Sophie Kuijper Dickson, reporter

Funded by the Local Journalism Initiative

Three new electric vehicle (EV) charging stations have been installed in the Pontiac in recent months, courtesy of a federal grant provided by Ouataouais-wide environmental organization, the Conseil régional de l’environnement et du développement durable de l’Outaouais (CREDDO).
The municipalities of Campbell’s Bay, Waltham, Mansfield and Pontefract each got one, as well as Cooperative Aventure Hélianthe in Mansfield and Chalets Prunella in Thorne.
According to the map provided by Electric Circuit, a Hydro-Quebec service that details the locations of charging stations across the province, these new installations bring the total number of public charging stations in the Pontiac to 10, four of which are in Campbell’s Bay.
The municipality of Alleyn and Cawood has also signed up for a station, as well as Rafting Momentum in Bryson, but neither are installed yet.
Raphaële Cadieux-Laflamme works on sustainable mobility projects for CREDDO and was the project lead on this charging station initiative.
She said the main goal of the initiative was to help rural communities remain accessible to tourists who use electric vehicles.
“If you want to go on vacation further in the Outaouais where there are less charging stations it can become an issue,” Cadieux-Laflamme said. “That’s why we’re focusing on tourist business to increase the tourism in more rural areas and ensure that people who have an electric car can still get to these places.”
This is precisely why Campbell’s Bay signed up for its new charging station, which was installed in the village’s core last month.
“Maybe when there’s tourists travelling through the MRC Pontiac then it would attract them to actually come off the 148 and into the town and maybe have lunch at the restaurant and support our local businesses,” said Sarah Bertrand, director general for the municipality.
She said the next step is putting up signs along the highway directing traffic to the chargers.
A federal grant from Natural Resources Canada covered 50 per cent of the purchase and installation of a charger, up to $5,000.
CREDDO also partnered with Tourism Outaouais to make another $1,000 grant available to those installing chargers for reasons related to tourism.
The catch was, the federal money was only available for the purchase of 20 or more chargers at one time.
“So one person or business could not apply directly because usually they don’t want 20,” Cadieux-Laflamme explained.
CREDDO reached out to municipalities and businesses across the Outaouais through the MRCs to gather enough interested groups to make an application, and Campbell’s Bay was one of the first to express interest.
“It was something that we’ve always wanted to install in our downtown core,” Bertrand said.
While the potential benefit to local tourism was the main selling point for the charger, Bertrand said the municipality is also always keen to do what it can to contribute to reducing climate change.
Waltham’s director general Fernand Roy echoed this point.
“The municipal government has a responsibility on climate change. Some people may not agree with it at this time but if we don’t start soon to do our share to save the planet, well everybody is going to be out of a planet,” Roy said.
“We figured it’s the future, and we will have people possibly coming into town and needing to have their electric car charged.”
Bertrand said Campbell’s Bay paid $10,700 to have the charger installed. About $1,200 of this sum paid for upgrading the hydro service to get needed electricity to the charger, as well as to the new outdoor public washroom and park.
The combined grants brought the cost to taxpayers down to $5,700, which was accounted for in the municipality’s 2023 budget.
While the grant money contributes to the purchase of the charger, and hefty extended warranties included with the chargers mean maintenance costs will be minimal, it will be on municipalities to foot the bill for such costs when they do arise.