K.C. Jordan, LJI Journalist

AgriSaveur, des Joachims healthcare also on council agenda

At last week’s MRC Pontiac monthly Council of Mayors meeting, back in session after a one-month summer break, it was announced that Otter Lake mayor Terry Lafleur has been hired as the MRC’s new assistant director general. This is a new position at the MRC, created by way of resolution at the council’s February meeting.

Director general Kim Lesage said Lafleur will work on a number of different files, including leading the economic development team, which has in part been Lesage’s responsibility since the MRC’s economic development director position was vacated earlier this year.

“We’ve been taking on the economic development team in the absence of our director there, and so [the assistant DG] is going to fill in this role and be more of a direct contact with them.”

Lafleur, who has spent over a decade in municipal politics working for several Pontiac municipalities, said he is looking forward to assuming the new position, and believes his experience in many aspects of the job will be an asset.

“I have experience in HR, economic development, financing [ . . . ] and a ton of experience on the urbanism side of things.”

Lesage said it was that diverse experience that helped them choose Lafleur for the position, adding that she has dealt with him at the Council of Mayors table and is confident they will make a good team.

“We’ve always had a good relationship. I feel like I can really work well with him,” she said.

The new position will start Sept. 16. Meanwhile, his departure from the Otter Lake mayoral seat will trigger a by-election in his municipality, to be held within four months of when he gives his resignation.

Lesage named MRC AgriSaveur support member

Among the other resolutions passed at Wednesday evening’s meeting was one announcing director general Kim Lesage as the founding MRC support member for the new AgriSaveur co-operative.

The co-op, which is registered with the province as the “Coopérative de solidarité AgriSaveur du Pontiac”, is made up primarily of nine producers, six of which are from the Pontiac, who intend to resume operations of the abattoir outside of Shawville.

The MRC, which currently owns the assets to the abattoir, will sell all but the building to the co-op and rent it the building at a yet to be determined price. The MRC will use part of the space to run its AgriSaveur project, a commercial kitchen where producers can come to add value to their products.

The group held its first meeting on Aug. 14 to name its executive members, and Lesage was there as the lone MRC member. She will sit at the co-op table as the MRC representative in discussions related to the project.

“I have a vote at the table, however I’m not a member that is going to be using the services.”

There will also be an employee member of the co-op once staff has been hired.

Lesage said the MRC has hired a local person to take charge of the AgriSaveur project, and said the person will be announced in the coming weeks.

The MRC has also hired a firm to help in drafting a business plan for the new project, and will meet with them Sept. 3 to review a first draft.

Lesage said they are hoping to open the facility in the fall.

Rapides des Joachims seeks interprovincial healthcare

The MRC Pontiac passed a resolution in support of the Municipality of Rapides des Joachims’ call for changes to an interprovincial medical services agreement that currently allows the municipality’s residents to access family doctor services in Ontario.

Mayor Lucie Rivet Paquette said the agreement currently fails to provide the residents of her community with some essential medical services close to home.

The rural community, which sits in the northwestern corner of the MRC Pontiac, has two nearby hospitals: Deep River, Ont. (27 kilometres away) and Pembroke (77 kilometres).

But sometimes more complicated procedures have to be done further afield in larger hospitals such as Ottawa or Montreal.

Paquette said she understands that sometimes urgent care requires being treated at a larger hospital with more services, but she wishes patients with longer-term conditions could be transferred back to Deep River or Pembroke to recover closer to home.

“We’re talking about long-term recovery here,” she said. “We can’t go to Ottawa or Montreal to give them support.”

Paquette said it’s unfair that residents of her community should have to travel so far for healthcare when there are hospitals in Ontario that are nearby.

She also wants to see an exception made for medications. The nearest pharmacy is in Mansfield, and the pharmacies on the Ontario side won’t accept Quebec’s public medication insurance.

At the end of September the community will be hosting CISSSO’s Pontiac director Nicole Boucher-Larivière for a barbecue where they will discuss what changes could be made to the agreement.