Camilla Faragalli, reporter

Funded by the Local Journalism Initiative

Residents of Portage du Fort gathered at the town’s municipal hall on Tuesday evening to discuss an array of economic and social challenges faced by the community and brainstorm potential solutions.
The meeting, put on by the Connexions Resource Centre, was the fourth in a series of five the organization is hosting in communities across the Pontiac to gather information about the needs, challenges, strengths and opportunities defining each.
Portage du Fort was the smallest municipality of those selected for a focus group, but last Tuesday it boasted the largest turnout of any session so far.
Attendees identified issues including access to healthcare, transportation, and loss of local economic opportunity due to cross-border shopping in Ontario as some of the main challenges for the community.
Particular concern was also voiced over a lack of local community programming, despite the need and desire for it from individual community members.
“[There is] not a lot of organization or knowledge of how to do that, or a sense of empowerment around how to get things started,” Caitlin Brubacher, owner of art and framing business Elephant in the Attic told THE EQUITY. Brubacher moved to Portage from Toronto three years ago.
“There really needs to be some enthusiasm that is a bit contagious for people to feel empowered to bring their own skills to the table, to create more community engagement in whatever way, whether it be in physical activities, artistic endeavours, for all levels of the population.”

Connexions hosts focus group in Portage du Fort

Nicole Thompson attended the session with her husband Edward. The couple have raised 10 children in Portage du Fort, own and run the Maison Mont-Blanc retirement residence, and owned the town’s general store, Dépanneur Thompson, for 13 years before selling it to their daughter.
“We [residents] don’t have much access to what goes on at the municipal hall, so people would end up coming to the store to find out what was going on,” Thompson later told THE EQUITY, explaining that residents would often show up to find the hall empty, and its voice-mailbox full.
“People stopped going to the [town hall] meetings because they didn’t feel welcome there,” she added.
“Any questions that were asked were viewed defensively. The general sense was that there was no use going.”
Thompson said she hoped the Connexions focus group session would help to identify and reduce barriers of access and communication between Portage residents and the municipality.
Lynne Cameron, mayor of Portage, was also in attendance at the meeting. She told THE EQUITY she was very happy to see the community coming together to discuss its wants and needs.
She too acknowledged a lull in participation in community events, especially since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I think the word gets out, but it’s encouraging participation [that is needed]. It’s a small town, there’s a lot of new people, maybe they don’t want to come because they don’t know anybody,” she said.
Cameron was optimistic that renovations currently underway at the town hall would provide a space for group functions and different activities, further enhancing participation in community events.
“We’re going to have computer courses for seniors,” she said. “In doing that it brings people together. I’m very excited.”
She was also optimistic that the increasing presence of children in Portage would further enhance community engagement.
“Usually when it’s to do with kids, there’s big turnout,” she said. “[There were] a few years where there were hardly any kids. Now we have enough for a baseball team.”
Brubacher said she thinks there is great potential in bringing together two of the largest factions of the Portage population, children and the elderly.
“There is a great need for the young people of our communities and the elderly of our communities to share space, to support each other through intergenerational aid,” she said.
“They both have similar needs for engagement and for community care, and so there’s a wonderful opportunity there [for them] to come together in some way.”
Connexions is a non-profit organization that aims to link the English-speaking community of the Outaouais with a variety of health and social services.
Shelley Heaphy, its community outreach coordinator for the MRC Pontiac region, said the information gathered during the sessions will be used to update a series of “community portraits” first created in 2018.
These updated portraits will help the organization target its services according to the information gathered, as well as advocate to community partners and apply for relevant funding.
The final Connexions focus group will be hosted Feb. 6 in L’Isle-aux-Allumettes.