LJI reporter

Four women in Pontiac municipal politics gathered on Apr. 30 to discuss their experiences and answer questions from other women curious about running for local office in the next municipal elections.

The panel, called En route vers ma première campagne (En route to my first campaign), was hosted in MRC Pontiac’s Elsie Gibbons Room, and was the second in a series organized by AGIR Outaouais, a not-for-profit that advocates for women’s rights. The first panel took place in MRC Papineau the day prior.

“The objective of these panels is to encourage women in the region to make the jump into municipal politics in the upcoming elections, and more concretely to increase the number of women candidates in municipal elections,” said Riantsoa Andriamasy, communications specialist for AGIR Outaouais, in an email.

The Pontiac event featured Warden Jane Toller, Fort Coulonge mayor Christine Francoeur, Otter Lake mayor Jennifer Quaile and Alleyn and Cawood councillor and pro-mayor Sidney Squitti.

The two moderators from AGIR Outaouais asked the panelists to introduce themselves to the roughly five attendees, who attended in-person and online, and were asked to discuss their start in politics, recount challenges they have encountered along the way, as well as give their advice to women considering a start in municipal politics.

Quaile, who spent a long career working for the federal government and who ran for councillor when she moved back home to retire, said her advice would be to ask questions, even if the new vocabulary can seem daunting.

“There’s a learning curve for sure, and it was steep for me too. There was a lot that I didn’t know, and the use of jargon and acronyms. I had my hand up all the time, asking ‘What is that again?’” she said, adding that she was lucky enough to have a mentor who took the time to show her the ropes.

Squitti said her advice is to come to meetings prepared and be willing to put in the work, and gave the example of wanting to install a splash pad in the municipal park.

“To me this was the best thing we could do for the youth of our community and the new families coming in, but I faced a lot of opposition at the table with other councillors,” she said, adding that after extensive research she found a federal grant for recreational equipment that allowed the municipality to pay for the splash pad. “If there’s a will, there’s a way, you just have to work.”

Francoeur said her biggest challenges were getting used to how slowly things happen at the municipal level, and not being able to make as much change as quickly as she had hoped.

“We all have big ideas, we think, ‘I’m going to become a councillor and I’m going to change this and change that,’” she said. “It doesn’t work that way. You see the reality once you’re really in there and you see how it works.”

She also said it was challenging going from an 8-4 schedule in her previous job to needing to be available all the time as mayor, whether it be going to events on the weekend or being on call in times of emergency.

“You really have to be available seven days a week, on constantly. We have high water level problems right now, so I’m on call, and it’s like that continuously,” she said.

Attendees asked questions about the stresses of the job and how to mitigate expectations with the slow reality of the job.

Women make up slightly less than half of the MRC Pontiac’s council of mayors table, a rate Andriamasy said is above the rate of 26.6 per cent province-wide, and note there is still room to improve.

“It’s a great increase, because in 2005 it was only 13.1 per cent,” said Andriamasy. “Even though there is progress, we recognize that we are still far from parity.”

She said members of the organization are always happy to see members of the public attend the panel and ask questions, since that is the entire point of hosting them in the first place.

“We want them to be inspired and better informed. Thanks to the testimonies of elected officials, these panels offer a realistic portrait of the everyday political reality, of its challenges, but also its opportunities,” she said. “We want these panels to be a chance for participants to ask the questions they may always have wanted to ask.”

AGIR Outaouais will host two more panels on the same topic next week in Gatineau and the MRC des Collines-de-l’Outaouais.

Sophie Kuijper Dickson – LJI Reporter

With the federal election now one week in the rear view mirror, the country is quickly shifting its attention to how newly elected Prime Minister Mark Carney will perform in the job voters hired him to do – defending Canadian interests against threats from the U.S. to our economy and to our sovereignty.

This issue was central to the election. In the Pontiac, results of THE EQUITY’s survey on voter priorities indicated tariffs and threats to Canadian sovereignty were third on people’s minds as they headed to the polls, superseded by cost of living and healthcare concerns. How this priority determined results in the Pontiac was similar to results across the country.

Liberal incumbent Sophie Chatel saw a significant surge in support in the Pontiac-Kitigan Zibi riding (up to 54.6 per cent from 43.4 per cent), as did the Conservative Party, this year represented by Brian Nolan (up to 27.5 per cent from 20.6 per cent). The smaller parties, however – the Bloc, the NDP, the Green Party, and the People’s Party – all took serious hits, the latter three losing more than half of their support in this riding.

Elections Canada data on voter results by polling station is not yet available, and likely won’t be for some time. But THE EQUITY checked in with the candidates who didn’t make it to Parliament Hill to hear what they made of these results and what they felt was lost in an election dominated by Donald Trump.

Brian Nolan
Conservative Party

“I knew it was going to be a tight race. What happened is all the NDP and Bloc and Green vote went to the Liberals,” Nolan said. “Our riding actually increased the Conservative vote by quite a bit, it was just not enough to get over the Liberals.”

Nolan said he believes the Pontiac-Kitigan Zibi riding should be slightly redesigned, so voters in the Pontiac aren’t up against the densely populated Chelsea, and Plateau sectors of the riding that have historically voted Liberal.

“The people living there, they’re not represented properly,” he said. “I think another solution is we need to populate the Pontiac and Haute Gatineau so that we gain more voters. Not necessarily as Conservative voters, but more people that can vote.”

Nolan said he would not have done anything differently.

“I traveled the whole riding many times. It’s just that [this election was] bigger than me. It’s the party, it’s the people that reacted to Mr. Carney and Trump. It’s bigger than me,” he said.

“You’ll see us at the next election. If the party wants me, I’ll be there for sure. I joined politics because I wanted to make a change and be present, and I guess it’s just going to have to wait a couple of years.’”

Gilbert Whiteduck
New Democratic Party

“At the end of the day, I wasn’t overly surprised, knowing what the concerns were with the U.S. and tariffs, and being unsure,” Whiteduck said. “I often heard people say, ‘Well I would vote for you, but we have a situation and we want to make sure there’s a strong government in place.”

Whiteduck said he believed he was bringing a different approach to politics, one not determined by the party lines, but by his own values.

“I was running for me. I knew I was tied to a banner, but it was me that was running [ . . . ] I was bringing my experience, I was bringing my teachings as an Algonquin person. [ . . . ] I wanted to bring a civil approach to debates, that it’s not about you as an individual but rather the interest of all citizens,” he said.

“It’s not only about the leader. It can’t be. It’s about you. What are you going to do? What can you do? What can you bring? And not ride on the coattails of the leader. That would never be my approach.”

He pointed to several key issues he believes were drowned out by the noise of the Trump concerns.

“We didn’t talk a whole lot about climate issues, supporting small municipalities in getting ready for climate change. Certainly Indigenous issues were way out there some place. Yes, there was a fair amount spoken about housing, but not with a lot of clear detail of how that would roll out,” he said.

Whiteduck acknowledged part of his challenge was that he was not a familiar face to many in the riding, but said the experience of becoming acquainted with the diversity of communities across the region was rewarding.

“At the end of the day, regardless of what the outcome was, I’m so much richer because of the people I met.”

Claude Bertrand
Green Party

“I think it’s madness, probably a form of masochism,” Bertrand laughed, when asked why he chose to run in a riding where polling was suggesting a Liberal sweep. He said for him, running was a way of getting involved in the community, acting in service to the country.

He said the results of this election offered an important lesson in the harms of our current electoral system.

“First past the post is not a good system. It’s been demonstrated that first past the post unavoidably leads to a two-party system,” he said, pointing to the significant decline in support for the smaller parties, specifically for the NDP, as evidence that the voting system could eventually eliminate perspectives too far left or right of centre.

“So this was a good demonstration here [in Canada]. We’re going to be losing some parties, unless we go through electoral reform.”

He suggested that while some argue a proportional representation system would lead to some controversial or fringe parties winning a seat in the House of Commons, this is democracy by definition.

“You don’t agree with them, but hopefully you’re able, with the power of your words, to convince people that’s not the way to go. But to oppress a small party just because it’s not what you would prefer, that is not a good reason to not go with proportional representation.”

He said as he sees it, the big loser in this election was the environment, pointing to Carney’s cancellation of the consumer carbon tax, which Bertrand described as the one financial incentive that was applied across the country to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, as evidence of a lack of concern for climate action.

“It’s something that has no voice, the environment in which we’re living. We’re destroying it happily because of ignorance.”

Todd Hoffman
People’s Party

In a written letter to THE EQUITY, Pontiac’s only local candidate, Todd Hoffman, expressed gratitude to the “676 citizens who voted for their principles on election day.”

“While the final numbers were not what I, and the People’s Party had hoped for, I am grateful for the experience. I am moved by several encounters with supporters from the riding.”

He cited several people he met across the riding who expressed feeling disenfranchised, like their voices were not being heard, and who reminded him of why had decided to run for federal election. Each person, he said, was drawn to the PPC for their own reasons, including everything from support for the easing of interprovincial trade barriers, to concerns for the status of minority anglophone rights in Quebec, to a desire and frustrations with what Hoffman refers to as “the supply management food cartel.”

“I am very grateful to have had these, and other, conversations – it made me aware of how well the PPC platform resonates with voters in the Pontiac,” Hoffman wrote.

“However, I (like many others) was saddened that many voters were swayed by slogans, divisive rhetoric and fear. The PPC has always promoted sensible policies, like wanting to control mass immigration, tear down interprovincial trade barriers, or stop food producers from wasting food just to inflate grocery bills. We have never forsaken our principles for political gain.”

He said he was under no illusions as to his chances of winning, and that he will continue to work for the Pontiac.

“We will always be adding to the conversation, and always challenging the status quo because we want to help Canadians and we are not afraid to challenge the system [ . . . ] Thank you for the memories and support, and for showing me how important it is to keep working.”

Sophie Kuijper Dickson – LJI Reporter

Tuesday evening’s violent winds left thousands of Pontiac residents without power, with no clear indication about when it would be restored. 

The winds, which in some places reached 100 km/hr, according to Hydro-Québec, snapped, twisted and uprooted trees, wreaking havoc to homes and power lines from Allumette Island to Luskville. 

Immediately following the storm’s passing, over 5,000 people across the Pontiac had been disconnected from the grid, a small slice of the 144,000 people across the province who were without electricity at the peak of the outage on Tuesday night.

The Outaouais and Laurentides regions were hardest hit in the province, according to Hydro-Québec spokesperson Karine Godin. 

By Wednesday at 12 p.m., 33 separate outages were still leaving 3,992 people without power in the Pontiac. 

While Hydro-Québec’s website predicted Wednesday morning most places would have power restored by 12 p.m. Wednesday, Godin said the work to clear the wreckage caused by the storm would likely take longer, pushing restoration into Wednesday evening and Thursday. 

By Friday at noon, only 75 or so people were still without power.

“[The storm] threw a lot of trees around that broke poles and threw lines to the ground, so it’s going to be more complicated than a simple restoration because it’s going to involve cleaning up the trees and reinstalling hydro poles,” Godin told THE EQUITY in French.  

“It’s difficult to be precise about how much time it’s going to take, because it’s hard to evaluate when the work needed is to first remove trees from the road to enable hydro workers to get to the site of the outage [to assess the damage].”

She said 28 hydro teams had been deployed across the Outaouais, and another 10 would be coming from Abitibi-Témiscamingue to support them.

She could not specify how many hydro teams had been deployed to the Pontiac, but said they would be working until 11 p.m., at which point they would take a break and resume work in the morning. 

‘War zone’ in Sand Bay

Clarendon mayor Edward Walsh said municipal workers responded almost immediately to calls from Sand Bay residents on Tuesday evening about trees that had fallen across roads. 

“In Sand Bay, it’s a war zone down there [ . . . ] Trees falling on roofs and punching holes in the roofs, shingles blowing off, a tree landed on a boat down there and squashed somebody’s boat. There’s extensive damage,” he said, reporting what he had heard from some of the municipal workers who had spent the night clearing roads. 

“Our guys have been down there since yesterday so they’ve got all the roads and that opening. Now they’re checking on the rest of Clarendon because there’s trees down across the whole municipality.” 

The Municipality of Clarendon has opened its brush dump today, Apr. 30, for residents clearing branches and trees from their properties. 

Wayne Park was among those investigating the wreckage in Sand Bay on Wednesday morning. His family’s cottage, the oldest in Sand Bay he said, had several of the property’s towering red pine trees fall on its roof. 

“It’s been in the family since forever,” he said, sharing he was devastated when he first saw the damage it had suffered yesterday, and surprised to see some of the trees’ top halves had been twisted right off their trunks. 

“It looks as if some limbs have gone through the cottage, and the hydro at the back is off, and the storage area at the back has to be completely redone.” 

Storm chaser catches ‘turning clouds’ in Luskville

Half an hour downriver in Luskville, the winds seemed to cause almost tornado-like destruction, ripping off the tops of several large pine trees along Highway 148. 

Mathieu Lussier, a storm chaser who traveled from the Montreal area because he had heard there was a risk of a tornado forecast for the region, was parked on the side of the highway near some of the damages after the storm had passed. 

“I could see the clouds turning, I could see the rotation on my radar, and I followed the turning clouds, and then we got a white wall,” he said, describing the weather event. “There are good signs this was possibly a tornado, but not confirmed.” 

Pontiac mayor Roger Larose said damage across his municipality was not too bad, aside from the many fallen trees. The big issue for him, he said, was the power outage. 

“We have no hydro, in Quyon especially, we have no hydro for the water plant. We got a generator to run it there, but we’re still waiting on hydro.” 

He said he had not heard anything from Hydro-Québec about planned restoration time. 

Sophie Kuijper Dickson – LJI Reporter

The average amount of time Pontiac Hospital emergency room (ER) patients waited on stretchers before being moved to a hospital bed more than doubled in the past year, according to new data provided by Outaouais healthcare authority CISSSO.

The numbers show that while the average wait time for all patients seeking care at the hospital’s ER has increased from four hours and forty-nine minutes to just over six hours, staying within its five-year average for total wait times, the wait times for patients who arrive at the ER and need to be admitted for further care have increased from an average of seven hours in 2023-2024 to 17 hours in 2024-2025.

Also of note is that the percentage of stretcher stays exceeding 48 hours has increased from 1.5 per cent to 6.2 per cent over the same period.

“They’re waiting 17 hours before they’re admitted into a hospital bed, so they’re lying on a stretcher, knowing they’re going to be staying in hospital,” explained CISSSO’s Pontiac director Nicole Boucher-Larivière.

She explained nearly half of the hospital’s acute care beds are being used by patients who should be in a long-term care home. She said the shortage of long-term care beds in the region means these people are being cared for at the Pontiac Hospital, sometimes for several months, until a bed opens up.

“They’re in a regular hospital bed because they can’t go home, there’s nobody to care for them or they require too much care, but they don’t require hospital services,” Boucher-Larivière said. “So they remain in a hospital bed on the floor and then when we need to admit somebody from the ER, I don’t have an available bed.”

Last week Le Droit reported on numbers first published by La Presse that showed the Pontiac Hospital ER was the only one across the Outaouais that saw any increase in stretcher wait times. The Hull hospital brought its average stretcher wait time down to 23.5 hours from 24 hours, and the Gatineau hospital down to 24 hours from almost 26.5 hours.

While average stretcher wait times in the Pontiac were lower last year, at around six hours per patient, the 2022-2023 year saw an average of 14 hours per patient. Boucher-Larivière said some years see higher turnover in long-term care homes, making it possible for new residents to occupy the beds, but that this year has been challenging.

“I think the aging population is catching up to us,” she said. “There’s been a lot less beds available, so it backlogs at the hospital.”

She explained the region is missing 500 long-term care beds, in part because of the closure of several private homes in the Pontiac during the COVID-19 pandemic, and has lower beds per capita than most other regions of the province, something the health network has been pushing to rectify.

Beyond the lack of long-term care beds, Boucher-Larivière said the increase in non-Pontiac patients visiting the hospital’s ER is also adding to stretcher wait times.

“I’d say that more than half of my visits at the Shawville hospital are from people from outside the Pontiac,” she said. “Some of these people are of course ending up on the stretcher and contributing to longer wait times.”

She also pointed to the significant increase in patients being seen at the Pontiac Hospital ER – from 527 patients in 2021 to 935 in 2024 – as contributing to the longer stretcher stays.

Jean Pigeon, founder and spokesperson for healthcare advocacy group SOS Outaouais, said beyond the challenges highlight by Boucher-Larivière, the chronic underfunding of the region’s healthcare network compared to other regions is a problem.

“[It] continues to impact our ability to recruit and retain staff, invest in infrastructure, and expand services. These structural challenges exacerbate wait times and limit the flexibility of local hospitals to respond to fluctuations in demand,” Pigeon told THE EQUITY.

“To open up more long-term care beds in the Outaouais and specifically in the Pontiac, the province must accelerate the deployment of promised investments, prioritize regions like ours that have been historically under-resourced, and ensure that new facilities are adapted to the specific demographic and geographic realities of rural communities. It’s not just about building new spaces; it’s about providing adequate staffing, operational funding, and community support to sustain them over time.”

K.C. Jordan and Sophie Kuijper Dickson – LJI Reporters

On Tuesday, Apr. 15, THE EQUITY hosted a conversation with the five candidates running to represent the Pontiac-Kitigan Zibi riding on Parliament Hill to better understand what they believe they can do for the slice of the riding between Breckenridge and Rapides des Joachims.

THE EQUITY chose nine questions that reflected local priorities determined by responses to a public survey and by questions submitted to us through our website.

A broad summary of key points raised in this conversation is published below, for those looking for the highlights.

Q1: Beyond the easing of interprovincial trade barriers, what is the most important thing you or your party will do to support Pontiac residents through the economic volatility and potential recession that may be coming our way?

Sophie Chatel (Liberal Party) said her party will protect workers by enhancing EI programs, protect farmers by doubling revenue protection up to $6 million for those who lose revenues because of tariffs, and provide funding to expand Canada’s trade to new markets. She said interprovincial trade is key to this region, to unlocking its full economic potential. “What we will lose by Trump’s tariffs, we might gain by unlocking the potential of our economy,” Chatel said.

Todd Hoffman (People’s Party) said he believes the trade war will soon affect the business of the Pontiac. He spoke about a recent Chamber of Commerce event he attended in Fort Coulonge during which local business owners from diverse sectors put their heads together to brainstorm strategies for building the local economy.

“We were beginning to form synergies, synergies we never had before, how we can band together and help each other with new projects and new idea,” he said. “Definitely we have to look at this locally and all band together.”

Brian Nolan (Conservative Party) said the Conservative Party has a $3-billion plan for companies that will be affected by the tariffs. “As we all know, Trump is unpredictable so that’s why we have to create strong economy in the Pontiac,” he said, citing free trade within provinces and supports for agriculture and forestry industries as critical, as well as the creation of new industries in the Pontiac so locally produced goods can be transformed here, while also bringing more jobs.

Gilbert Whiteduck (New Democratic Party) said he believes the trade war will only add to economic challenges already experienced in this riding, but that defending Canada’s sovereignty is critical in this moment. “It’s one thing to say you’re going to stand up for it, but what are you going to do demonstrate that and to make sure [ . . . ] that you don’t trade off anything that we’ve acquired as a country over the years, that our veterans have fought for, our farmers have fought for, just to please a president that we don’t know what he is going to do from day to day.”

Claude Bertrand (Green Party) said he believes tariffs will affect the country’s ability to export the wood, and increase the cost of fuel, truck parts, and equipment, which will be tough on local businesses. “It will be important for government to move quickly and provide subsidies where they see businesses failing,” he said.

Q2: What will you do that goes beyond the slogans to offer real support for agriculture?

This question came from Bristol resident Tyler McCann, who is managing director at the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute.

Hoffman said he believes Canada’s supply management system is preventing farmers from growing their businesses, and is preventing young farmers from getting into the industry. He said the PPC would phase out the “food cartel supply management system” to enable dairy farmers to produce more. “We have to unleash our farmers,” he said.

Nolan said the Conservative Party would defend supply management to protect farmers, would invest in rural infrastructure, and would support sustainable practices through innovation “and not punishment like the carbon tax and fees and red tape [farmers] have to go through.”

Whiteduck said critical to the support he would offer the agricultural community would be sitting with and listening to farmers to develop policy positions he would then promote and defend in Parliament. “It’s not promises that make things happen,” Whiteduck said. “It’s working with people and having an understanding of what the real needs are from many venues.”

Bertrand said he would also protect the supply management. “It will become an issue in these negotiations with Trump, and Canada will probably have to pay dearly for it,” he cautioned. He also said he would advocate for reinstalling the old railway between Upper Pontiac and Gatineau to help transport locally produced goods.

Chatel said she would work to remove interprovincial trade barriers to open up a big market in Ottawa and support the processing and transformation of agricultural products in the Pontiac. “Farmers need to spend more time in the field than in writing and filling out paper work,” she added. “So the commitment of Mark Carney and the new agriculture minister is to cut the red tape, and as the Parliamentary secretary, I will hold them to that promise.”

Q3: What will your party do to fight climate change?

Candidates were encouraged to engage in conversation on each other’s proposed plans.

Nolan said there’s a lot of technology in place which can be used to reduce carbon emissions, but used the larger portion of his answer to criticize the Liberal government for taxing Canadians on carbon emissions when Canada only emits 1.8 per cent of all the carbon in the world. “So it made us poorer and the emissions didn’t reduce that much,” Nolan said. “So as you know, our party, we want to eliminate the carbon tax.”
In rebuttal, Chatel argued that the Conservative Party, unlike the Liberal Party, does not have no plan to fight climate change. “We need to act, we need to protect our environment, and we need to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions,” she said, “We cannot just do, ‘Oh well, Canada won’t do it, we’ll let other countries do that. This is not responsible. Everybody is in this fight.”

Bertrand challenged Chatel on this claim, arguing her party was in power for a long time, and did not meet a single target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. “If we insist on extracting all of the oil and shipping it around the world, whether it’s burned in my backyard or whether it’s burned in China, it will still have the same impact on the environment.”

Hoffman said the PPC would do away with all “top-down” initiatives aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. “We don’t want any more government interventions,” he said. “We believe we can handle this ourselves.” He said he believes instead, it’s up to individuals to make a difference at a local level, accusing other candidates of using single-use plastic zip-ties to put up their campaign signs. “These candidates are using plastic like there’s no end to it.”

Bertrand jumped in to suggest Hoffman was missing the point, which, as he sees it, is to change the way large industry operates. “I don’t believe myself very much in carbon capture, but we have to do something to reduce the carbon.”

In rebuttal to Hoffman, Chatel suggested her party was leading by example, first by introducing a bill to protect the Gatineau Park, and second by supporting with Kitigan Zibi First Nation in leading the development of an Outaouais-wide conservation plan.

Whiteduck agreed with Hoffman, that “each one of us has a responsibility in all of this.” He also said large industry “needs to be paying a hell of a lot more for what they’re doing, and that kind of money should be reinvested in green technology, supporting farmers, whatever that may be.

Q4: How are you at the federal level going to champion the needs of people in rural areas for healthcare and social services? How will each of you help us here?

This question came from Josey Bouchard, spokesperson for local healthcare advocacy group Pontiac Voice.

Whiteduck said he would like to see the Outaouais receive a special designation at the federal level and funding arrangements be made with Quebec so that funding would flow specifically to the Outaouais for its particular needs. “Because we need to get those resources, to get those doctors and nurses.”

Bertrand said that because healthcare is provincial jurisdiction, he would spend his efforts in negotiation with Quebec City. He said other healthcare policies the Green’s support include supporting public, not private, healthcare, providing free access to reproductive care, developing home care, as well as universal affordable daycare.”

Chatel said as chair of rural caucus and as chair of the Outaouais caucus, she spent the last two years putting constant pressure on the Quebec government, urging solutions, including increasing the salary and working conditions of Outaouais nurses and technicians, ensuring Quebec gives Outaouais its fair share of healthcare funding, and expediting the recognition of foreign trained physicians, nurses and technicians.

Hoffman said The PPC would introduce a mixed system of public and private service delivery, and would replace the Canada health transfer cash payment “to a point system of equal value that would give Quebec a more stable source of revenue for health care. Basically it’s the feds giving up the GST that’s generated from healthcare and giving it back to the province.”

Nolan said the Conservatives will maintain the current health care transfer to the provinces, and that he would do his best to work with the province to ensure services stay in this region. “It seems like the Outaouais is always forgotten on a lot of topics and this is unacceptable. “We do pay tax like all the other residents of Quebec,” he said.

Q5: What policies does your party have in place to support our local seniors?

This question was originally posed in French. Candidates answers have been translated from French, except Todd Hoffman’s which was given in English.

Bertrand said the Green Party supports a living wage for everybody who needs it, including seniors. He said the party also supports homecare for seniors that need it, including doctors, nurses. He also suggested a communal living facility where people of different ages can live together.

Chatel said the Liberal government has indexed pensions, and pointed to other measures including the new dental plan, raising old-age security for residents 65 years and older, returning the retirement age to 65, and its program to support aging at home as support already offered to seniors. “Mark Carney announced this week he will raise the guaranteed income supplement by five per cent for seniors who are living on low-income facing economic turbulence caused by Trump,” she said.

Hoffman said his party would not be making promises to all seniors over 75 years old that it would be increasing their benefits. “We believe that anybody over 75 is affluent, they won’t need that pension. That money can go to the ones that really really need it,” he said. “Also we believe in co-op initiatives. Basically the PPC is all for empowering people.”

Nolan said the Conservatives would ensure that the first $34,000 earned by people over 65 would be tax free, and would push the RRSP withdrawal date back from 71 to 73. “We also know that where seniors live is very important, and it’s important they can live at home for as long as they can,” he said. “We are there to ensure seniors can stay as long as possible in their homes.”

Whiteduck said it’s important to remember that while many seniors are retired from the workforce, they are still contributing members of society and need to be cared for. He said one thing he would advocate for is increasing old age security payment amounts, because the cost of living is going up so quickly.

Q6: What is your party’s stance on Quebec’s controversial Bill 96, which was passed using the notwithstanding clause to override Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and what will you do to support the rights of the minority English-speaking communities in this riding?

This question came from Alina Holmes on behalf of the Regional Association of West Quebecers.

Chatel said while she supports the goal of Bill 96, to protect the French language in Quebec, she does not agree with its means. “Protecting the French language should never come at the cost or the expense of fundamental rights and freedoms of our minority groups,” she said, noting the use of the preemptive notwithstanding clause by Quebec premier Francois Legault sets a dangerous precedent. “I support the intervention in the Supreme Court to defend our Charter of Rights.”

Hoffman said, in part because of having been personally affected by this issue as a business owner, he is very passionate about resisting this bill. He said he believes the other parties only give lip service to supporting the minority anglophone community. “Mr. Poilievre says he’ll not challenge Quebec on Bill 96. The NDP leader, in my opinion, seems to support Bill 96. And in my opinion and the opinion of others, Sophie’s support for Bill C-13 [ . . . ] gives Quebec the ability to use the notwithstanding clause to discriminate against citizens.”

Nolan said he would protect English-speaking people, and believes minority anglophone communities should have access to essential services in their native tongue. “I know Mr. Poilievre, on Bill 96, he’s got a stand on this. But as a member of his team, I will be fighting for you, and I’ll be there to defend all the anglophones in our riding,” he said. “We have to respect both people, plus the Indigenous people as well.”

Whiteduck pushed the conversation beyond a simple consideration of French and English rights to include consideration of the role of Indigenous languages in Canada. “To strengthen this country is to strengthen First Nation languages that have been here forever. When I fight and speak about those things, I will also fight for English rights and English language being used so people can get appropriate services.”

Bertrand said he believes it is important to recognize the right of Quebec to decide its political and constitutional future. “Does this exclude any flexibility to accommodate other people? No it does not. Accommodations can be made on a per-case basis, but it comes down to the survival of the language,” he said.

Q7: Since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel (in which Hamas killed 1,200 Israelis and took over 250 hostages) Israel’s military operation in Gaza has resulted in the deaths of over 50,0000 Palestinians, 17,000 of which were children. A UN report has found Israel’s war tactics to be consistent with genocide. The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu on accusations of crimes against humanity. In this context, do you believe Canada is doing enough to stand up for Palestinian human rights and to uphold international law? And what, if anything, would you push for Canada to do differently?

This question came from Shawville resident Emma Judd.

Hoffman said he agrees with what he believes is the Canadian government’s balanced and tempered position. He said it is a multi-generational, multi-national, multi-religious, multi-ideological conflict that very few can truly appreciate, and to which very few have a mutually agreed solution. “The answer to the question here in Canada is that the PPC will stay out of foreign conflicts,” he concluded.

Nolan said the Conservative Party is against Hamas. “It’s a terrorist group. What they’ve done was unacceptable,” he said, adding that the conflict in question is long-standing and difficult to resolve, and that the Canadian government should not get involved. He said it is a fight that Canada cannot resolve and said we are in no position to take a stand on it.

Whiteduck said Canada has not done enough to address the conflict and, contrary to Nolan’s position, believes Canada does need to take a stand. He thinks Canada should end involvement in illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian territory, impose a two-way arms embargo with Israel, work to prevent anti-semitic and anti-Palestinian racism that has happened at home, recognize the state of Palestine, and properly fund humanitarian aid. “How can we continue to just sit here and watch what’s going on, with the deaths and the bombing of hospitals?” he asked.

Bertrand said the 1,200 Israelis killed are a result of the build-up over 70 years of the conflict. He said what is happening now cannot be separated from what has happened throughout the entire history of the conflict. “We must not take those atrocities as separate from what happened before and what happened after. “I think it’s a genocide, just by proportionality of the number of deaths.”

Chatel said “the Oct. 7 attack on Israel and following complete devastation of Gaza is heartbreaking.” She said she is a strong advocate for a ceasefire, for sustainable peace, and for rebuilding Gaza, noting she would like to see Canada play a key part in the Gaza reconstruction plan proposed by Egypt that would see the territory rebuilt for and by Palestinians.

Q8: I work for various organizations that support low-income people. For some time now, the demand for access to food at the food bank has been on the rise, homelessness has been on the rise, and our shelters are full for lack of affordable housing or housing at all. Economic development is important, but in concrete terms, what would your party do now to help low-income people?

This question was originally posed in French by Kim Laroche, director general of local food bank Bouffe Pontiac. Candidates answers have been translated from French, except Todd Hoffman’s which was given in English.

Nolan said the Conservatives would reduce taxes for low-income people by 15 per cent and build affordable homes. In a follow up, Nolan said he saw affordable housing in Messines, Que., with subsidized electricity and gas and called for more units like those to be built.

Whiteduck said it would be important to build affordable housing and provide more support for food banks in the short term. “As we wait for solutions, people need to feed themselves, and we’ll need programs to support that.” In a follow up, Whiteduck asked why schools don’t already have food programs. “We’re arriving at the election and there are plenty of promises,” Whiteduck said. “At a certain point, enough is enough.”

Bertrand said the Greens will offer a living wage, with no tax on income under $40,000. “The cost of housing has to be affordable, that means the cost of housing has to be less than one third the total monthly income,” Bertrand said, pointing to prefab houses built with Pontiac wood as one possible solution.

Chatel said “managing our economy so we can create good, well-paying jobs, and building affordable housing is one of the ways to make life more affordable for Canadians and people here in our riding.” She pointed to concrete measures she believes her party has taken, including adjustments to unemployment insurance, the dental program, and supports for low-income children.

Hoffman said that by removing “red tape” for farmers, more food could be produced at lower prices for low-income people. He said that milk could be sold at a subsidized rate or donated to food banks or single mothers.“Food banks should be having more food and we can produce it,” he said.

Q9: What will your party do to bring more jobs to the Pontiac?

Whiteduck said he believes the federal government should support municipalities in building critical tourism infrastructure, such as overnight accommodation, to attract tourists. He also said allowing federal employees to work from home would be its own form of economic development “because people end up spending their funding at the local grocery store, [and] with their local farmer.”

Bertrand said improving Pontiac’s infrastructure, including roads and a rail line, would be important, as well as kickstarting businesses by bringing funds from the outside. “We should mandate the CMHC to build. I envision housing within municipalities. No urban sprawl should come out of this program.”

Chatel said she sees opportunities in agriculture and agri-food, and forestry industries, and also highlighted housing construction, the development of clean energy, and outdoor tourism as areas for potential economic growth. She agreed investing in infrastructure would also be critical, as well as expanding cellular coverage across the region.

Hoffman called for reducing red tape, which he believes is stifling local businesses, and empowering Pontiac residents to become entrepreneurs so they can begin hiring local people and eventually grow into the Ontario market, which he hopes will be possible if trade barriers are lifted.

Nolan said he doesn’t think tourism will offer enough economic development for the region, and said the local transformation of natural resources would be critical. He agreed with Chatel that building homes is important, and suggested training local youth to do the building.

After each candidate briefly laid out their vision for building back Pontiac’s economy, THE EQUITY invited each of them to discuss what of what had been proposed would be critical to a non-partisan economic strategy for the region.

Chatel and Nolan agreed offering trades training to local youth so they can be hired to build more homes in the region, using locally sourced wood, could be a winning initiative in the Pontiac.

Nolan added to this, emphasizing it is critical that highways be widened to bring in new industry. Bertrand suggested defunding “big oil” as a way to finance new housing projects, what he called “attractive, functional, and ecoresponsible homes” using Pontiac wood.

Hoffman questioned the utility of building more homes if there were not also local jobs, and also emphasized the need to widen Highway 148.

Whiteduck said he saw roads, tourism, and housing all as important pieces to the puzzle that is rebuilding Pontiac’s economy, but cautioned an effort of this scale would take time. He also emphasized the need to balance economic development with protecting the environment and not depleting natural resources like wood.

The candidates continued their conversation about their visions and priorities for the Pontiac region for over five minutes, touching on everything from plans for nuclear waste disposal at Chalk River to what is needed to support municipalities in building more housing, and the urgent need to lift interprovincial trade barriers, before delivering closing statements.