Published November 6, 2023


By Ruby Pratka

Local Journalism Initiative

The town council of Sutton has approved funding for a dog park and a turtle crossing after those two projects received the most votes in the town’s participatory budget poll, town officials announced on Nov. 1.

Participatory budget initiatives, where cities earmark $50,000 for citizen-driven projects, have been established in Montreal, Longueuil, Laval, Rimouski, Granby and several smaller towns across the province in recent years. Mayor Robert Benoit and the Action Sutton slate made a participatory budget part of their campaign platform. “It’s a [concept] that is taking root all over Quebec, and we thought it was important to do it here, ” Benoit told the BCN in April, shortly after the project was launched.

Through the participatory budget initiative, citizens were invited to submit their own proposals to put their stamp on town property. According to a city information document, projects needed to be completed by the end of 2024, designed to last at least three years, require a one-time investment of no more than $50,000 with no subsequent recurring costs, serve the common good and be “financially, technically and legally feasible” within the time frame and budget described. Twenty-nine projects were submitted, 16 were judged eligible, and after a process of consolidation and feasibility assessment, 12 appeared on the final ballot.

Voting took place online and in person with polling stations at the Tourist Office, the municipal and school libraries and voting events held at the farmers’ market the Maison des Jeunes and Les Villas des Monts seniors’ residence; polling places were also set up in Sutton Junction and Glen Sutton. Although each proposal had to have an adult project lead, children and youth groups were welcome to submit projects, and children as young as 10 were given the right to vote for their favourite, according to the president of the project steering committee, Sylvie Grégoire. “We wanted young people to get involved and have a voice in their community,” Grégoire said. Town officials said in a statement that 875 people – nearly 19 per cent of the eligible population – cast their votes.

When the votes were counted, the dog park at the end of Rue des Puits was the clear winner with just over 41 per cent of the vote, followed by the turtle crossing with 37 per cent. Despite the fact that the proposed budget for the dog park ($50,000) theoretically left no room for additional projects, councillors voted to earmark another $2,500 to put in place a turtle crossing at the south end of Chemin Alderbrooke. According to the statement, officials expect both projects to be completed by the end of 2024. “The public will be kept informed of the progress of the work, in which citizens might be invited to participate,” the statement said.

“We have a lot of very involved citizens, and that’s one of the things that make it nice to live here,” Grégoire said. “We were hoping to have 15 projects submitted and finally we had 29. That’s more than we ever hoped for, and it shows there’s a lot of interest for this kind of participation.” She added that while councillors will have the final say on whether and when subsequent participatory budget projects move forward, the steering committee has recommended that this edition not be the first.

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