car charger companies she’s founded over the last decade.

On Oct. 24 the Women’s Business Network (WBN), based in the National Capital Region, announced that Chelsea resident and entrpreneur Tonya Bruin was 2024’s Emerging Entrepreneurial Leader. She was chosen from among five local women nominated for the Businesswoman of the Year Award, which was narrowed down to three finalists in August.

“It was actually very surprising to me because there are so many amazing businesswomen in Ottawa,” she says. “I have a bit of impostor syndrome creeping in. But it’s been really great because, since they announced the finalists, we’ve gotten together as a group several times for cheese and brunch.”

On Nov. 2 the Greater Ottawa Home Builders’ Association (GOHBA) also awarded her Best Basement Renovation and Best Overall Renovation in the $150K to $250K category. 

Neither of the awards come with monetary compensation.

Before becoming an entrepreneur, Bruin worked for the federal government for 16 years, spending the first five as Vancouver’s manager of the Air Quality Health Index program for Environment and Climate Change Canada. 

She then moved to Gatineau to work for Health Canada until 2014, when she decided federal work gave her too little room for creativity.

“It’s a fantastic career, but I have an entrepreneurial spirit and that doesn’t serve well in the public service. You’re constrained by politics while working on behalf of a minister,” she says.

At the time, Bruin was also reckoning with the loss of her father, who succumbed to Parkinson’s and cancer after years of treatment. 

The 40-year-old says she realized she wanted to make the most of her life and that’s when she started To Do–Done Renovations.

Though the company now focuses on renovations, she founded it in April 2015 as a handyman service. 

She says there were few reputable renovators in the area willing to fix smaller problems, including patching up leaks and removing mice from a property. She modeled the business off 1-800-GOT-JUNK?, which, she says, turned the unpredictable quality of junk removal into a “professionalized service” and used innovative marketing strategies like a parade.

Bruin founded her second company, Evolta Electric, when her renovation work became consistent enough that she needed to contract electricians almost every day. She says she also noticed, after purchasing an electric vehicle in 2021, that it was difficult to find charging ports.

“We’ve installed a mix of residential and commercial EV chargers, and we’re doing LED lighting retrofits at Perley and Rideau care home with (around) 8,000 light fixture changes. That will have huge energy savings for them,” she says. “Because of my environmental policy background, I was quite interested in…decarbonizing our economy.”

Between the two companies, Bruin now works with 20 employees. She says her children grew up watching her run a company by herself, and, now that they’re in CEGEP, they’ve expressed interest in being entrepreneurs themselves.

Chelsea CEO wins awards for entrepreneurship, renovations Read More »

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