CATHY FOX
LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE

OTTER LAKE – The Otter Lake Community Assembly met for their first working session on May 10 at the Otter Lake RA Centre. The grassroots effort to foster greater community collaboration and engagement was spearheaded by local resident Thomas Villeneuve. With a vision rooted in inclusivity and consensus-based decision-making, Villeneuve invited neighbours to participate in public sessions to share their hopes, concerns, and ideas for the community’s future.

Villeneuve believes that by forming a community group committed to consensus, residents can ensure all voices are heard and decisions are well-explained before any proposal reaches municipal council. This approach, he hopes, will reduce frustration often expressed at council meetings, where residents sometimes feel excluded from the decision-making process.

Villeneuve acknowledges some initiatives may overlap with existing community service clubs. However, he sees the group’s role as complementary — helping these clubs become more visible and accessible while strengthening the fabric of community involvement.

Villeneuve and fellow organizer Kris Lafleur introduced a method for selecting three projects from a list of five categories. This follows an earlier brainstorming session which produced over 80 creative suggestions when participants were encouraged to “dream big”, and their ideas were posted across five project boards, categorized by theme and interest.

Attendees first reviewed the bulletin boards. The room was then reconfigured into a large circle, promoting open dialogue. Each participant voiced their primary interests and listed the skills they could contribute to each project. This collective skill inventory helped determine which initiatives were most feasible.

The final projects decided on were a tree giveaway, a community garden, and a collaborative group to support the municipality’s 150th anniversary committee. The community assembly itself is intended to dissolve once working groups for each chosen project are formed, allowing residents to shift from planning to action.

Photo – Otter Lake Community Assembly organizers Kris Lafleur (left) and Thomas Villeneuve at the organization’s first meeting, May 10, at the Otter Lake RA Centre. (CF)