Councillors

By Madeline Kerr 

The race for a new face in Chelsea’s Ward 6 is officially on.

Current Cantley Coun. Jean-Charles Lalonde has announced he will run for a Chelsea council seat, hoping to represent Hollow Glen, Kingsmere and Hendrick Farm. 

Lalonde explained his family is still in the midst of moving from Cantley to the Chelsea Creek neighbourhood, telling the Low Down that it was important for his daughter, who already attends Chelsea Elementary, be able to grow up around her friends and peers. 

Chelsea Creek is part of Ward 2, not Ward 6, but Lalonde explained that he wants to see current Ward 2 Coun. Dominic Labrie re-elected to represent the centre village. 

“Dominic brings a lot of good things to the table. I don’t think a competition for his seat would benefit the community,” Lalonde said. 

Current Ward 6 Coun. Kimberly Chan recently announced she will not be seeking re-election. Longtime Hollow Glen resident Donald Dery will be running against Lalonde for the seat. 

Lalonde said he can offer the council an unusual combination of experience and a fresh perspective. He would be a new face on council, but he said, “I bring with me valuable experience as a municipal councillor in Cantley.… I already know what to expect. The learning curve will not be so steep for me.” 

In a written statement, Lalonde said that Chelsea “has already felt like my home.…I’ve heard concerns around issues like road safety and parking, community infrastructure, river access and ensuring services are effective and responsive. I’ve also seen how important it is to build strong community partnerships … and I want to strengthen those relationships to better serve residents. I’m also aware that businesses are facing challenges – navigating permits and regulations and the need for clearer, fairer rules and more support.”

Lalonde is a trained social worker who currently works as a program manager for the local health authority CISSSO. His work involves supporting seniors who want to remain at home as they age. His work gives him an in-depth perspective on the challenges seniors face in Chelsea, he said, adding that retirees are too often driven out of the municipality due to the cost of living.  

Regarding unique challenges in Ward 6, Lalonde said he wants to address Hollow Glen’s isolation from the rest of the municipality. He proposes bringing more cultural and recreational programming to Hollow Glen to foster “a greater sense of belonging, rather than expecting everyone there to always be going to the Meredith Centre [in the centre village].” 

He said he also wants to prioritize traffic getting in and out of Hendrick Farm by “advocating to get streetlights installed at that intersection sooner rather than later.” 

Lalonde pointed to his work in Cantley as evidence that he knows how to manage municipal finances: At the start of his term, the municipality was running a budgetary deficit but council has since been able to balance the budget. He said that he has watched Chelsea’s finances “ballooning” adding, “Taxes are climbing at an alarming rate….I want to help bring greater stability.”

Lalonde was among five council members who voted in favour of a controversial resolution to increase densification in Cantley earlier this year. 

He told the Low Down, “Every decision I make [as councillor] will make some people happy, others less happy…I’m doing this job for the best interest of the masses.”

Municipal elections will take place on Nov. 2.