By Madeline Kerr

Rita Jain, councillor for Farm Point, announced she will seek re-election in November, saying this time around she wants to make local government more open and accessible, and tackle what she sees as a “growing lack of trust” in the municipality.  

“I was reluctant at first [to run again],” Jain recently told the Low Down. The councillor has represented Ward 5 since 2021. 

She said she felt disheartened over the past four years by “dysfunctionality on council…. I felt I was often blocked and not listened to.” But she added that, “Speaking to emerging candidates who share similar values [to me] … convinced me that some of the points in my platform could become a reality” if re-elected. 

Jain’s platform, she explained, is partly the result of a consultation she held with her constituents during a town-hall style event at Motel Chelsea in early September. She listed five overarching priorities, which includes improving services for residents and supporting sustainable development. 

Jain said she thinks that one of the biggest issues facing Chelsea is a “growing lack of trust in the municipality.” 

“Trust is earned,” she asserted. “Residents don’t feel like the municipality is always working in their interest and this is hard to come back from.” 

She said she has a plan to make local government more accessible and transparent. She told the Low Down she wants to make information “open [to the public] by default.” 

“If something is accessible by filing an access-to-information request, then that should be the criteria for publishing it,” she asserted. 

She said she also wants to limit closed-door meetings, require public consultations for major projects, host periodic town hall meetings and revive the Communications and Engagement Committee at council. 

As a councillor, Jain chaired the Environmental Committee and is known for her climate activism, which is reflected in her platform. (She is a director at Friends of the Gatineau River or FOG, a non-profit environmental advocacy group.)

Among other environmental priorities, she said she wants to develop both a comprehensive climate plan and a water policy for the municipality that includes mapping wells, aquifers and wetlands, and upgrading the municipal sewage system to better protect the Gatineau River. 

While she said she wants to slow Chelsea’s pace of growth and said she favours extending the current moratorium on development in the centre-village, Jain is also in favour of finding solutions to create affordable housing. 

“I know families who have been here for generations, and they’re having trouble staying here because of the cost of living and the rise in taxes,” she said. 

She proposes establishing bylaws that allow for smaller homes to be built and for larger homes to be subdivided to increase densification.  

“We need to make sure all kinds of people can live here, not just the wealthy,” she said.

Jain, who is a long-time resident with grown-up children, added: “Council should use residents’ satisfaction with their quality of life as an index for success … it doesn’t have to be difficult if we put our focus on the right things.”

Municipal elections will take place across the province on Nov. 2.