SOPHIE DEMERS
LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE

FORT-COULONGE – Last July, the Pontiac Pool Project Committee announced they didn’t receive funding from the Quebec government to proceed with building an indoor pool in Pontiac. This was their second time applying for the $8 million to build the pool after receiving funding early in the process to create an architectural and construction plan.

According to Jane Toller, MRC Pontiac’s warden who spearheaded the project, the committee won’t apply for the same funding again this year.

“In all of Quebec, only one pool got partial funding and the rest were refused,” said Toller. “The provincial government knows it can be challenging to cover operating costs of a pool, so I think they’re reluctant to fund the capital cost. They’re putting far more support into building hockey arenas at the moment.”

Toller, who has put the pool project on her top priority list since she was first elected in 2017, says she’s not giving up and is investigating alternative funding opportunities and ways to simplify the original plan.

Toller noted the Pontiac Pool Committee surveyed residents a few years ago and 80% of respondents stated the pool is one of their top priorities. “I haven’t stopped believing in the importance of a swimming pool because many people will benefit from it and it will improve the region’s health and quality of life,” said Toller.

The original plans included an accessible pool with a ramp for wheelchair users or those with limited mobility, aquafit classes, swimming clubs and lessons.

Although the project will not move forward as planned, Toller says it’s important not to lose hope. “I’m investigating a way of building this pool that will not require us to wait months with our hands out to the government and probably hearing ‘no’ a third time,” explained Toller. “I’m looking into private funding and ways to spend less money. I want to be able to say by the end of this year that a pool is on its way,” she concluded.