KC Jordan

Lafleur MRC’s new assistant DG

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , ,

K.C. Jordan, LJI Journalist

AgriSaveur, des Joachims healthcare also on council agenda

At last week’s MRC Pontiac monthly Council of Mayors meeting, back in session after a one-month summer break, it was announced that Otter Lake mayor Terry Lafleur has been hired as the MRC’s new assistant director general. This is a new position at the MRC, created by way of resolution at the council’s February meeting.

Director general Kim Lesage said Lafleur will work on a number of different files, including leading the economic development team, which has in part been Lesage’s responsibility since the MRC’s economic development director position was vacated earlier this year.

“We’ve been taking on the economic development team in the absence of our director there, and so [the assistant DG] is going to fill in this role and be more of a direct contact with them.”

Lafleur, who has spent over a decade in municipal politics working for several Pontiac municipalities, said he is looking forward to assuming the new position, and believes his experience in many aspects of the job will be an asset.

“I have experience in HR, economic development, financing [ . . . ] and a ton of experience on the urbanism side of things.”

Lesage said it was that diverse experience that helped them choose Lafleur for the position, adding that she has dealt with him at the Council of Mayors table and is confident they will make a good team.

“We’ve always had a good relationship. I feel like I can really work well with him,” she said.

The new position will start Sept. 16. Meanwhile, his departure from the Otter Lake mayoral seat will trigger a by-election in his municipality, to be held within four months of when he gives his resignation.

Lesage named MRC AgriSaveur support member

Among the other resolutions passed at Wednesday evening’s meeting was one announcing director general Kim Lesage as the founding MRC support member for the new AgriSaveur co-operative.

The co-op, which is registered with the province as the “Coopérative de solidarité AgriSaveur du Pontiac”, is made up primarily of nine producers, six of which are from the Pontiac, who intend to resume operations of the abattoir outside of Shawville.

The MRC, which currently owns the assets to the abattoir, will sell all but the building to the co-op and rent it the building at a yet to be determined price. The MRC will use part of the space to run its AgriSaveur project, a commercial kitchen where producers can come to add value to their products.

The group held its first meeting on Aug. 14 to name its executive members, and Lesage was there as the lone MRC member. She will sit at the co-op table as the MRC representative in discussions related to the project.

“I have a vote at the table, however I’m not a member that is going to be using the services.”

There will also be an employee member of the co-op once staff has been hired.

Lesage said the MRC has hired a local person to take charge of the AgriSaveur project, and said the person will be announced in the coming weeks.

The MRC has also hired a firm to help in drafting a business plan for the new project, and will meet with them Sept. 3 to review a first draft.

Lesage said they are hoping to open the facility in the fall.

Rapides des Joachims seeks interprovincial healthcare

The MRC Pontiac passed a resolution in support of the Municipality of Rapides des Joachims’ call for changes to an interprovincial medical services agreement that currently allows the municipality’s residents to access family doctor services in Ontario.

Mayor Lucie Rivet Paquette said the agreement currently fails to provide the residents of her community with some essential medical services close to home.

The rural community, which sits in the northwestern corner of the MRC Pontiac, has two nearby hospitals: Deep River, Ont. (27 kilometres away) and Pembroke (77 kilometres).

But sometimes more complicated procedures have to be done further afield in larger hospitals such as Ottawa or Montreal.

Paquette said she understands that sometimes urgent care requires being treated at a larger hospital with more services, but she wishes patients with longer-term conditions could be transferred back to Deep River or Pembroke to recover closer to home.

“We’re talking about long-term recovery here,” she said. “We can’t go to Ottawa or Montreal to give them support.”

Paquette said it’s unfair that residents of her community should have to travel so far for healthcare when there are hospitals in Ontario that are nearby.

She also wants to see an exception made for medications. The nearest pharmacy is in Mansfield, and the pharmacies on the Ontario side won’t accept Quebec’s public medication insurance.

At the end of September the community will be hosting CISSSO’s Pontiac director Nicole Boucher-Larivière for a barbecue where they will discuss what changes could be made to the agreement.

Lafleur MRC’s new assistant DG Read More »

Enviro groups hope to grow Noire and Coulonge protected area

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K.C. Jordan, LJI Journalist

This month, Pontiac MP Sophie Chatel spent the day in a canoe on the Noire River with partners from two Outaouais environmental organizations to celebrate the progress they have made designating the Noire and Coulonge river watersheds as protected areas.

In 2023, after years of work by the Regional Council for the Environment and Sustainable Development of the Outaouais (CREDDO) and the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society’s (CPAWS) Ottawa Valley chapter, the Quebec government officially recognized the watersheds as a protected area, a status that ensures protection from industrial activities such as mining and logging.

But both organizations want to expand the territory the protected area covers from 85,000 to 115,000 hectares, which was their original goal when they began this work in 2019.

They used this money to conduct studies on the environmental value of the landscape, as well as the potential impacts on the forestry industry and on access to the territory and its woodland trail system.

They held public meetings called “harmonization tables” which brought together residents, municipalities, Indigenous communities, municipalities, ecotourism agencies, and more to discuss how they wanted the territory to be managed.

Geneviève LeBlanc, a conservation coordinator with CPAWS’ Ottawa Valley chapter, said to THE EQUITY in an email “the funding improved our community outreach efforts. It covered expenses related to the harmonization table and community information workshops.”

LeBlanc said in these meetings they were hearing that people wanted more territory to be included.

“We were really grateful, but we noticed that there’s actually more to protect in that area and that people wanted the protected area to be expanded.”

The proposed extensions would include the eastern branch of the Coulonge River, as well as areas that will improve connectivity between the two watersheds.

LeBlanc, who has been working on this project for over six years, said the landscape has tremendous ecological value, with more than 200 species identified, more than 20 of which are provincially or federally threatened or vulnerable.

“There are some species at risk that are really key there,” she said, noting the Noire and Coulonge rivers are situated in an important north-south corridor where species migrate.

There are also important forest ecosystems, including an old-growth cedar forest more than 300 years old.

“They have some old-growth forests and some forests that are growing toward being old-growth forests, which consumes a lot of carbon, so keeping them intact has a really high value,” she said.
Pontiac MP Sophie Chatel, a partner in this project, said the goal is to create a protected area that is ecologically valuable, but also where people can enjoy nature.

“It’s not just about protection, it’s about saving the natural beauty so that our children will be able to enjoy it, but also tourists will come and have a unique experience.”

In 2022, MRC Pontiac warden Jane Toller told THE EQUITY the protected area could help boost the region’s ecotourism industry.

“Our ecotourism [ . . . ] is attracting a lot of people,” she said. “People are in search of wilderness experiences now. And 50 per cent of people are leaving cities to go to wilderness natural areas, and the Pontiac offers that. So, it’s attracting tourists, it’s attracting permanent residents.”

Naomi Kamanga of CREDDO said during their public meetings they encountered some people who were resistant to the idea of a protected area.

“People were afraid of the term ‘protected area’ because they didn’t know what activities are allowed and what activities aren’t allowed.”

LeBlanc said landowners and people who use the land for recreational purposes will still be able to continue with those activities.

“Having a protected area is connecting people with nature. In a way that means that they can still enjoy all their activities. They’re doing their fishing, hunting, even some ATV or Ski-Doo.”

She noted that the only activities that will not be allowed on the land are industrial activities, citing mining and logging as examples.

During the public meeting some people were concerned that tourism would overrun the area, similar to what has happened at Mont-Tremblant.

LeBlanc said the chances of this happening are low because the land is publicly owned.

“It’s land that’s owned by the provincial government; crown land. So there’s no private land. The government will not be selling its land to a Tim Horton’s.”

Overall, LeBlanc said the public seems excited about the project, and that she has received a lot of positive feedback.

MRC environmental coordinator Kari Richardson said the MRC has always been a supporter of the Coulonge and Noire River protected area, but that she is concerned about how the MRC is going to maintain roads in an area where no extraction or mining is allowed.

“It’s important to have areas where those activities aren’t permitted, but then if we have to maintain infrastructure we need a gravel pit to do that,” she said.

Work from CREDDO and CPAWS has largely paused, as they are waiting for the Bureau d’audience publiques sur l’environnement (BAPE), the provincial agency that evaluates projects that will have impacts on the environment, to hold an information session informing the community about the project.

That’s also where CREDDO and CPAWS will have an opportunity to formally propose the expansion.
LeBlanc doesn’t know exactly when the BAPE will hold that session, but she’s hoping it’s sooner than later. She said if any mining projects begin in the areas designated for expansion, that could jeopardize the success of the project.

“Once a mine is there, it’s part of the area for a really long time, if not forever [ . . . ] That’s one of the things that could derail the project, if there’s an active mining claim.”

LeBlanc said she expects the session won’t be held until all of the projects in the Outaouais are at the same stage of the process.

Enviro groups hope to grow Noire and Coulonge protected area Read More »

Producers form abattoir co-op

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , ,

K.C. Jordan, LJI Journalist

The group of local producers who this spring collaborated with the MRC to save the Shawville abattoir have formed the co-operative that will run the facility going forward.

The Coopérative de solidarité Agrisaveur du Pontiac, which became officially registered as a non-profit on July 30, consists of six agricultural producers from MRC Pontiac and three from MRC des Collines.
In mid-August, the group held a meeting to name its executive members by way of a vote.

Bristol beef producer William Armitage was elected president of the new co-op. The three other executive members are vice-president Kyle Kidder, secretary Roger St-Cyr and treasurer Ben Younge.

He said the members are excited at the opportunity to bring back this essential service to the Pontiac.

When he and the eight other local producers saw the abattoir go up for foreclosure in February, they saw a perfect opportunity to keep the abattoir in the area.

“As a group of local producers, when we heard about the possible closure of the local slaughterhouse in Shawville, we came together with a common goal to preserve a much needed local service,” stated a press release from the co-operative, sent to THE EQUITY on Monday.

Armitage said the return of the abattoir to the Pontiac is going to have a huge impact for local producers. 

“There’s tons of great potential that the slaughterhouse has. It’s local and producers don’t have to go too far.”

The nearest abattoir in Quebec right now is in Thurso, an hour and a half away from Shawville. In addition to paying someone else to cut their beef, producers have to pay for the gas back and forth from the Thurso facility.

Roger St-Cyr, a local producer and secretary of the co-op, said the Thurso facility has a year wait time right now for appointments.

“Thurso is the only facility left in the area and they are overbooked,” he said.

Now, producers will once again have an abattoir in the Pontiac, which helps to keep costs down.

“Having the abattoir here is huge to help that bottleneck,” said Armitage.

They are confident that the abattoir will attract business from outside the MRC Pontiac, given the high demand for abattoir services.

St-Cyr also highlighted the fact that the abattoir brings jobs to the area, adding that the abattoir at one point had more than 10 employees on site.

The MRC currently owns the assets to the abattoir, which it purchased in May using provincial funding designated for its AgriSaveur food transformation project.

Now, the MRC intends for the abattoir facility to operate under the AgriSaveur umbrella. In addition to slaughtering and butchering animals, the facility will eventually also help local producers add value to their products, such as making sausage from meat or making jam from fruit.

Armitage was grateful the MRC was willing to collaborate on this project.

“We wouldn’t be able to even talk about this business without the support of the MRC,” he said.
St-Cyr was especially happy about the MRC’s involvement, given the alternative of building a new abattoir entirely.

“If we had built a new abattoir, it would make the budgeting pretty hard.”

There are several things that must be done before the abattoir can be opened. The co-op must meet with the MRC to discuss a lease, and to buy back the slaughterhouse equipment the MRC purchased in May.

According to the press release, the co-op is taking steps toward getting the proper permits to operate the facility.

“We are currently collaborating with MAPAQ in their process for permitting the Shawville facility.”

The co-op must also begin hiring staff, and according to Armitage there are some former abattoir employees who are interested in returning to work.

In addition to seats for nine producers, the co-op has a seat for one employee member and a seat for one MRC support member.

At last Wednesday’s MRC Council of Mayors meeting, director general Kim Lesage was appointed as the support person for the AgriSaveur co-op.

“I have a vote at the table, however I’m not a member that is going to be using the services,” said Lesage in conversation with THE EQUITY last week.

Lesage also said the MRC Pontiac has hired someone to take on the AgriSaveur file, and that it will announce who that person is in the coming weeks.

Armitage said the co-op wants to support the next generation of farmers, too. He and a few other members will be at the Shawville Fair this weekend to announce their decision to donate two spots at the abattoir to cut and wrap a cow and a lamb. All proceeds from those animals will go back into the 4-H club. 

“We’re all producers, and at one point our passion started not just on the family farm, but through the 4-H,” he said.

“Those kids, [ . . . ] they need to know that we support them.”

Armitage isn’t sure when exactly the abattoir will be back up and running, but he said now that the co-op is registered with the province, things can start moving faster.

He said they are working tirelessly to make this happen, and that he hopes they can be open sometime in the fall.

“I’ve been working from five or six in the morning to sometimes ten or 11,” he said, between his farm work and now the abattoir work on top of it.

He said they are looking for more members to join the co-op, as well as qualified candidates to work at the abattoir. If anyone is interested, they can get in touch with him at (613) 795-5083 or armohrfarm@gmail.com.

Producers form abattoir co-op Read More »

Jardin Éducatif celebrates 35th year giving youth a chance to flourish

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , ,

K.C. Jordan, LJI Journalist

The Jardin Éducatif du Pontiac hosted a community BBQ to celebrate its 35th anniversary on Friday night at its gardens just outside Campbell’s Bay.

The community organization, which helps youth in need by giving them a summer job on a farm, fed the hundreds of attendees a BBQ spread of hot dogs, hamburgers, and corn on the cob.

Some of the youth prepared salads with homemade vinaigrette dressings and an array of fresh vegetables picked straight from the gardens, only metres away from where the BBQ was held.

There was also music courtesy of DJ Erica Energy, a bouncy castle, and fresh vegetables for sale at the garden’s farm stall.

This year the BBQ, an end-of-summer tradition at the Jardin Éducatif, was an opportunity to recognize the founding and legacy of the organization that has become a staple in Pontiac life.

Litchfield mayor Colleen Larivière presented director Martin Riopel with a plaque celebrating the organization’s 35th anniversary at their Litchfield farm.

Riopel, who has been with the Jardin for eight years, said kids need to be given a chance, no matter their situation in life.

“All young people need help at one time or another. All young people have personal situations or familial situations. We are there to support them as much as possible,” he told THE EQUITY in French.

He said it’s important for kids to have a place to learn that is not a classroom.

“Yes, academic achievement is important, but it’s also important to have personal successes in life in general.”

After thanking some of the founders, the sponsors and the volunteers that made the BBQ possible, Riopel handed the mic over to the Jardin’s youth workers to give awards to some of the youth who this year, for the first time, were paid to work in the gardens.

Addison Williams received the leadership award, Landon St-Cyr the future entrpreneur award, Cameron Crawford the personality award, Mickaël Molnar-Belley and Gaïa Riopel the awards for best gardeners, Alex Bélair and Rylan Lévesque the awards for best cooks, and Laydon Lavigne the most improved award. Each award-winner received a small potted plant to symbolize the hard work they put in over the course of the summer.

Sylvie Landriault and Claire Taillefer, two of five founding members of the Jardin Éducatif, said they always gave the youth end-of-summer awards.

“We made trophies in the shape of tractors,” Landriault told THE EQUITY in French.

At the time, both women worked for readaptation centres for Outaouais youth in need. They saw that Pontiac kids they were working with had nothing to do in the summer, and they wanted to give them a positive activity to participate in.

Taillefer had somewhat of a green thumb, and pitched the idea of a garden.

“Gardening was a medium we could use to bring them together, and then to teach them,” she said in French, recalling her rationale at the time.

So, with $2,300 given to them by a community fund, and a piece of land gifted to them for $1 a year by a local farmer, they started the garden.

They used some of that money to hire a summer employee, and another chunk to purchase a bus, which they used to pick up the kids if they didn’t have transportation.

Taillefer found the youth took to gardening well, in part because agriculture was already part of everyday life.

“In the Pontiac, people are cultivators, so it was a medium that wouldn’t intimidate anybody,” she said.
Landriault said she figured the work was rewarding because the kids got to feel a sense of accomplishment.

“It was an activity that wasn’t expensive, and what’s more, you walk away happy because you can bring vegetables home with you as well.”

In addition to the annual end-of-summer celebration, which often featured a theatrical performance produced by the youth, the founders also took the youth on excursions, including snowshoeing and canoeing.

Taillefer said she has seen the positive impact the garden has had on youth. At least one former garden participant has progressed up the ranks to become a director of the garden, and a number of couples have also met in the program over the years.

Riopel said the work is rewarding, especially when he runs into former participants later in life and they tell him how helpful the program was to their development.

“Sometimes I’ll run into one of them at the Shawville Fair, or in Ottawa, and they’ll say ‘thank you, Martin!’ [ . . . ] I’ve got a job and a girlfriend now.”

All the proceeds from the BBQ will go toward Bouffe Pontiac.

Jardin Éducatif celebrates 35th year giving youth a chance to flourish Read More »

Mayors vote to hand over recycling to MRC

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , ,

K.C. Jordan, LJI Reporter

The MRC Pontiac held a special council sitting on Wednesday to formalize, by way of a resolution, its jurisdiction of all household recycling across the county.

Until now, recycling has been managed individually by all 18 municipalities. Going forward, the MRC will hire one waste management service to take care of recycling in all municipalities.

The MRC originally declared its intention to acquire the competency to manage municipal recycling in February of this year.

Municipalities then had 90 days to object to the declaration, but MRC environmental coordinator Kari Richardson said the MRC got no feedback.

“They have 90 days to send a letter saying what kind of services are getting impacted [ . . . ] but we didn’t receive any letters,” she said.

The MRC called a special sitting on Wednesday because it is legally obligated to pass the new bylaw within 180 days of its original declaration of intention, and waiting until the regular Council of Mayors meeting scheduled for Aug. 21 would have been too late.

At Wednesday’s special sitting, the MRC Pontiac’s 18 mayors voted unanimously to adopt the resolution.
MRC director general Kim Lesage said the MRC plans to open the call for tenders this fall for a contract that will begin Jan. 1, 2025.

Mayors vote to hand over recycling to MRC Read More »

Community Players gear up for show about rural family life

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , ,

K.C. Jordan, LJI Reporter

Bristol’s Coronation Hall played host to the Pontiac Community Players on Thursday night as they rehearsed their summer production.

The community theatre group is putting the final touches on its show, an adaptation of Toronto playwright David S. Craig’s Having Hope at Home, to be performed over three days next week.

The rehearsal went largely without a hitch, save for a few panicked calls of “Line?” from the actors.

The play is set at an old farmhouse in rural Ontario, and the plot centres around a young pregnant couple, Carolyn and Michel, who are set to welcome their new baby into the world with the help of their midwife, Dawn.

Tensions flare as Carolyn’s father Bill, an obstetrician, can’t seem to get on board with his daughter’s decision to have a home birth instead of going to the hospital.

Bill’s wife Jane and father Russell each chime in with their own two cents, while the erstwhile happy couple try to find peace amidst the familial chaos.

William Bastien and Darlene Pashak are co-directing the Pontiac Community Players’ adaptation of this story.

Bastien said the play is both heart-warming and heart-wrenching at points.

“It’s funny, but between the funny is really earnest, sensitive moments. [ . . . ] It leaves you feeling kind of nice.”

Pashak said the play’s themes will be relatable to those who live in the Pontiac.

”Farming is the heart of the Pontiac, and we have a lot of people who are professionals,” she said. “I think there could be some tensions in families between those different lifestyles.”

She said for her, each character feels familiar.

“Every person I see on stage is a composite of people I know.”

Bastien echoed that feeling. “When we were reading it, it was like, ‘I know these people’. I have friends that have been in this exact situation.”

“The grandfather in the show, some of the style, I swear to God, is picked up off the streets of Shawville. I’ve heard people say, ‘I know this man’,” he said. “It’s everyone’s grandfather in the Pontiac.”

Preparations for the show began in May, and soon after reading through the play everyone involved knew they had something special on their hands.

“On the first read-through with the cast it came to life,” Pashak said. “The line you read on paper was getting out-loud laughs on the first read.”

Both directors agreed the cast, ranging from professional actors to some who haven’t acted since elementary school, has been splendid.

“Seeing them develop their characters on stage and even their confidence has been really nice to watch. It’s been so impressive,” Bastien said.

The rehearsals haven’t been without their challenges, some of which are related to Coronation Hall’s steel roof and lack of ventilation.

“If it’s hot, this building is incredibly, incredibly hot, and if it rains, it’s hard to hear,” Bastien said.

But of the six Pontiac Community Players productions he’s been a part of, Bastien said Having Hope at Home has been the smoothest thus far.

“Last season was a little hectic. We got our rights late, we got our scripts even later, it was an incredibly rushed process,” he recalled. “This year is going so smoothly.”

He also said the actors even found new meaning in the script as they acted it out on stage, particularly between the characters of Michel, the baby’s father, and Dawn, the midwife.

In the script, only Michel is meant to be francophone, but the actor chosen to play Dawn is also from a Franco-Ontarian background, bringing new meaning to the dynamic between those characters.

“We found these two characters who would otherwise have no connection, find a little bit of camaraderie because they are both these outsider francophones.”

The Players are looking forward to inviting the public to see their production, and are especially excited to have it in Coronation Hall, a venue that Bastien said goes perfectly with the play.

“In the play they live in a sketchy little homestead, and so this building fit very well.”

He said they want to give the impression the characters are living in Coronation Hall, and that the audience is invited into their living room.

Pashak said the play was written to take place on a rhubarb farm, but the directors got permission from its author to change the setting to an apple farm, given their venue of choice.

Each attendee will receive a slice of apple pie and a sweet apple cider that they can enjoy while taking in the show.

The play will run from Aug. 21 to 24 at Coronation Hall in Bristol.

Tickets cost $25, and those who wish to purchase them can call 819-647-2547.

Community Players gear up for show about rural family life Read More »

Norway Bay watches former cottager Brousseau swim Olympic relay

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , ,

K.C. Jordan, LJI Reporter

Canada finishes 4th, narrowly misses medal

Wilf Brousseau’s cottage sits facing the Norway Bay pier, the place where his granddaughter Julie learned to swim.

On Thursday, clad in a red and white jersey bearing his family name and a cardboard cutout of his granddaughter’s face, he hosted family, friends, and other invited guests onto his lawn to watch Julie Brousseau compete in the Olympics for the first time.

A small group of supporters, mostly Brousseau’s close family, got up at the ripe hour of 5 a.m. to watch the swimmer, who spent her summers in Norway Bay, compete for team Canada in the qualifying rounds of the 4x200m freestyle relay, an event where each country fields a team of four swimmers, who each swim four lengths of the pool.

Don McGowan, Brousseau’s uncle-in-law and a member of the watch party, said some attendees weren’t even sure if Julie would swim for Team Canada at these Olympics. At the Olympic trials in May, she didn’t swim fast enough to qualify for any individual events, casting serious doubt on her chances. But ultimately her time was good enough to get her an invite for the relay team, a distinction many young swimmers get from the national swimming federation if they are considered promising talents who could reasonably benefit from the experience in order to be more successful in future Olympics.

As team Canada swam its qualifying rounds, 18-year-old Brousseau proved herself as one of her team’s fastest swimmers, posting Canada’s second-fastest time in the heats. Don McGowan, Brousseau’s uncle-in-law, said there was a gut feeling among the Norway Bay spectators that, should Canada qualify for the final race, Julie would be given the role of team Canada’s anchor—a position often reserved for the team’s fastest swimmer. “We said, ‘I have a feeling she’s going to make it.’”

The anchor, who swims last, must either hold down her team’s lead, or try to narrow the gap and overtake the leading swimmer, depending on the team’s position.

Sure enough, in Thursday’s final, which was broadcast outside on her grandfather’s lawn in front of a crowd of some 200 cheering fans, Brousseau had the unenviable position of trying to rescue her country from missing out on the podium. As she got ready to jump in the pool for the fourth and final leg of the race, Canada sat in fourth place, behind the United States, Australia, and China. Summer McIntosh, the 17-year-old prodigy who to date has won four medals at these Paris games, preceded Brousseau in the order. She had narrowed the margin between the Canadians and the three leading teams, but there was still work to be done. With a typical look of resolute determination on her face, Julie hopped in the pool, hoping to make up the gap and bring a medal to her country.

McGowan said ever since Brousseau was a kid learning to swim in Norway Bay, she has had a singular drive to succeed. He said outside the pool she is a normal kid, but when she gets in the pool it’s all business. “She’s such a nice kid, and she’s just a goofball, and very smart academically […] but when she gets in the pool she’s absolutely single-minded; so competitive.”

As her leg of the race went on, it became clear the American, Aussie, and Chinese swimmers were too fast, and she wasn’t able to close the gap. Canada finished fourth behind those three teams, who won gold, silver, and bronze, respectively.

At grandfather Brousseau’s cottage, everyone was cheering Julie on until the bitter end. “I think some of the family were more stressed than she was,” McGowan joked, adding that it was nice to get together to celebrate Julie even if her race didn’t result in a medal. The event raised over $900 for the Norway Bay Municipal Association, the group that organizes community events in the summer, including swimming lessons. McGowan said he and other supporters are hoping to attend the next summer games in Los Angeles, should Brousseau qualify.

Norway Bay watches former cottager Brousseau swim Olympic relay Read More »

Alleyn and Cawood receives $14K from province to kickstart composting program

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , ,

KC Jordan, LJI Reporter

The municipality of Alleyn and Cawood has received over $14,000 from the provincial government that will help kickstart a composting program in the coming months.

The amount, which was obtained from Quebec’s environment ministry, will pay for half the cost of acquiring rolling compost bins and small indoor compost bins. The remaining 50 per cent will be covered by the municipality.

Each residential property will receive one rolling compost bin and each commercial property will receive two, while residential properties will also receive an additional smaller bin intended for indoor use.

Isabelle Cardinal, Alleyn and Cawood’s director general, said the composting program is part of a broader effort to reduce the municipality’s garbage tonnage

Garbage is more expensive to ship than compost, and she is hoping that by separating collection of garbage, compost and recycling, the municipality can save money on waste collection.

One tonne of garbage, she said, costs the municipality $300 to drop at the transfer site, while a tonne of compost will cost them $125.

Recyc-Québec, the province’s recycling authority, estimates that 40 per cent of the weight of municipally collected garbage bags is actually compostable material – an amount that Cardinal hopes they can get residents to put into a compost bin instead of a garbage bag

She said a small investment in the compost bins will yield a larger savings on garbage collection in the future.

“Yes, it’s going to cost money up front, but at the end of the line we will reap the benefits,” she said.

Alleyn and Cawood implemented a similar program last September whereby each household received a blue rolling bin to bring their recycling out to the street – the goal being to get people to separate out their recycling instead of putting it in the garbage.

Cardinal said the uptake has been huge, and people seem to be recycling more now.

“We’ve already seen a big difference,” Cardinal told THE EQUITY in French. “The garbage bags are smaller than the rolling recycling bins [ . . . ] people seem to be recycling more.”

Cardinal said she is hoping the composting program will be similarly successful.

Alleyn and Cawood receives $14K from province to kickstart composting program Read More »

FilloGreen wins MRC garbage contract

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , ,

KC Jordan, LJI Reporter

The MRC Pontiac and representatives of the company FilloGreen met two weeks ago to officially sign a new household waste collection contract for all MRC municipalities.

The contract, which was awarded to the company at last month’s MRC Pontiac council meeting, will begin on Aug. 19 and will last for three years.

FilloGreen, which operates a site at the Pontiac Industrial Park in Litchfield, “focuses on sorting, processing, recycling and enhancing dry construction, renovation and demolition (CRD) materials,” according to its website.

The company won the contract over the incumbent McGrimmon Cartage, located just outside Shawville, which was the only other bidder.

Nina Digioacchino, an environmental coordinator at the MRC who works on waste management, said FilloGreen won the bid by accruing the most points on an evaluation chart with scoring categories including experience, knowledge of the territory, as well as cost.

“They had the best overall score between the two proposals that we received,” she said.

She said the MRC is still working out details, but it wants garbage collection to look the same for Pontiac residents when the contract switches over.

“The goal is to have everything as-is,” she said, adding that collection days should remain the same.

Under the new contract, certain municipalities that currently collect their own waste and bring it to the McGrimmon transfer site will now transport loads to FilloGreen’s transfer site in Litchfield.

Shawville mayor Bill McCleary said the town has spent $130,000 on a compactor truck for this purpose.

“We’ll be able to put the whole town’s garbage in the compactor truck in one shot, truck it to Litchfield, and dump it there,” he said, adding that the town used to take its garbage to McGrimmon in a truck, a task that took four or five trips to complete.

He said this new arrangement could be financially beneficial for his town, as FilloGreen is offering a 20 per cent discount for municipalities who truck their own waste to the Litchfield site.

“We feel there will be a cost savings,” he said.

FilloGreen has previously pitched its Litchfield site as a potential landfill location for the Pontiac’s household waste, promoting this idea through ads in various local media outlets.

In an ad campaign from November, the company touted this option as one that would save money the MRC spends to transport the county’s garbage to the landfill in Lachute.

The ad also said a Litchfield landfill would create jobs and support the local economy.

THE EQUITY requested an interview with FilloGreen several times to better understand the company’s intentions for its Litchfield site, but no interview was granted before the publication deadline.

“We feel there will be a cost savings,” he said.

FilloGreen has previously pitched its Litchfield site as a potential landfill location for the Pontiac’s household waste, promoting this idea through ads in various local media.

In an ad campaign from November, the company touted this option as one that would save money the MRC spends to transport the county’s garbage to the landfill in Lachute.

The ad also said a Litchfield landfill would create jobs and support the local economy.

THE EQUITY requested an interview with FilloGreen several times to better understand the company’s intentions for its Litchfield site, but no interview was granted before the publication deadline.

The company has not received an approval from Quebec’s environment ministry to operate a household waste landfill at this site.

MRC Pontiac’s director general Kim Lesage said the MRC was aware of the company’s ambition to open such a landfill in Litchfield, but did not consider it when making a final decision about the waste collection contract because the company doesn’t have the necessary approvals.

“We are aware that is an idea that they have, but it is completely separate from this contract for transferring the garbage to Lachute,” Lesage said.

The agreement between FilloGreen and the MRC stipulates the company will continue to transport the MRC Pontiac’s household waste to the Lachute facility, like McGrimmon is currently doing.

But according to section 5.3.2 of the call for tenders released by the MRC, the disposal facility can change “if another facility offers a better price for transportation and disposal than the one currently agreed upon.”

Any new facility would have to be approved by the MRC and would have to meet several criteria, including “no negative implications, no negative monetary consequence and no negative impact of any nature for the MRC or its constituent municipalities.”

THE EQUITY asked Digioacchino if the MRC would be open to a household waste landfill opening on the Litchfield site if it received an approval.

“I’m not going to speculate on that at this point in time,” she said. “Right now everything is going to Lachute and it’s staying with Lachute.”

Digioacchino said she is confident Lachute will remain the disposal facility for the duration of the contract.

“As far as we are concerned, it could take a very long time for the [government] to approve a facility.”

“It will be Lachute until the end of the game because you can’t just flip it around and get a certificate of authorization . . . It’s a very long process.”

After the three-year contract is up, the MRC Council of Mayors will have the option to extend the contract for another two years.

FilloGreen wins MRC garbage contract Read More »

Touring bus to offer Pontiac’s unhoused a place to shower, get help

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , ,

KC Jordan, LJI Reporter

A new social services bus is teaming up with a local Pontiac organization to offer essential services to people experiencing homelessness in the area.
The new “Réhabus” bus started roaming the streets last week with plans to travel across the Outaouais over the coming months, making stops in a handful of the region’s urban and rural communities.
In the Pontiac, the team offering the bus service will work with AutonHomme Pontiac, a non-profit in Campbell’s Bay that provides assistance to residents experiencing homelessness and other issues.
The bus is equipped with showers and washing machine and dryer, amenities people will be able to use for the duration of time the bus is parked in their community.
Jeffrey Lévesque, who works for Réhabex, the Gatineau-based social rehabilitation agency that owns and operates the bus, said the organization bought it to help people in situations of need.
“We bought it to help people who are living in homelessness or even just precarious situations.”
Lévesque said the bus also has desk spaces where counselors will be available to give people a hand finding a job, or even finding housing.
Pierre-Alain Jones, the director of AutonHomme, said this is where his organization comes in.
“We will help people find a place to stay,” he told THE EQUITY in French.
“We offer a shelter in Campbell’s Bay, we rent rooms at the motel in Shawville [ . . . ] and on occasion we rent rooms at a motel in Mansfield.”
In November, people living in AutonHomme temporary residences at the the Shawville were evicted due to a flea infestation.

Jones said that problem has been fixed, and that they are able to offer rooms to their clients in that motel once again.
“We have people right now on the territory who are homeless
[ . . . ] another service like this is going to help for sure,” Jones said, noting the Pontiac can be forgotten when it comes to social service delivery, so it’s nice to have a service from Gatineau reach out and provide help to the people of this region.
Lévesque said his organization’s goal is to help as many people as it can across the Outaouais.
When the idea for the bus was hatched, homeless people at the Robert-Guertin encampment in Gatineau weren’t getting the basic services they needed and deserved.
“The director, Patrick Pilon, found it unacceptable that there was no short-term solution for these people,” he told THE EQUITY in French.
“We realized there were many people who were not able to get to where the services were being offered, so with the Réhabus we said we could travel to them to give them an opportunity to use those services.”
Jones said AutonHomme is still in talks with Réhabex to figure out when, and how often, the bus will come to the Pontiac.
He said they hope the bus can park out front of their building on rue Front in Campbell’s Bay, or in the parking lot across the street.

Touring bus to offer Pontiac’s unhoused a place to shower, get help Read More »

Heavy rains wash out roads in Luskville

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , ,

KC Jordan, LJI Reporter

Two roads in Luskville were washed out as a result of Monday afternoon’s thunderstorm, causing disruptions to local residents.
One wash-out occurred on rue Thérien, just north of Highway 148; the other on chemin Parker, on the south side of the 148 almost directly across the road.
Mario Allen, director general of the Municipality of Pontiac, said the water level in the stream flowing underneath rue Thérien got too high, overwhelming the culvert that runs underneath and taking out the road completely.
“The culvert wouldn’t take it, and now the road is gone.” he said.
Allen said this isn’t the first time this road has been washed out, noting that in 2017 a heavy rainfall took out parts of Highway 148 and some of its adjoining roads, including rue Thérien.
He said the stream’s water level normally runs pretty high in the spring months due to runoff from the mountains, but the level is not normally so high so late in the season.
Workers from the municipality responded to the scene on Tuesday, creating large sand hills to prevent people from trying to travel on the road.
Residents of rue Thérien ordinarily don’t have an alternative exit, but the municipality created a makeshift detour onto the property of Nugent Construction so that residents could enter and leave.
“Council met those people last Friday and they are all aware of the situation,” Allen said.
He noted the municipality already had plans for an eventual detour through Nugent Construction’s property because the culvert had already been slated for work.
“We were expecting to do the work probably this fall to change the culvert, and in order to change the culvert, well, people will need a detour.”

He said they were able to provide an alternative solution for residents of rue Thérien much faster thanks to these already-existing detour plans.
He said the municipality needs to contact the provincial environment ministry before any work can be done to repair the culvert and the road.
“Approval must be obtained from the Quebec government first,” he said, adding at that point they “will go for tenders and then will proceed.”
He said he is not sure how long the process will take, but said it could be until the fall before they are able to get approvals for the work.
The other wash-out happened on chemin Parker, on the opposite side of Highway 148 from rue Thérien.
“When the water went over the road it created erosion, and the next morning we went in and fixed the erosion,” Allen said.
No detour was needed because the residents of the four houses on Parker were able to use the chemin Mckibbon to get in and out.
Municipal workers fixed the road, and people were able to drive on it by Wednesday morning.
Road wash-outs have been a problem this year not only in Luskville, but in the MRC Pontiac.
Heavy rains this spring and summer have caused seven wash-outs on a single road, Jim’s Lake Rd, which runs from Mansfield all the way up to Jim Lake.
MRC Pontiac warden Jane Toller said these washouts are impacting residents as well as some businesses, including Bryson Lake Lodge, some of whose cottages are currently inaccessible due to the washouts.
She said the MRC is working toward finding solutions for these washouts, which are located far apart from each other and will require separate solutions.
For the moment, she says the alternative routes that exist are either costly or cumbersome.
“It’s possible for them to take some of these people by water, but it’s at a cost to them.”
“There are some other roads that can be used in the meantime, but they are very rough and
[ . . . ] not well-maintained. They are more suited for ATVs.”
Toller will be in talks with various government entities as she tries to secure funding for these projects.
“Sometimes things occur that are unexpected and are climate-related. We will do everything possible to try to remedy the situation.”

Heavy rains wash out roads in Luskville Read More »

France’s culture on display at Campbell’s Bay Bastille Day celebration

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , ,

KC Jordan, LJI Reporter

A group of French expats, friends, and Pontiac residents with French ties gathered at a home in Campbell’s Bay on Saturday to celebrate Bastille Day, France’s national holiday.
Attendees proudly sported red, white and blue attire, sang the Marseillaise (France’s national anthem) and played pétanque, a popular lawn bowling-style game that originates in the south of France.
Marco Izquierdo, who hosted the event with his wife Annie Filion in the backyard of their home, moved to Canada from France about 15 years ago, and after living in Ottawa for a while ended up getting a job in the Pontiac. That’s when the annual tradition of celebrating Bastille Day started.
“There were many French expats living here in Campbell’s Bay,” he said, adding that most of them happened to live on the same street.
“It was like a little France.”
A small group of them started getting together every year to celebrate, and since then the tradition has grown to include other French expats, friends, and neighbours.
The holiday commemorates the storming of the Bastille, an event that is widely recognized as marking the end of the monarchy’s oppressive rule and the beginning of the French Revolution.
Now, for many the holiday symbolizes the national motto of the country: liberté, égalité, fraternité (liberty, equality, fraternity), the fundamental values that define French society today.
Food and wine were naturally an important component of the festivities. Before dinner, guests were served a pinard — the Parisian term for a pre-dinner glass of wine.
Izquierdo kept busy grilling sausages and chicken on the barbecue, and also prepared the evening’s main course, a leg of lamb roasted on an open flame, seasoned with North African spices and served with potatoes and beans.
Other culinary highlights included a wide array of breads brought from a Breton baker in Gatineau, including two entire bakery trays piled high with baguettes, fougasses, and crusty loaves stuffed with blue cheese and nuts.
An after-dinner cheese course featured cheeses of varying prices and pungencies, and were served with still more bread.
Josey Bouchard attends the event every year. She said it’s a great occasion to celebrate French culture.
“We do this every year,” she said. “We eat lamb and drink wine and we sing the Marseillaise. It’s a great excuse to get everyone together.”
Some neighbours with no personal ties to France have also been attending the party for years, including Clément Hoeck, an artist in Campbell’s Bay.
He looks forward to the celebration every year, and even tries his hand at pétanque.
“I’m not competitive, but I try to play,” he said.
He was one of 12 players who ventured across the street to the makeshift pétanque grounds, where teams battled it out while they waited for dinner to arrive.
Vincent Lo Monaco organizes the tournament every year. He is from La Ciotat, the town in France where the sport originated in the 1910s.
He had an official rulebook on hand, as well as a pamphlet with a brief history of the sport.
In pétanque, each two-person team throws six combined metal balls (called boules) toward a smaller ball (the cochonnier), trying to get their balls closest to the target. The first team to reach 13 points is declared the winner.
Lo Monaco was the official referee of the tournament, bringing in his tape measure if there were any disputes about whose ball was closest.
The tournament did not reach a conclusion because, once the players adjourned for dinner, they never returned to the game.

France’s culture on display at Campbell’s Bay Bastille Day celebration Read More »

MRC Pontiac launches new agritourism route highlighting local producers

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , ,

KC Jordan, LJI Reporter

The Pontiac region now has its own agritourism route – a network of agricultural producers and restaurants spanning from Bristol to Sheenboro which is intended to put the Pontiac on the map as a food destination.
The new tourism effort, called the Land & Flavours Route, was announced by the MRC Pontiac on June 26. A map and details of the route’s 22 stops can be found on the MRC’s Destination Pontiac website.
The route is the latest in a series of similar routes developed by the MRC to market various aspects of the region to potential visitors.
Already featured on the MRC’s tourism website are a poutine route, a wine route, and a “vanlife” route.
In addition to being advertised on the website, the MRC has advertised the new route through radio ads, at local markets, and at various events across the Ottawa Valley and in Montreal.
Stéphanie Hébert-Potter, economic development agent with the MRC, said the goal of the route is to showcase the variety of agricultural products the region has to offer.
“We’re hoping that visitors will have an opportunity to explore all the local flavours that we have, whether it’s freshly harvested fruits and vegetables to [ . . . ] local beer, nice wineries.”
She said the route is also meant to help locals discover the hidden gems in their backyard that they don’t necessarily know about.
“We have a vast territory, so it’s not always easy for everyone to know from one end to the other what’s available.”
She added that the Pontiac is a strongly-rooted agricultural community.
“They’re the backbone of our area,” she said of the region’s producers.
“It’s important to highlight the work that they do, but also the passion they have in harvesting and creating their products.”
Greg Graham, one of the owners of Coronation Hall Cider Mills in Bristol, said he hopes the new route will bring in customers who are discovering the region for the first time.
“It’s very difficult and expensive to get signage in Quebec,” he said. “It’s important that people discover how to see us and all the things that aren’t on the highway.”
Graham is happy to have the exposure that comes with the new route, and hopes that it will help visitors plan extended trips to the region.
A good portion of his customers come from across the river in Ontario or from the capital region, and Graham said people are more likely to make the trip if they can plan to visit other local producers.
“If people have two or three destinations in mind, they’re far more likely to drive up here to see us,” he said.
David Gillespie, a farmer on Allumette Island and an agritourism expert, said this route is a marked increase over previous efforts at an agritourism route in the region.
“There used to be only 10 producers,” he said, noting the doubling of this number represents progress for the region’s agritourism industry.
“Ten years ago this wouldn’t have happened. There were more traditional farms back then,” he said, noting that a younger crop of farmers in the area has pushed for agritourism in the region.
He said there are still many producers in the Pontiac who are not part of the route but could stand to gain from it.
Producers who are featured on routes like these need to meet certain standards.
In an email to THE EQUITY, Hébert-Potter said “to support and encourage smaller producers, we’ve set more flexible requirements compared to other routes.”
“Producers should have consistent operating hours, provide parking spaces, and have either a storefront or farm-based activities.”
In addition to tourists, Hébert-Potter said the MRC hopes there will be more buy-in from people who want to spend time and money in the Pontiac, and hopefully develop here as well.

MRC Pontiac launches new agritourism route highlighting local producers Read More »

Mansfield’s annual party expands for Canada Day, 175th anniversary

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , ,

KC Jordan, LJI Reporter

The community of Mansfield rallied in the rain over the weekend for its annual Mansfield en fête festival, which this year was also used as an opportunity to celebrate Canada Day as well as the town’s 175th anniversary.
The festival, hosted at the town’s Amyotte Park, offered a canteen and bar, live dance and music performances, and a baseball tournament which, according to Mansfield en fête president Martin Leguerrier, went ahead despite the rain.
“They never stopped,” Leguerrier said. “They ran in the mud, it was fun to watch.”
Marc-Antoine Côté was hanging out with his friends along the first-base fence watching the tournament unfold. His team was done playing for the day, so he was enjoying a few beers.
He said he enjoys coming out to Mansfield en fête every year because he likes seeing his friends and family.
“I come out here and hang out with the boys,” he said, right before rattling off a list of a dozen or so people on the field who he knew personally.
This year’s festival coincided with two other important dates: the Canada Day long weekend, as well as the ongoing festivities for Mansfield and Pontefract’s 175th anniversary.
Leguerrier said the festival offered more activities this year because all these celebrations converged on a single weekend.
“We’re offering an additional day this year,” he said, noting that they ran three full days of activities this year instead of the usual two.
Children’s activities were provided by Le Patro, and kids could choose between archery, giant building blocks, and a mini-putt course, among others.
Music, as always, played a big part in the festivities. A diverse lineup of musicians rocked the Sylvain Bégin stage throughout the weekend, including Ottawa Valley country icons Louis Schreyer and Gail Gavan.
Leguerrier said they had a lot of success last year bringing in local artists, and they wanted to do the same again this year.
“People in the Pontiac want to support local artists,” he said.
On Saturday night, a huge crowd gathered to watch a performance from the Corriveau School of Dance, which included dance numbers by professionals Marie-Josée Corriveau and Jason Morel.
The crowd let out whoops and cheers as various dancers, most of them teenagers, lifted their partners into the air, spun them around, and gracefully placed them back onto the ground, never breaking stride.
When they were done, the dozen or so dancers held hands and bowed as the crowd applauded the impressive performance.
Later on Saturday night, Leguerrier himself got up on stage to perform a DJ set, exactly as he has done for over 20 years.
This year was his first as president of the committee, and he was pleased with how the event turned out.
“People are happy, families are happy, dogs are happy,” he said.
Leguerrier said he wanted to make sure everyone was having a good time, but also that they were being safe.
He said volunteers were encouraging people to eat, especially if they have been drinking.
Cadets from the Sûreté du Québec were also there making sure everyone was having fun in a safe and responsible way.
Leguerrier was pleased to report that, as of Saturday night, there hadn’t been any fights, noting that violence can break out when people have been drinking.
The festivities concluded on Sunday night with the traditional fireworks display, which, Leguerrier says, is one of the weekend’s biggest crowd-pleasers.

Mansfield’s annual party expands for Canada Day, 175th anniversary Read More »

Second annual Pontiac Country Festival hits Quyon fairgrounds

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , , ,

KC Jordan, LJI Reporter

Hundreds of people descended on Quyon to attend the second annual Pontiac Country Festival over the weekend and celebrate all things country.
There were various equestrian events including a horse pull and an obstacle course, an artisan market, a car and truck show, and a full slate of musicians playing country and bluegrass tunes throughout the weekend.
Jacques Prud’Homme, groundskeeper of the Quyon municipal park and attendee of the festival, enjoyed the great musical acts throughout the weekend.
“It’s been great music. We had Gail Gavan, Nancy Denault, and the tent has been full.”
The weather was wet, but music fans were able to stay dry in the tents where the concerts were being played.
Some festival attendees brought their own tents and RVs and set up in Quyon’s municipal park, where they could stay the entire weekend for only $10.
This year, the festival fell on the Canada Day long weekend, and the organizers collaborated with the Quyon Community Association to offer a Canada Day parade and fireworks.
Pontiac Equestrian Association president Andrea Goffart organized an equestrian versatility challenge that happened Sunday morning, a first for the festival.
“It was the idea of Shannon Townsend from Hendricktown Farm in Aylmer,” Goffart said. “She was the judge and the mastermind of bringing this particular race.”
The event featured 12 obstacles, each of which had to be completed in 30 seconds.
Goffart said this versatility challenge event is more common in the United States, but she wanted to bring it to the Pontiac to allow for equal participation from riders of all styles.
“That’s why we ran that – so it could be more inclusive from all the people involved in equestrian activities in the area,” she said.
Goffart said the event drew participants from across the Outaouais and Eastern Ontario, and she hopes to bring the competition back as a staple of future Country Fests.
According to the festival’s Facebook page, organizers received contributions from the MRC des Collines-de-l‘Outaouais and Pontiac MNA André Fortin to fund the festival’s offerings.
This is the festival’s second year under this name. Previously, the Quyon JamFest was held around this time of year, but the organizing committee disbanded in 2023, after 20 years.

Second annual Pontiac Country Festival hits Quyon fairgrounds Read More »

Shawville blood drive makes donating more doable

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , ,

KC Jordan, LJI Reporter

The Pontiac Agricultural Society held its first-ever blood drive on Thursday afternoon in the Agricultural Hall at the Shawville fairgrounds.
The event was hosted in conjunction with Héma-Québec, the non-profit responsible for recruiting blood donors and managing blood donations in the province.
Volunteers helped to guide new donors through the process, which included a questionnaire, the blood donation itself, and a revitalizing snack.
Kayla McCann, a director with the society and the visionary behind the drive, said she wanted to bring blood donation to Shawville because up until now, people have had to go to Gatineau or Ontario if they wanted to give.
McCann contacted Héma-Québec a few months ago to get the ball rolling, and on Thursday was proud to see that all 70 appointments were booked, with even more people showing up as walk-ins.
“We have a lot of first-time donors,” she said, visibly excited that her vision was becoming a reality. “This is a big day.”
First-time donors were given stickers and pins with a big red heart and a number one, and were congratulated by the Héma-Québec staff for their contribution.
The blood drive was a family affair for the McCanns. Kayla’s father Tom was donating for the 32nd time and was also there as a volunteer, making sure donors each got a post-donation juice box and salty snack.
Mavis Hanna, the agricultural society’s general manager, said the fact that the drive is happening in the town of Shawville makes donating blood more accessible for those with mobility issues.
“People don’t have to drive out of our community to support it,” she said.
Nicolas Piednoel, the collections organizer for Héma-Québec in the Laurentides and Outaouais regions, said many people in the health system need blood donations for medical treatment.
“The needs of the hospitals are huge,” he told THE EQUITY in French at Thursday’s blood drive. “Every day Quebecers need 1,000 blood donations.”
According to Héma-Québec, the organization hosts over 2,000 mobile blood drives every year.
Piednoel said anyone who missed last week’s blood drive but who still wants to donate blood will have another opportunity this fall.
He said Héma-Québec was so impressed with the interest in Shawville that it is already planning to come back.

Shawville blood drive makes donating more doable Read More »

Former Norway Bay cottager to compete in Paris Olympics

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , ,

KC Jordan, LJI Reporter

Julie Brousseau spent her childhood summers on the shores of the Ottawa River, learning how to swim.
Her family had a cottage in Norway Bay, a community with a deep connection to the water. She couldn’t get enough of it — when she wasn’t taking lessons, she was swimming with her friends and cousins.
It was also where Julie got her first taste of competition. She participated in the annual Regatta, a community summer staple that involves an array of athletics contests, including swimming.
In her early teens, Julie’s family stopped summering at the cottage. But the call of the water stayed with her.
She started training competitively in Ottawa, making waves as one of Canada’s best young swimming prospects.
She won 11 medals at the 2022 Canada Games, and added three more at last year’s Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile.
Then, in May, Julie achieved something she never thought possible.
She became an Olympian.
Her performance at the Canadian swimming trials qualified her for this summer’s Paris Olympics. She will compete in the 4x200m freestyle, a team event where each swimmer completes four lengths of the pool.
With her qualification, Julie joins a long line of decorated Canadian swimmers. Walking alongside her at the July 26 opening ceremonies will be Penny Oleksiak, Canada’s all-time leading Olympic medalist, and Summer McIntosh, the current world record-holder in the 400-metre individual medley.
Julie is excited at the opportunity to compete alongside these women.
“I remember watching the past two Olympics and seeing Penny and all of them swimming there,” she said. “So it’s crazy that now I’ll get to be on a team with them.”
Preparations for the Games have been intense. Julie said she’s in the pool nine times a week.
“I’m pretty much always at the Sportsplex, swimming and lifting weights.”
When she’s not swimming, Julie is a student at Nepean High School, where she’s hitting the books trying to wrap up her Grade 12 year.
“Sometimes I have to miss two weeks of school at a time,” she said.
At the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, Canada narrowly missed out on a medal in Julie’s event, finishing in fourth place. This year, she wants to help her country improve on that result.
In Paris, Julie plans to immerse herself in the Olympic experience — exploring the athletes’ village, meeting people from around the world, and taking in lots of sports.
Naturally, she’ll be watching a lot of swimming. Many of her teammates are medal favourites in this year’s Games, and she’ll be at the pool cheering them on.
But she’s also looking forward to taking in some other sports. As a former competitive basketball player, she still follows the game, and she’s excited to see both Canadian teams on the court.
“Hopefully they can bring home a medal,” she said.
Once the Games come to a close in early August, she and her family are going to the south of France to enjoy some much-needed rest and relaxation.
Then, it’s back to the grind. Julie will start training in preparation for her freshman year at the University of Florida, where she’ll swim for the Gators.

Former Norway Bay cottager to compete in Paris Olympics Read More »

Alleyn and Cawood residents petition for review of property valuation process

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , ,

KC Jordan, LJI Reporter

Residents of Alleyn and Cawood are circulating a petition to protest what they call “unfair” property assessments conducted across the municipality.
This spring, residents received their letter of property assessment in the mail, only to find the value of their property was scheduled to increase by a rate far higher than they had seen in past years.
According to this assessment, conducted by an MRC Pontiac evaluator, property values across Alleyn and Cawood would go up 370 per cent starting in 2025. This would mean a corresponding increase in property tax — something many residents are not prepared to pay.
Over the past few weeks, disturbed residents have formed a task force to try to combat this problem. They have been circulating a petition online that would challenge the recent property valuation increases.
“We demand the evaluation process be reviewed to prevent future unfair assessments,” the petition reads.
Angela Giroux, the elected chair of the task force, said the numbers are so high because a single developer is packaging parcels of land at an inflated cost, and that rate has been applied across the entire municipality.
Maggie Early, also on the task force, is a farmer whose family has owned a Cawood Road homestead for over a century. She said this inflated rate doesn’t reflect the actual value of most properties in the municipality, and that most properties in the area are modest retirement homes.
“The average age of a
permanent resident of Alleyn and Cawood is 73,” she said. “It’s a retirement community.”
If left untouched, these inflated property valuations would leave residents with a lofty tax bill. Early said her annual hit would jump from $4,600 to around $20,000.
“Most people live on pensions,” she said, adding she does not know anyone in the municipality who would be able to afford this kind of increase, including herself.
She said she would need to increase her herd by 70 or 80 head of cattle in order to be able to afford those taxes, something she is not prepared to do.
But according to Isabelle Cardinal, the municipality’s director general, these tax increases won’t come to pass. She said there is “no chance” residents will pay anywhere near a 370 per cent increase.
The municipality has the power to adjust the mill rate for certain property types, lowering the property taxes residents must pay. She said council has discussed adjusting the mill rate for the majority of residential properties, and plans to do so before the 2025 valuations come into effect.
“We’ll make sure tax rates are adjusted,” Cardinal said.
Cardinal is a member of the task force, a group that also includes two council members and six residents. She says the public has expressed concern at the meetings about the so-called tax increases, but she says this is not an accurate description of what is happening.
“I want to stop the misinformation,” she said. “This is not a tax increase, it’s an evaluation increase.”
Cardinal explained these are different because the municipality has the power to mitigate a property valuation increase, but a tax increase is final.
She says valuation increases can have several spin-offs, one of which is increased property taxes. But higher property valuations also affect the amount of school taxes residents pay, as well as the amount of municipal shares that Alleyn and Cawood must pay to the MRC Pontiac.
This is why, she says, the task force includes both municipal council members and local residents. The valuation process impacts everyone, and they want to make sure everyone’s voice is heard.
“Council is working with the task force, and there are elected officials on the task force as well,” she said. “We want to have a positive vibe. We’re all working to fix it.”
With its petition, the task force wants to challenge the way that properties are evaluated in the province. Cardinal will meet with Municipal Affairs Minister Andrée Laforest in the coming weeks, and will ask for a review of the property valuation process.
“It’s a formula, a mathematical process,” Cardinal said.
She previously told THE EQUITY that the municipal evaluator in charge of their file, who has done property evaluations for Alleyn and Cawood for years, suggested to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs that it lower the 370 per cent increase scheduled for 2025, but that the ministry rejected this recommendation.
The task force registered its petition with the Quebec National Assembly, and members are hoping to get the word out there that the evaluation process is outdated.
“The current process is not reflective of the real estate market,” the petition says, noting concern that more land in the Pontiac and beyond is going to be bought by developers and turned into expensive housing.
Early says she and other task force members want to capitalize on this moment and make their voice heard.

“We are the test case,” she said. “It’s going to happen to other municipalities, so we have to set a precedent now. We can’t let this be a standardization.”
Cardinal appreciates residents are becoming involved in municipal issues. She says in her 13 years living in Alleyn and Cawood, she has never seen the community so engaged.
“It’s nice to see the involvement,” she said. “It’s nice to see we have each other’s back.”

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