Ruby Pratka

City to pause food waste collection to install new scale

City to pause food waste collection to install new scale

City to pause food waste collection to install new scale

Ruby Pratka

Local Journalism Initiative reporter

editor@qctonline.com

City officials are asking residents and business owners who use the city’s “purple bag” food waste collection program not to put their purple bags out for collection from Feb. 15-22, due to work being done at the city incinerator. 

During that time, workers will install a new scale to weigh the garbage that is returned to the incineration pit after the sorting of the purple bags, the city’s communications and citizen relations service said in a statement on Feb. 7. The scale “will allow the collection of data on the quantities of organic and non-organic residual materials,” they said.

Residents are asked not to place their purple bags in their bin during this period in order to keep them from going to the incinerator. 

This is the second time in the program’s history that food waste collection has been briefly paused for optimization; last January, collection was suspended for five days to facilitate improvements to the flow of bags on conveyor belts.  

The Ville de Québec launched its residential compost program in November 2022 in La Haute-Saint-Charles before gradually expanding it to the city’s five other boroughs. Since last year, businesses, industrial facilities and government institutions have been able to sign on voluntarily. Food waste at participating homes and businesses is separated into distinctive purple bags and sent to the city’s organic material biomethanization centre, adjacent to the incinerator, in Beauport. The residue is liquefied, heated and converted into methane gas and digestate, an agricultural fertilizer. 

According to the city website, 75 per cent of households participate in the voluntary food waste separation program. City officials say the conversion of food waste into methane has made it possible to inject more than four million cubic metres of renewable natural gas into the provincewide Énergir network. For more information on the program, visit ville.quebec.qc.ca/sacmauve

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Farnham to launch taxi service in March

By Ruby Pratka

Local Journalism Initiative

Farnham residents who don’t have easy access to a car will be able to get around town using a taxi-on-demand service starting this spring, Mayor Patrick Melchior told the BCN.

Starting in early March, if all goes according to plan, residents will be able to call a single phone number at least 30 minutes before a planned trip and get a taxi to pick them up at any one of 40 stops around town. Teens and adults will pay a cash fare of $4 each way or use tickets bought in advance at the town hall; children 13 and under ride free with a paying adult. The service will be available from 6:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Although the exact locations of stops are yet to be determined, Melchior’s goal is that riders won’t have to walk further than 150 metres to reach a stop.

“This is something I’ve wanted to do for a number of years, and it’s something people want,” said the mayor. “People are coming here from the city, and our population is growing; there were 8,300 of us when I first took office [in 2018] and now there are 11,200. I think it’s important – for example, if you’re a single parent who doesn’t have a car and you need to go do your shopping, you’re going to be able to do it for eight dollars.”

The taxi service is a one-year pilot project being put in place in partnership with the MRC Brome-Missisquoi. The full budget has yet to be released as of this writing; Farnham councillors voted to approve $50,000 in municipal funding for the project. The MRC will contribute to the project through the Laboratoire d’innovation en mobilité intelligente territoriale (LI-MIT; smart territorial mobility innovation lab) initiative.

Farnham is the third municipality in the MRC to launch a taxi-on-demand program. The city of Cowansville has had a similar program for several years. Late last month, Bromont announced plans to launch its own project; Mayor Louis Villeneuve previously told the BCN he hoped the first on-demand taxis in Bromont would be in service by late February or early March.

“The [taxi-on-demand] program seems to work well in Cowansville. They’ve had it for a few years and their population was 12,000 when they started theirs; we have a population of over 11,000 now. We’re inspired by them,” Melchior said. He said other transit projects, such as a shuttle bus service, were “not out of the question” if data from the taxi pilot project showed they might be in demand. “We want to see the demand for this [taxi pilot project] first.”

Melchior said he hopes to arrive at a point where it’s possible to live a full life without a car in Brome-Missisquoi. “One of my dreams is to have a [taxi-on-demand] circuit that covers the whole of Brome-Missisquoi, and I don’t think I’m the only person with that dream – we’re working on it.”

Farnham to launch taxi service in March Read More »

“No one wants this in their backyard”: Burcombe opposes location of new hydro substation

By Ruby Pratka

Local Journalism Initiative

Brome Lake Mayor Richard Burcombe has said he is opposed to the location proposed by Hydro-Québec for a new electrical substation.

The precise location of the substation – which would be built in 2027 and replace smaller existing substations in Knowlton and Sutton – has not been determined. When the new substation was first proposed in early 2024, Hydro-Québec was considering locations across a large swath of Brome-Missisquoi, including the town of Brome Lake, Brome village, Sutton, Cowansville, Dunham, Brigham and East Farnham. The current “reception zone” (zone d’accueil) where the substation may be built has been narrowed down to a smaller area straddling Brome Lake, Brome Village and Sutton, according to a map available on the Hydro-Québec website.

“The site targeted by Hydro-Québec for the construction of its substation borders the towns of  Brome Lake and Sutton, in the Sutton Junction sector,” Town of Brome Lake officials explained in a statement. “Under this scenario, feeder lines supported by towers up to 45 metres high would cross part of the West Brome area to the new substation.”

Hydro-Québec regional affairs advisor Ève-Marie Jodoin said the project was first presented to stakeholders in March 2024. “We exposed the reasons we have to modernize and the areas we need to reach,” she said. Public consultations were also held in June and December 2024. However, Burcombe said he found out from constituents, not from the public utility, that Sutton Junction had been singled out as the future home of the substation, and a list of questions sent to the utility by the MRC has not received an answer. “They come to town and they consult, and people ask questions, but they don’t get many answers,” he said. “We’re waiting for Hydro to come back with answers.” An additional webinar for citizens is planned for Feb. 26, and another stakeholder meeting is planned for March, according to the mayor.

Burcombe said he recognized the need for the modernization of the electric network, but was concerned about the visual impact of the substation in an area frequented by tourists and cyclists, its impact on nearby wetlands, forested areas and farms and its social acceptability in the area. “It would ruin a part of our forest…when you have 150-foot metallic pylons installed,” he said. “No one wants to have this in their backyard, and I can’t blame them, especially in an area where there’s beautiful countryside.”

“I’m opposed to the choice of location as presented by Hydro-Québec and ask them to propose a more appropriate alternative,” Burcombe said. “The relocation and consolidation of the Knowlton and Sutton downtown stations into a single, larger station is good news in itself, but it must not be at the expense of the environment and the rural, bucolic character of our territory … It is Hydro-Québec’s job to come up with alternative locations. I understand that they are limited in the choices they can make, but it’s 2025 and technology has come a long way.”

The BCN requested comment from the town of Sutton but had not received a response by press time.

“We’re very much aware that this is a beautiful area with a lot of sensitive considerations,” said Jodoin. “That’s why we’re going step by step. We’re open to hearing suggestions about how we could make this project better.

The Feb. 26 French-language webinar is open to the public and will take place from 7 to 9 p.m. Those interested in participating can register at hydroquebec.com/projets/brome. Jodoin said Hydro-Québec recognized the need to inform the local anglophone population about the project in English, but was still “trying to validate” what English services it was allowed to provide under Law 14 (formerly Bill 96). “We’ll find the best way we can to serve the anglophone population,” she said. “We do want to be able to answer questions in English.”

“No one wants this in their backyard”: Burcombe opposes location of new hydro substation Read More »

“Now is the time to speak up” amid arts funding crunch

By Ruby Pratka

Local Journalism Initiaitve

Three years after the lifting of the last COVID-19-related restrictions on public gatherings in Quebec, the word “cancelled” is once again cropping up on cultural events listings again around the province.

From the Hilarium comedy festival in Sherbrooke, which cancelled its second edition this month; to the Orchestre métropolitain de Montréal, which cancelled two concerts; Théâtre La Bordée and Robert Lepage’s Ex Machina in Quebec City, which suspended new projects; the Le Festif! Music festival in Baie-Saint-Paul, whose director has said he is worried about the event’s long-term survival; to a cascade of smaller concerts cancelled due to a lack of advance ticket sales, cultural institutions are hitting a financial wall. The Musée régional de Rimouski has been closed indefinitely since Jan. 23, and the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Sherbrooke (MBAS) and other provincial museums have suspended school field trips and end free admission for adults on the first Sunday of the month due to funding cuts as the government seeks to reduce an $11-billion deficit. Even smaller events like the Knowlton Literary Festival in Brome Lake,  which is sheltered from rising costs by its all-volunteer management structure, is aware that expenses will probably increase and thus result in a tighter budget in future years, according to festival vice president Lesley Richardson.

Following the Ex Machina announcement, Québec solidaire cultural affairs critic Sol Zanetti asked his social media followers to let him know about cancellations and cuts to cultural events around the province.

“I got about 25 different responses, and every cancellation is a big event; it’s an alarm signal,” Zanetti said. Cancellations have “been snowballing since December, but we’ve been seeing signs for years.”

Nick Maturo, programming director of the English Language Arts Network (ELAN) says the trend is “disappointing, but not surprising.” He and other arts advocates say it has a range of causes.

“During the pandemic, there were some really important investments, both at the national

and the provincial level, to help stabilize the arts and culture sector,” he said. “I think that coincided with a situation in which a lot of artists or organizations, if they were not reliant on public funding in the past, all of a sudden, that became a really important way of supporting their work. Of course, as we exited the pandemic years, investment in arts and culture returned to levels we would have seen prior to that. Alongside that, obviously, everybody is well aware of inflation.”

“Culture has always been underfunded,” said Maude Charland-Lallier of the Musée des Beaux-arts de Sherbrooke (MBAS). “The pandemic, with the closures and the rules, accentuated everything. We did have punctual help during that time, but people had to get back into the habit of going out. Now we get even more [visitors] than before, but the assistance is not there anymore. Meanwhile, all of our costs have gone up – suppliers, fixed fees for maintaining the building – and there has not been an increase in funding to respond to that.”

The MBAS is a member of the Société des musées du Québec (SMQ), which has joined the Front commun pour les arts (FCA), an ad hoc network of dozens of arts and culture organizations formed to call for a more solid arts funding model. In a report tabled at the National Assembly as part of pre-budgetary consultations, FCA members called on the Legault government to increase funding for the Conseil des arts et lettres du Québec (CALQ). “The core funding of the CALQ has been set at $106 million since 2017, despite 22 per cent inflation during that time … [while] funding for cultural organizations has risen by only seven per cent,” they write. “In addition, the basic budgets available in artist grants have stagnated for nearly 20 years at $10 million while inflation was 53 per cent over the same period. An additional $10-million envelope has been granted in recent years, but since the measure expires in 2024-2025, its renewal is not guaranteed.”

“When there is inflation and there hasn’t been [adequate] indexation, at one point, you hit a crisis,” said director general Pierre Mino of Culture Estrie. “Even when there are no funding cuts as such, the lack of indexation has the same effect as cuts.”

Echoing the FCA, he noted that attendance at live events generally has not come back to pre-pandemic levels, as people try to cut spending amid overall inflation and inexpensive online entertainment options abound. “We’re in an adaptive period…where the way of reaching people has evolved,” he observed.

According to a recent report by Hill Strategies in collaboration with ELAN, the cultural sector contributed over $15 billion to Quebec’s GDP in 2021. Mino worries about the economic knock-on effect that the cancellations could have on early-career artists trying to get a foothold in the industry, on economic activity in neighbourhoods where restaurants and bars can no longer depend on the “theatre crowd” and on longer-term efforts by municipalities to attract workers. “Would you want to take a job in a city where there’s hardly anything to do outside of work?”

“We’d like to see … the recognition that arts and culture is not just a silo, it’s not just a luxury that when times are tough, we tighten the belt and that’s the first thing to go,” said ELAN’s Maturo. “I think there needs to be a recognition that arts and culture can be an asset in many, many areas of society, whether that’s education, mental health or fostering a shared identity. In that sense, it’s money well spent; it’s not just money going to an artist that stays within the arts and doesn’t benefit all of society. If the arts are important to you, now is the time to speak up.”

“Now is the time to speak up” amid arts funding crunch Read More »

Demonstrators brave the cold to demand rent freeze

Demonstrators brave the cold to demand rent freeze 

Cassandra Kerwin, Local Journalism Initiative reporter 

Cassandra@qctonline.com

Renters’ rights groups are raising the alarm about the combined impact of inflation, rising food prices and record rent increases on renters, a week after the province’s housing tribunal announced a record high 5.9 per cent rent increase benchmark. They are calling on the provincial government to impose a freeze on rent increases. 

During “rent control week” activities organized by the Regroupement des comités logement et associations de locataires du Québec (RCLALQ), on Jan. 30, some 25 protesters gathered in the cold in Parc de l’Amérique-Française and marched across the street to the offices of Housing Minister France-Élaine Duranceau in Édifice Marie-Guyart in the hope of freezing rents. 

Contrary to popular belief, the RCLALQ states, “There is no rent control in Quebec,” leaving tenants vulnerable to abusive increases. When presented with an increase they believe is abusive, tenants can go before the Tribunal administratif du Logement (TAL) and have a judge set an increase. According to the RCLALQ, many tenants are unaware of their rights, and when they do contest abusive, negligent or illegal practices, they often fail to make their voices heard at the TAL. 

On Jan. 21, the TAL announced a 5.9 percent rent increase benchmark for 2025 (see article in Jan. 29, 2025 edition). While the Coalition de Québec contre les hausses de loyer claims this trend drives rents up across the board, landlords argue these increases are overdue, compensating for nearly 10 years of mismanagement within the Régie du Logement and the TAL and allowing landlords to adjust to the rising costs of maintenance. 

Nicolas Villamarin Bonilla of the Coalition stated, “Owners’ income has risen, allowing them to increase rents further. This wealth drain is making the poor poorer and the richest are getting richer at their expense. The outdated calculation methods are concerning, particularly regarding rent evolution this year.” He continued, “We need action before it’s too late. Many tenants are already struggling to pay rent or find affordable housing. Rent-setting by the TAL is ineffective.” 

As a recourse, the RCLALQ and the Coalition are demanding an immediate rent freeze and provincewide rent control. At the Jan. 30 protest at the housing ministry offices, they threw white confetti to mimic snow and sang a modified version of the theme from Frozen while distributing stickers asserting the right of tenants to refuse rent hikes, until security personnel showed them the exit. 

Along with rising rents, there is a housing crisis in Quebec, renters’ groups assert. “There is housing available, but it is even more expensive. What is currently being built in Saint-Sauveur, we are talking about 4 1/2s [two-bedroom apartments] that start at $1,600, $2,000 [per month]. This is well above the ability of a large part of the neighbourhood’s population to pay,” said Guillaume Béliveau Côté of the Comité des citoyens et des citoyennes du quartier Saint-Sauveur.

As of Feb. 1, there is no indication the government plans to legislate to freeze rents, despite calls for a freeze by the Quebec Liberal Party and Québec Solidaire. Duranceau has said the Coalition Avenir Québec government’s approach to the housing shortage is centred around increasing supply. 

With files from Ruby Pratka, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

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Community foundations merge to create single entity

Community foundations merge to create single entity

Ruby Pratka

Local Journalism Initiative reporter 

editor@qctonline.com

The Jeffery Hale Foundation, the Saint Brigid’s Home Foundation and the Citadel Foundation have merged their operations to form the Quebec City English-speaking Community Foundation, representatives of the merged foundation announced last week. The amalgamation had been in the cards for the last several years and had been approved by the memberships of all three foundations, they said. The three foundations have shared a single executive team since 2007 and a single investment committee for at least two decades. 

“We’ve co-operated and co-ordinated on many projects over the years, all three foundations, and we serve the same clientele – that is, the English-speaking community, its institutions, its elderly, health and social services, education, heritage and community development,” explained Martin Edwards, board chair of the new foundation. 

Edwards said the merger will simplify the day-to-day philanthropic efforts of all three foundations. “We [used to have] the same staff, similar memberships, same bankers, same auditors, et cetera, but … three annual general meetings, three audited financial statements, three tax returns … three channels of communication for every joint project that we worked on, three brokerage statements, three bank statements, three of everything. Costs and expenses were multiplied by three. What we are targeting in this amalgamation is really unity, efficiency and improved investment opportunities.” 

“We will continue to honour the commitments of those three foundations and pursue and improve on their work going forward,” said Edwards, adding that donors will still be able to specify which project or organization under the foundation’s umbrella their donation will fund. 

Edwards, executive director Michael Boden and assistant executive director Julie Sauvageau presented the amalgamation as a natural progression. “Pooling financial resources, pooling expertise, pooling human resources just seemed to be the logical step,” Boden told the QCT. In recent decades, the three foundations have gradually absorbed the assets of smaller community foundations and philanthropic funds and taken responsibility for administering their assets. Edwards said the merged foundation would continue its predecessors’ work in many areas, including the administration of the Citadel Foundation and Quebec City Women’s Club bursary programs for English-speaking students, and administrative support for organizations serving the English-speaking community.

Edwards said the merger would eliminate competition and overlap between the three foundations and make it easier to fund large projects. The new foundation will have combined assets of $87 million, Boden said, and an estimated $4 million will be distributed to projects in the community in the coming year. Major projects on the foundation’s funding agenda include the Cathedral Gardens at the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity and the sports field at the yet-to-be-named consolidated English high school. The foundation also aims to provide ongoing support to Mount Hermon Cemetery, Jeffery Hale Community Partners and the Fraser Recovery Program, which supports English-speaking youth recovering from substance abuse issues and their families, among others. 

Anyone interested in donating to the Quebec City English-speaking Community Foundation or sharing comments and suggestions is invited to email contact@qcesf.org

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Black History Month roundtable launches ninth edition

Black History Month roundtable launches ninth edition of celebrations

Ruby Pratka, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

editor@qctonline.com

The Table de concertation du Mois de l’Histoire des Noirs de Québec (TCMHNQ; Quebec City Black History Month Roundtable) launched a busy month of festivities on Jan. 31 at Université Laval, with a cocktail reception, a concert by the group AfroVibes and a roundtable discussion featuring members of the city’s Black community who have excelled in a variety of fields.

Event spokesperson Samuel Audet-Sow is a former professional basketball player turned lawyer who now holds a senior management role at Desjardins. During his keynote address, he looked back on his student days at Collège de Lévis, where he was one of only three Black students at the time. “When I was approached by the president [of the roundtable] to be the spokesperson, my first reaction was, really? I mean, it’s true that I used to be a good basketball player; OK, I passed the bar; but my impression was that you had to be a superhero to be the spokesperson for such an important event. I didn’t think I fit that definition of a superhero … but through resilience, as Black people, we discover that our colour can be a superpower. It gave me an opportunity to discover an inner strength I didn’t know I had, to face all the obstacles that came before me, in my career and in life.”

Théodore Leuwat, president of the roundtable, presented the program of the month- long event, under the theme “Histoire des Afro-canadiens: Éduquer et inspirer” (Afro- Canadian History: Educate and Inspire).

“If you are an adult arriving in Canada, you need to tell yourself that anything is possible,” Leuwat said during his address. “You need to have goodwill and be involved every day. We need to talk about education because … some of our parents have brought their youngest children. What do we need to know about young people? We know that a parent has a lot of responsibilities – a young person who isn’t well educated is a problem waiting to happen. If we educate them early enough and give them the tools to understand the problems they’re going to face and to get involved, that’s how we ensure [the success of] the next generation. That’s why we chose our themes.”

Leuwat said the committee had received a “record number” of project proposals for the ninth edition of Black History Month. They chose 40, pitched by 24 different community groups. The activities include free art exhibits and films at public libraries around the city, the seventh edition of the Festival d’arts Afro- Québécois, soccer and fitness events, culinary workshops, roundtable discussions, networking events for entrepreneurs and a Black history heritage tour of Old Quebec. For music lovers, Billie du Page and Fernie will perform at the Grand Théâtre on Feb. 21, Samba Touré will perform on Feb. 24 at the Grand Théâtre and a Motown heritage revue at the Palais Montcalm will close the festivities on Feb. 28. Other highlights include a celebration of French-language African literature on Feb. 28 at the Maison de la Littérature and activities for kids and teens at the Maison des Jeunes Saint-Sauveur. Most activities are free, although some do require advance reservation. For more information and to reserve your spot at ticketed events, visit mhnquebec.ca/programmation.

Black History Month roundtable launches ninth edition Read More »

Bromont launches new transit pilot project

By Ruby Pratka

Local Journalism Initiative

The city of Bromont is planning to test out a taxi-on-demand service for trips within the municipality in partnership with the MRC of Brome-Missisquoi (MRCBM), Bromont Mayor Louis Villeneuve confirmed last week. Villeneuve told the BCN the city was hoping the first taxis would be rolling by February or March.

“This new sustainable initiative, deployed jointly with the MRCBM, will allow Bromont residents to travel via a new on-demand public transit service in our six districts,” Villeneuve said.

City officials said in a statement that the yearlong pilot project “aims to test a new service model … specifically adapted to the needs of citizens.” The stated objective is to “improve the mobility of residents in the territory and to improve the public transit service offer.” The pilot project will be funded by a $300,000 grant from the MRCBM and a $50,000 contribution from the city.

People who want to use the on-demand taxi service will have to reserve trips at least 30 minutes in advance and wait at any one of 40 predetermined stops around the city for their taxi. Each trip will cost $4. “We’ll follow [the rollout] closely, collect data on buy-in and on who is using the service the most and where the in-demand areas are,” said Villeneuve.

“Public transit worthy of the name”

Bromont has launched several pilot projects in recent years aimed at increasing public transit use. In summer 2021, the city trialled a free downtown shuttle bus service. At the time, Villeneuve said he hoped  a taxi-on-demand service would be running by 2022, with a regular bus service in place in 2024. There were also longer-term plans for a commuter transport service in collaboration with major employers and an app-based car-sharing program. However, the program ran into a roadblock when several early calls for tenders received no bids, and it was ultimately shelved.

In June 2024, the municipality and the MRCBM announced they were working with the Green Municipal Fund of the Canadian Federation of Municipalities to roll out an app-based car-sharing service; when asked about the implementation of that project, Villeneuve referred a request for comment to the MRCBM.

“We tested the bus with MOBI and now we’re trying something different,” Villeneuve said. “We’d like to bring in shuttles and car-sharing over the longer term. We have a bunch of initiatives to give us public transit worthy of the name. There’s a lot of trial and error in life, and I’m confident we will have results.”

Villeneuve said he believed public transportation would catch on sooner rather than later. “We are there now with the number of citizens and the industrial park… we have a lot of young people and a lot of older people who don’t necessarily drive. People will find [public transit] practical and I think that will encourage people to use it.”

MRCBM communications co-ordinator Mariève Lebrun said more information on the project would be available in February.

Bromont launches new transit pilot project Read More »

No project tabled for Adamsville housing complex, Villeneuve says

By Ruby Pratka

Local Journalism Initiative

The town of Bromont has no concrete plans to approve a 111-unit affordable housing development in Adamsville, Mayor Louis Villeneuve has said.

Several dozen Adamsville residents attended the Jan. 13 council meeting to applaud the tabling of a petition against the development, which they argued would create congestion and parking difficulties, contribute to school overcrowding and limit current residents’ access to green space. The petition received over 600 signatures from residents of a neighbourhood with less than 800 households. In a later interview with the BCN, Villeneuve said no such project had been tabled.

Villeneuve said the city had sent a letter to the Quebec government before the holidays supporting a grant request by Granby-based co-op Holocie for an affordable housing development in Bromont. Contrary to what was stated in the petition, Villeneuve said city council had not passed a resolution in favour of the project. “We sent a letter to say we supported the request for funding that they were making to the Quebec government, but that we didn’t know the details,” he said. “They came to speak with us later to say they had their eye on a piece of land where it was possible to do 111 units. I have not heard back from them since and there is no such project tabled. There’s no timeline since there’s no project.”

Villeneuve said the city, which recently appointed an affordable housing point person to develop a housing strategy and make recommendations to council, would not approve a project before “taking the time to look at it with residents.”

“For the residents, clearly, 111 units makes no sense,” he added.

Holocie CEO Jean-François Arsenault said the company is waiting for a response to a request for funding before proposing a concrete project in Bromont. “We’re waiting for the government to get back to us and then we’ll look at feasibility; the timeline depends on the funding,” he said, adding that the company did not have its eye on a specific plot of land in town. He said there were “still a lot of things to do” before determining where and whether a potential development would be built. “The projects are for the community, so we want to meet the community’s needs,” he said.

Longtime Bromont resident Jean-François Rousseau launched the petition when he heard about the potential development from a neighbour. He emphasized that he is not opposed to affordable housing. “It’s the number – 111 units – that makes no sense,” he said. “That’s enormous for the land that’s available, and on top of things, it’s an isolated piece of land. The only services nearby are a dépanneur and a school.” Rousseau said potential residents would have to have multiple cars to access services in town, increasing traffic congestion, creating parking challenges and potentially forcing cash-strapped families to buy another car.

“I think that if you have a vacant lot next door to you, you always run the risk that someone will build something, but it’s the size of the project that creates unanimous [opposition],” said Rousseau, a financial planner. “When we were circulating the petition, we had fewer than five refusals … and no one looked us in the eye and said, ‘Hey, what a good idea.’”

“We’ve been told, ‘You might be reacting too quickly,’ but sometimes things can move quickly with urban planning,” he said. “We wanted to make the city aware that 111 units, that just makes no sense. Even if there’s no project tabled, we wanted to make them think. I think the mayor and the district councillor [Coun. Jocelyne Corbeil] had the right reaction when they said, with more than 630 signatures in a neighbourhood with 750 voters, something’s not working. … There’s funding for housing and there’s a huge need for housing, but let’s take the time to do things right.”

No project tabled for Adamsville housing complex, Villeneuve says Read More »

Judge orders Sutton to grant permit for rehab centre

By Ruby Pratka

Local Journalism Initiative

A Quebec Superior Court judge has ordered the town of Sutton to grant a permit for a rehabilitation facility for women recovering from addiction to move into the Villa Châteauneuf in Sutton.

At the Jan. 28 hearing, Judge Gaétan Dumas ordered the municipality to emit the permit within two weeks. Élaine Francis, a lawyer for the town, told the court the town would respect the order.

The Villa Châteauneuf, a former convent and school, was built in 1911 on land donated by local philanthropist Eugene Dyer, who stipulated that it should be used for the education of the francophone and anglophone population of Sutton. In 1971, it was transferred from the Soeurs de la Présentation de Marie religious order to the Foyers de la Charité, a network of religious retreat centres-slash-utopian communities affiliated with the Catholic Church. In June 2023, amid declining religious participation and the impact of COVID restrictions, the papal delegate of the Foyers de la Charité decreed the closure of the entire network; the last six permanent residents of the Sutton centre, elderly laypeople who shared all their goods in common, moved out in September of that year.

Since then, the complex of eight buildings, worth an estimated $15 million in 2023, has sat empty, overseen by a nonprofit board. The board initially planned to donate the complex to Le Chaînon, an organization for domestic violence survivors, before deciding to rent it out to La Passerelle, Quebec’s only residential rehab facility exclusively for women. The court order allowing La Passerelle to move in “allows us to have an occupant that will pay the fees, keep the building insurable, and maintain it,” said board chairperson Victor Marchand.

Amélie Lemieux, the director of La Passerelle, said the organization’s current facility in Saint-Simon-de-Bagot is bursting at the seams. “At the moment, we have 24 beds in nine rooms, people are sleeping two to four to a room and we are refusing two people a day,” she said. “At the Villa, we would have 40 private rooms.” She emphasized that women participating in the rehab program would be there voluntarily and would not be able to leave the property unsupervised. Moving to the larger facility, she added, would allow La Passerelle to hire several local staff members and potentially offer bilingual programs.

“It would have been nice if they had come to see us”

However, the legal dispute over the Villa’s fate is far from over. In court filings, both the Diocese of Saint-Hyacinthe and Ann and Diana Dyer, heirs of Eugene Dyer and administrators of the Dyer family trust, have raised concerns about the legitimacy of the nonprofit board as stewards of the property; the diocese had sought an injunction to keep the town from granting the occupancy permit. If a judge finds in favour of either party, the property could revert to the diocese or to the Dyer family trust. The Town of Sutton has also invoked its right of pre-emption to match any offer made on the property; after initially proposing to move the town’s community centre there, Mayor Robert Benoit has more recently floated the idea of using the villa, which has dozens of small, private bedrooms, to house temporary foreign workers and serve as a community hub along the lines of the former Maison Mère convent in Baie-Saint-Paul. He was adamant that the city had no plans to pursue for-profit residential development on the site.

The permit issued to La Passerelle is temporary, valid until such time as the other legal challenges are resolved – which, according to Benoit Chabot, a lawyer representing the nonprofit board, could take two years or more.

“If another judge decides the diocese has a right to decide what will happen to the building, then we’ll have to leave,” Lemieux said. “We know that’s hanging over our head, but we’re moving forward and we have confidence in the project.”

Benoit said he had not spoken with Lemieux or Marchand about La Passerelle. “We have zero information about La Passerelle – is it a halfway house? Will there be security measures? Are the [participants] going to be able to leave the property? Are citizens going to be able to come onto the property and mix with them? It would have been nice if La Passerelle had come to see us.”

Lemieux said La Passerelle would “definitely develop information sessions to allow people [from the community] to come and ask their questions” if the move – still conditional on approval from the CIUSSS de l’Estrie-CHUS – goes ahead.

“Just the first inning”

The mayor said the legal dispute over the Villa’s long-term fate is “just in the first inning.”

“What I really regret is how this has divided Sutton,” he said. “It is polarizing, and there are people who are for and against it for all sorts of reasons. There’s no space to find a compromise that will be acceptable to everyone. We’re trying to defuse the situation … in a context where there’s a lot of misinformation.”

Benoit said the town plans to hold information sessions on its own project for the Villa over the next few weeks. 

The BCN contacted lawyers for the Dyer family and the Diocese of Saint-Hyacinthe but had not received a response by press time.

Judge orders Sutton to grant permit for rehab centre Read More »

Keep vaccines up to date as flu season looms, Boileau warns

Keep vaccines up to date as flu season looms, Boileau warns

Ruby Pratka, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

editor@qctonline.com

Quebec public health director Dr. Luc Boileau struck a relatively optimistic note as he delivered a planned update on the progression of common respiratory viruses in Quebec on Jan. 24. “We’ve seen worse in the last few years.”

He presented Santé Québec data showing that test positivity rates for COVID-19 and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) had dipped below 10 per cent for the first time in several weeks. COVID positivity rates, he noted, were at their lowest since early summer. “Things are going in the right direction; there are new variants that have gotten in place, but they are no more threatening than the ones we have seen in the past, and vaccination remains effective.”

Boileau said hospital admissions for RSV, which is most dangerous for elderly and immunocompromised people and newborns, have fallen since the province provided more than 40,000 newborns with an immunotherapy treatment. Seasonal flu positivity rates, however, were on the rise, and that trend was expected to continue. Boileau said health officials expected to see flu circulation peak in early February before tapering off gradually. “Flu is a serious disease, which sends 300 to 400 [Quebecers] to intensive care every year and even causes some deaths; it has an effective means of prevention, which is vaccination.” He said that although efficiency data on this year’s vaccine was not available, he expected it to be as efficient as in previous years.

He noted that certain stomach viruses – noroviruses and rotaviruses, which cause the dreaded gastro – appear to be circulating more than usual. He encouraged people to stay home if they have flu-like symptoms, particularly if they have a fever, and to wear a mask and avoid contact with vulnerable people if they must leave the house, and wash their hands regularly with soap, especially if they have or have recently had gastro.

Measles outbreak confined to Laurentians, Laval

Boileau said there were 13 cases of measles in the province as of Jan. 26, including two new cases in the past week, all linked to an outbreak in the Lauren- tians in early January. Although health officials were still waiting to see if new cases would arise, he said the outbreak appeared not to have spread further than greater Montreal.

Measles is a highly contagious virus that can be especially dangerous for pregnant women and young children. According to Health Canada, Canadians born before 1970 are presumed protected against measles due to prior exposure, and most Canadians born after 1970 were vaccinated against measles in early childhood. Vaccine efficiency is close to 99 per cent. If you were not vaccinated against measles as a child, you can register to receive the vaccine for free on ClicSanté, Boileau said. If you don’t know your vaccination status, he said, it is safe to receive the shot twice.

Keep vaccines up to date as flu season looms, Boileau warns Read More »

Record rent benchmark increase alarms renters’ groups

Record rent increase benchmark alarms renters’ groups

Ruby Pratka, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

editor@qctonline.com

At the Saint-Roch offices of the Bureau d’animation et d’information logement de Québec métropolitaine (BAIL-Québec), the phones haven’t stopped ringing for days. The record rent increase benchmark of 5.9 per cent announced by the province’s housing tribunal (Tribunal administratif du logement; TAL) has many renters in a panic as they brace for lease renewal season.

In Quebec, private residential landlords can increase rent annually by as much as they see fit, explained lawyer Richard Goldman of Éducaloi, a legal information nonprofit. Renters have the choice of accepting the increase and renewing their lease, moving out, or refusing the increase. If the tenant refuses the increase, they can either try to negotiate a smaller increase directly with the landlord, or go before the TAL and have a judge set a (non-negotiable) increase. Although the increases determined by the TAL can vary widely depending on the age of a building, whether it has been recently renovated or needs work, the property owner’s tax liability and whether utilities are included, the TAL uses the benchmark as a guideline to determine what a fair increase is. Some landlords also use the benchmark to calculate increases they propose to renters.

“Rent is made up of different components – maintenance, insurance, gas, electricity, net revenue [for the property owner], all of those make up a percentage [of the increase],” explained Jonathan Carmichael, an information officer at BAIL-Québec and a spokesperson for the provincewide Régroupement des comités du logement et des associations de locataires du Québec (RCLALQ; Quebec association of housing committees and renters’ associations). Macroeconomic indicators and housing tribunal jurisprudence also play a role in the calculations. The benchmark “gives [landlords and renters] an idea of what the TAL might decide, if your case goes before the TAL.” Last year’s benchmark was four per cent. Carmichael said the 5.9 per cent benchmark is “the highest we’ve seen in years. … Twenty years ago, it was more like one per cent.”

Carmichael said the organization had been getting “lots of calls” from worried renters. “Most people’s salaries have not gone up that much, and social assistance has not gone up by that much. People have been stretching the rubber band as much as they can for a long time now. The rise of the cost of living is also high, and landlords have been profiting from it.”

Real estate lawyer Martin Messier is president of the Association des propriétaires du Québec (APQ), the residential landlords’ professional association. He refutes Carmichael’s accusation that landlords are taking advantage of the situation to line their pockets. “We know that people are in a difficult situation, and it is also hard for a lot of our property owners, who are dealing with mortgages that have nearly doubled,” he said. “It’s not true that [the increase] is going in our pockets – it’s based on expenses.” He noted that fluctuating interest rates and the rising cost of renovations have made rent increases inevitable. “Every cost involved in maintaining a building has gone up, and we need to be able to maintain the building.”

The RCLALQ, the Quebec Liberal Party and Québec Solidaire have called for a rent freeze. Messier said that was untenable, and that direct aid to the most vulnerable renters might be a better approach as inflation continues to bite and economic uncertainty looms. “A rent freeze would make sense, but only if they banned tax increases, hydro rate increases and price increases for contractors,” he said. “If people’s income does not go up, we’re all stuck. We want renters to be happy and to be in a position to pay.”

Carmichael advised anyone who receives a rent increase that they are unable or unwilling to pay to contact their local housing committee for free advice. A provincewide directory of housing committees can be found at rclalq.qc.ca/en/housing-committee.

Record rent benchmark increase alarms renters’ groups Read More »

Lights-out looms for Avenue Cartier lampshades amid arts funding crunch

Lights-out looms for Avenue Cartier lampshades amid arts funding crunch

Ruby Pratka, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

editor@qctonline.com

The 34 giant lampshades on Avenue Cartier, which have displayed a range of works by Quebec artists since 2014, may eventually have to be taken down due to a lack of funding from the Ville de Québec, according to the Société de développement commercial (SDC) Montcalm. The SDC Montcalm and the Musée national des Beaux-Arts du Québec (MNBAQ) have piloted the project, called Lumière sur l’art, since its inception, with funding from the Ville de Québec major events bureau.

The current funding agreement ended in 2024. SDC Mont- calm director general Marie Langlois told the QCT that the major events bureau had indicated it was only able to provide 20 per cent of the funding needed for the project to go ahead.

Jean-Étienne Billette is the president of the SDC Montcalm and the owner of the Fastoche sandwich shop and adjoining burger restaurant in Les Halles Cartier. “The [major events office] has let us know that our funding has been reduced to a minimal portion of what we received in the past,” he said. “We learned at the beginning of the summer that they intended to reduce our funding. We spoke with them, and we also spoke with [city councillors] David Weiser and Mélissa Coulombe-Leduc, but things didn’t move forward.

“Any equipment that is ex- posed to the outdoors is expensive [to maintain] and we have to pay the artists,” said Billette. He said the SDC is not eligible for additional grants and is hesitant to explore private sponsorship options. “We want to save Lumière sur l’art.”

Billette said the lampshades, which have displayed art by Group of Seven artists, local con- temporary artists, high school students and people recovering from mental health struggles over the years, have brightened up the street and become a tourist attraction in their own right. “Especially in winter, they’re really pretty.”

City spokesperson Jean-Pascal Lavoie said the city needed more information before making a decision on the future of the project. “The City of Quebec wants Avenue Cartier to continue to benefit from its own visual signature. However, before committing to a new agreement, we want to ensure the safety of the lighting structures. These structures belong to the SDC. Since the lifespan of the lighting structures supporting the lampshades was initially estimated at five years and they were installed in 2015, the City asked the SDC Montcalm … to produce an engineer’s report to assess their condition. We believe an engineer’s assessment of the structures would be appropriate in order to determine their lifespan and see if the financial support should be revised, in addition to assessing the costs associated with repairing or replacing the structures,” he said. Langlois said tests would be carried out by an engineer in February.

“All parties are looking for solutions so that Avenue Cartier continues to benefit from its own visual signature,” Lavoie said, echoing similar statements by the MNBAQ and a spokesperson for Coulombe-Leduc and Weiser.

On Jan. 21, the SDC Montcalm launched an online petition to call on the city to provide $400,000 in funding over the next five years to keep the lamps lit. Nearly 600 people had signed it as of this writing.

Arts funding fragile

Lumière sur l’art is not the only local artistic initiative that is on thin ice due to lack of funding. Both the Théâtre de la Bordée and Robert Lepage’s Ex Machina, the resident theatre company at Le Diamant, have announced cuts to in-house productions in recent weeks. Clément Turgeon, artistic director of Le Festif!, a major summer music festival in Baie-Saint-Paul in the Charlevoix region, has expressed concerns about the festival’s future, although he expects this year’s edition to go ahead. Between inflation and smaller-than-usual government subsidies, he told Radio-Canada, “something isn’t working.”

Christian Robitaille is the director general of Culture Capitale-Nationale–Chaudière-.Appalaches, a network of cultural organizations in the region. “After the pandemic, there was a moment of increased government investment in culture, but then it was the same as [in every other sector] … but in 2021-22, people started to realize how expensive everything was, and the pandemic-era support disappeared. We have pre-pandemic funding with post-pandemic costs,” he said. “There’s inflation, there are salary increases, philanthropy is harder in a complicated time… and there are more requirements being placed on cultural organizations, which are expensive to fulfil,” he said. “We can raise ticket prices, but there’s a limit to that.”

Grants from government agencies are shrinking amid budget cuts. Robitaille also said he fears that in the current economic context, artists themselves might leave the arts for other, more stable and lucrative fields. “We’re not demanding billions here, but the govern- ment needs to recognize the importance of the arts. We’re getting close to the limit.”

Lights-out looms for Avenue Cartier lampshades amid arts funding crunch Read More »

Employment equity program could boost anglo representation in civil service: expert

By Ruby Pratka

Local. Journalism Initiative

Anglophones make up between 10 and 16 per cent of the Quebec population, but only between 1 and 3 per cent of civil servants – a number which has remained stubbornly low since at least the 1970s. A Université de Montréal social psychology professor believes making anglophones a protected group through the provincial government’s Equal Access Employment Program (EAEP) may go some way toward addressing the representation gap.

Richard Bourhis, emeritus professor of social psychology at the Université de Montréal, has written extensively on language and bilingualism in society. In a new research paper published by Concordia University’s Quebec English-Speaking Communities Research Network (QUESCREN), he makes a case for designating English speakers as a protected group under the EAEP alongside women, Indigenous people, members of visible minorities, applicants whose first language is neither French nor English, and people with certain disabilities.

The EAEP, established in 2001, is overseen by the Quebec human rights commission (Commission pour les droits de la personne et de la jeunesse; CDPDJ) and covers hiring practices at 338 government agencies, throughout the health, social services, law enforcement and public education networks; its mandate also covers 71 municipalities, eight transit agencies and 25 crown corporations. Under the EAEP, if two candidates of equivalent skill, knowledge and experience are competing for a position and one is from a protected group and one is not, preference will be given to the applicant from the protected group. Bourhis cites data indicating that the EAEP has helped improve minority representation in the civil service, particularly among visible minority employees, whose representation rose from 2.7 per cent to 11.9 per cent between 2009 and 2022. Bourhis hopes anglophone representation will receive a similar boost if anglophones are included in the EAEP.

“If we succeed in including anglophones in the Quebec public administration [in greater numbers], it will provide more job opportunities and encourage future generations of anglophones to stay in this province,” Bourhis said. “It will also help anglophones in all parts of Quebec to get better services in English from the public sector, if there are more bilingual people. It’s time to add anglophones as an equity-deserving group.” He believes increasing the representation of anglophones in the public service will have a snowball effect. “Anglophones are afraid to apply for these types of jobs because of fear of rejection, because they don’t feel secure enough in a majority French setting … the only way to [combat] that is to have more anglophone representation,” he said.

“Over the past 25 years, many people have said, ‘We would like to have more anglophones in the public service,’ and they have made more efforts, but these efforts were not successful and they were not systemic – they were more pious statements. If you don’t have real targets for inclusion, it won’t happen by itself,” he added.

He acknowledged that in the current political climate, it may be difficult to convince the National Assembly – which would have to approve the addition of a new target group – that anglophones should be considered an equity-deserving group. “We don’t know how this will pan out – we never know why parties take up causes or not – but the point is, let’s put this on the table, because it’s never been done before.”

CDPDJ spokesperson Halimatou Bah told the BCN the addition of anglophones to the EAEP was not currently under consideration, and a separate access-to-employment program existed for anglophones in the civil service.

“For a group of people to be considered one of the groups targeted by the law, people belonging to a group must have historically been victims of discrimination in employment, and they must be underrepresented in the job market,” she said. “For English-speaking people in Quebec, it has been demonstrated that they are underrepresented in government agencies and departments. However, it has not been demonstrated that English-speaking people in Quebec have historically been victims of discrimination in the job market in Quebec,” she said.

Employment equity program could boost anglo representation in civil service: expert Read More »

Cowansville to build new aquatic centre

By Ruby Pratka

Local Journalism Initiative

The City of Cowansville plans to build a new aquatic centre to replace the current aging building, city officials confirmed on Jan. 24.

“Built in 1967, the Cowansville Aquatic Centre served the community with distinction for 58 years. However, the marked wear and tear of the mechanical and electrical systems in addition to the structure requires us to reflect on its future,” Patricia Néron, communications co-ordinator for the municipality, said in a statement.

The municipality had previously planned to try to renovate the building. However, that option is now off the table. “Over the last few months, the city has evaluated the possibility of a new building, which is now the only possible option,” said Néron.

In 2021, the city of Cowansville obtained a recreational infrastructure support grant from the Ministry of Education, covering two-thirds of the cost of a renovation and expansion project then estimated at $7.77 million. Amid inflation and delays attributed to the pandemic, the province upped its support to a total of $6.7 million, but “the condition of the building has proven to be more critical than expected,” Néron said. Last year, after an additional assessment, the city estimated the cost of renovations at between $20 and $22 million. Mayor Sylvie Beauregard has said the new aquatic centre may cost as much as $30 million, but “we know there have been [equivalent] projects that have been done for less [and] we’ll obviously work on keeping costs down.”

The aquatic centre offers public swim sessions, swimming lessons and lifesaving courses for adults and children from across Brome-Missisquoi, and is used for swimming classes, extracurriculars and sport-études activities by Massey-Vanier High School and local primary schools. It’s also home to the Équipe de natation de Cowansville, a competitive swim club with more than 160 members. It is expected to stay open while the new facility is being built.

Anouchka Guillemette-Pincince, director of recreation and cultural services at the municipality, said the city is “in front of a blank page” with the new facility, and plans to conduct a needs assessment. “We want to determine what we need, align it with the budget of the city, then apply [to the Quebec government] to modify the project so that we can keep our grant. Nothing is set in stone.”

Guillemette-Pincince said she expects the needs assessment to take three to four months. Ideally, calls for tenders for plans and estimates would move forward in the fall. “Under the terms of our grant, the whole project would need to be finished by [the end of] 2028, but there is nothing definitive.” She said the city has accepted an offer to purchase a 31-acre plot of land near Massey-Vanier High School where the new aquatic centre could be built, although that purchase has yet to be finalized. She said the city planned to share information with residents on its website as the project moved forward.

“The construction of a new aquatic centre represents a unique opportunity to ensure a sustainable and functional facility for generations to come. We are undertaking a rigorous process to ensure that this project reflects the needs of our citizens while respecting our financial capabilities,” Beauregard said in a statement.

Cowansville to build new aquatic centre Read More »

Community organizations take on francisation workload

Community organizations take on francisation workload

Ruby Pratka, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

editor@qctonline.com

Subsidized French language-learning programs for adults offered by school service centres (CSS) in the greater Quebec City area won’t be scaling registrations back up anytime soon, service centre representatives have confirmed.

The Centre Louis-Jolliet in Limoilou, the Le Phénix adult learning centre in Sainte-Foy, the Centre Saint-Louis in Loretteville and the Centre d’éducation des adultes des Navigateurs in Lévis, along with a number of other adult education centres around the province, were forced to suspend enrolment for subsidized French courses known as francisation this fall due to a mismatch between funding provided by the Ministry of Education and Higher Learning (MEES) and higher-than-expected enrolment. 

In December, after months of lobbying by immigrant rights organizations, unions and individual students and teachers, Minister for the French Language Jean-François Roberge announced $10 million in new funding for francisation programs offered by school service centres in underserved regions. However, none of the three greater Quebec City-area service centres – the CSS de la Capitale, CSS des Découvreurs and CSS des Navigateurs – received extra funding, the QCT confirmed early in the New Year. Students who lost their place in a subsidized class offered by a school service centre this fall were expected to be placed on a waiting list for a course administered through a community group in partnership with the Ministry of Immigration, Francisation and Integration (MIFI)

“The ministries [of education and immigration] believe that residents of our territory have access to francization services nearby,” CSS des Navigateurs spokesperson Louise Boisvert said. “Our CSS was not targeted to receive part of this funding.” She added that 28 people were currently enrolled in full-time or part-time francisation classes through the CSS, compared to 576 last January.

With the suspension of francisation programs offered by school boards and service centres, students who want to enrol in francisation classes are turning to private options or joining waiting lists for courses offered by the MIFI through community organizations. 

Those classes are at “98 per cent capacity” according to Carlos Carmona, co-ordinator of the Régroupement des organismes en francisation du Québec (ROFQ), which represents community organizations offering subsidized francisation courses. Nevertheless, Carmona said, people looking for a place in a francisation class can contact community organizations working with immigrants in their area. ROFQ members in Quebec City include the Centre RIRE 2000 and Le Mieux-être des Immigrants. 

In principle, would-be students need to sign up on the Francisation Québec web portal (apprendrelefrancais.immigration-quebec.gouv.qc.ca), although the portal is only available in French as of this writing and requires an internet connection. “I know they are working on a new portal, which should be at least available in English and Spanish, although I don’t know what languages it will be available in,” Carmona said. Alternatively, he said, “People can contact our members and come to their offices with their immigration documents and we’ll help them fill out the forms – that’s a service we offer.”  

A person who signs up for a course today, he added, can expect to wait until “at least April” because organizations are no longer accepting new students for the winter semester. The subsidized classes are open to adult immigrants to Canada, transplants from out of province and Quebecers who would like to improve their French skills.  

Community organizations take on francisation workload Read More »

Poulin succeeds Phoenix in Sainte-Sabine

By Ruby Pratka

Local Journalism Initiative

For the first time in nearly 40 years, the town of Sainte-Sabine has a new mayor.

Laurent Phoenix, 81, who was first elected mayor of the small municipality next to Farnham in 1987, resigned at the end of November. Members of the town council, called upon to name an interim mayor until the fall 2025 elections, elected second-term councillor Vicky Poulin to the position by acclamation.

Poulin is an engineer and mother of two who grew up in Stanbridge Station and has lived in Sainte-Sabine for the last 16 years. She first took an interest in local governance as a member of a primary school parents’ committee. After an unsuccessful run for town council in 2013, she was named to the town’s urban planning consultative committee. She was elected to council on her second try in 2017.

Poulin had served as acting mayor on a number of occasions over the last two years as Phoenix dealt with health issues and cared for his wife, who has since passed away. “I was a little more present during that period, because he did have to step away. I was acting mayor, but everyone on council was very available, everyone did their part. The plan was for him to finish his term, and that’s not how it happened, but since the idea [of stepping down] came from him, it was easier.”

“It’s a great thing to have access to someone like him – he’s a mentor, a great resource person,” she added.

The town’s budget and infrastructure plan, which were passed before the holidays, are not yet publicly available as of this writing. Poulin, a civil engineer by training, said she wanted to take advantage of her year as mayor to build on her predecessor’s legacy and modernize some of the ways the municipality communicates with citizens, while maintaining a personable leadership style. “You still do things the old-fashioned way here – when something’s going on, the councillors come and knock on your door…and that’s something I want to keep,” she said. 

The town’s 2025 budget and infrastructure plan, passed before the holidays, were not yet available for public consultation as of this writing. Poulin said her efforts in the year ahead will be forced on maintaining existing infrastructure, ensuring the town “gets its money’s worth” from contractors and looking at long-established practices with “a new pair of eyes.”

“Mr. Phoenix, roads and infrastructure were his thing. As an engineer, I can’t say I’m against that…but maintaining infrastructure is a big challenge these days. We have 55 kilometres of roads here; that’s a lot for a small municipality.  Everything has gone up over the past few years, and we don’t want to add to people’s tax burden either. Government grants don’t follow [inflation]… and we’re not always eligible for the grants.  We have to do less with the same amount of money. That’s the big challenge.”

Poulin said she hasn’t decided whether she will run for a full term this fall. “This is a great opportunity I have, to test out [being mayor]. Over the next few months, I’ll see how it works.” 

Poulin succeeds Phoenix in Sainte-Sabine Read More »

Dunham presses restart on fire station loan project

By Ruby Pratka

Local Journalism Initiative

Dunham Mayor Pierre Janecek is attempting to reassure citizens that the town’s new proposed fire station will cost less than anticipated after more than 300 people signed a register calling for a referendum on a planned $7.9-million loan to finance the project.

On Dec. 12, 327 residents signed a register calling for a vote. On Jan. 14, rather than moving forward with the referendum, councillors took the proposed loan off the table. Janecek told the BCN he expects councillors to vote on a new, smaller proposed loan by the end of March.

“The first bid we had a year ago was $7.7 million, and when we did a new estimate, it was $1.4 million less, so we’re restarting the project,” Janecek said, adding that lower interest rates and an unexpectedly high number of competitive bids have helped bring costs down. He also expects to defer some planned infrastructure projects, including the purchase of a new fire truck, to be able to move ahead with the fire station project without raising taxes.

“Our old station is obsolete, and it’s a question of time before the CNESST [Quebec workplace safety administration] condemns it, because we don’t have a decontamination room and our trucks are parked like sardines. It’s a converted car garage which was never intended to serve as a fire station,” he said, adding that a fire truck clipped the concrete wall of the station after a recent call and caused further damage. “If the old fire station was adequate, we wouldn’t need another.”

The fire station will be “larger than the one we have” and feature modern decontamination and washing facilities. Janecek argued that the proposed new station would be “good for the next 50 years” and the presence of an up-to-code fire station would bring residents’ insurance premiums down while having a minimal impact on residents’ tax bills. He anticipated that additional residential developments planned in the next few years would also reduce the burden on current taxpayers.

“Some people understand what we’re doing and some don’t, and that’s a shame,” said Janecek, a third-term mayor who hasn’t decided whether he’s running again. “We explain the best we can, and some people are satisfied and some aren’t. You can’t please everybody.”

Janecek said the project was expected to go ahead as originally planned on a slightly smaller budget. “The only thing that is changing is the amount [of the loan].” He said councillors would need to vote on the loan by the end of March so the municipality could apply for a provincial grant covering 73 per cent of the cost. 

He said that if the town’s grant request and the new loan are both approved, construction on the new fire station should begin this summer and finish in 2026.

Dunham presses restart on fire station loan project Read More »

Navigator helps anglophone patients find their way in Quebec City

Navigator helps anglophone patients find their way in Quebec City

Ruby Pratka, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

editor@qctonline.com

There was a time when walking through the doors of a Quebec City hospital was the last thing Steve Guimond ever wanted to do again. He and his family were living in Montreal and had to make regular trips to the provincial capital so his children could receive care for a long-term medical condition. The family found the three-hour road trips, bureaucracy and navigating the health system in two languages exhausting.

“We had no choice but to come here [to Quebec City] and our experiences were not great. My wife and I actually told ourselves that after the situation with our kids was over, we would never come back here again,” said Guimond, a bilingual anglophone originally from Saguenay who has lived most of his life in greater Montreal.

A decade later, perhaps ironically, helping English- speaking patients get in and out of Quebec City hospitals is Guimond’s full-time job. He works as a patient navigator for the Community Health and Social Services Network (CHSSN), a Quebec City-based provincewide nonprofit promoting access to health care in English. When patients from isolated English-speaking communities in the Gaspé, the North Shore or the Lower North Shore need to come to Quebec City for medical appointments, Guimond is the person they call.

“The way the health system is set up in the province is that anyone living east of Quebec City – and that’s a very large region, the Lower St. Lawrence, the North Shore, the Lower North Shore, the Gaspé and the Magdalen Islands – [is] usually sent here for specialized health services, because the services they have access to in their own regions are pretty minimal. Anytime you need an MRI, you have to come here.”

For someone from the Lower North Shore – the stretch of isolated, primarily English- speaking villages between Kegaska, where Route 138 ends, and Blanc-Sablon – this means several days of travel, often by ferry or snowmobile and then by plane. Once a patient arrives at his or her destination, the culture shock of going from an anglophone village of a few hundred people to a mostly French-speaking city of close to one million can be intense, especially for patients who never learned French or who aren’t comfortable in the language. “You have the stress of the medical aspect, the stress of the travel – the Lower North Shore has a very unreliable air carrier – the stress of arriving in a big city where you potentially don’t know anyone, the stress of not knowing much about the hospital or where you’re staying … and the stress of actually going to the hospital, which is much larger [than health facilities patients are used to]. There’s also the language barrier.”

Jody Lessard is executive director of the North Shore Community Association, which helps connect the estimated 2,500 anglophones of the upper North Shore – between Forestville, across the river from Rimouski, and Natashquan, until recently the end of Route 138 – with services in their preferred language. “If you’re an English speaker from a small town of 20 or 200 people, there’s a lot of fear [when you arrive in Quebec City]. By just having someone like Steve there to pick you up when you arrive, that fear is gone,” she said. “He provides a sense of security. This is a great project and it’s highly needed … and he’s the only one doing it.”

Both Lessard and Guimond said they believed the project, currently run by the nonprofit CHSSN, could benefit from increased government support. “We’re basically stepping in to deal with the problems or the issues that are created by the health system. It’s like the health system should be the one making sure that these measures should be in place, but they’re not,” Guimond said. People from remote communities and people living with chronic conditions often pay the price, he observed.

As a patient navigator, Gui- mond often drives patients to and from appointments at hospitals in Quebec City and Lévis, helps them get admitted, helps patients find long-term places to stay and acts as a translator and patient advocate. No two days are ever the same. “It takes a lot of flexibility, foresight and ingenuity, I guess, but people are great – they understand I’m the only person doing this, so there are times I can’t be there exactly on time.”

Guimond said he has noticed that health-care professionals are increasingly willing and able to ensure patients who need service in English get it, despite a recent raft of confusing and contradictory government guidelines on the use of languages other than French in health care. “There’s a real disconnect between what the government is trying to instill [in terms of the prevalence of French] and what is actually happening on the ground,” he said. “The patient comes first, and no one is going to be refused service because they can’t speak French. I’ve seen people go out of their way to make sure patients are comfortable and make sure there’s someone around who can communicate with them.” Even so, he pointed out that not all written documentation handed out to patients is available in both languages, due in his estimation to inter-agency communication challenges within the health system.

He advised anyone preparing for a medical appointment, even if they live in the city and don’t need directions or help getting to the health facility – to make sure they have their health insurance card on them at all times – “that’s like your passport.” He also told patients not to hesitate to ask for English service if they need or prefer it. “That’s your right.” For more information on the health navigator program, visit travel4health.ca/going-to/quebec/patient-navigator.

Navigator helps anglophone patients find their way in Quebec City Read More »

Province reports slight drop in ER wait times

Province sees slight drop in ER wait times

Ruby Pratka, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

editor@qctonline.com

Officials with Santé Québec, the Crown corporation launched last fall with a stated goal of improving the co-ordination of the various agencies within the province’s public health system, sounded an opti- mistic note as they briefed reporters about provincewide emergency room crowding at a press conference in Montreal on Jan. 10.

“Since Dec. 28, our hospitals have been under pressure,” said Santé Québec executive vice president for operations and transformation Frédéric Abergel. According to the In- dex Santé portal, emergency rooms at full-service hospitals in Quebec City were averaging 100.9 per cent capacity as of this writing; in the first week of January 2024, according to a La Presse report from the time, emergency rooms in the region were at 132 per cent of capac- ity. Other indicators across the province, Abergel said, were also creeping downward relative to where they were last January; the average wait time for a patient registered at an emergency room has dropped from 19.2 to just under 18 hours. Forty-eight of the 55 large hospitals in the province (with 100 beds or more) have seen some improvements in ER wait times, Santé Québec data suggested. “Overall, we have seen improvements even though we still have some challenges,” said Abergel, adding that the agency planned to provide weekly updates.

“We will keep working with establishments to improve things … and we have some busy weeks ahead. We want to accompany regional health agencies to help them find their own solutions. We’ve only [legally] existed for 41 days and we’re still putting everything in place.” However, he emphasized that he didn’t want to imply “that everything is going great.”

He said the agency had been working since last July to prepare for the winter rush, focus- ing on a better organization of care for patients who frequently end up in emergency rooms with poorly controlled chronic or mental health conditions, check-in calls to seniors 75 and older who are on the family doctor waiting list, and better co-ordinating the schedules of certain health professionals so patients can be discharged at any time of the week.

He said the agency would “stay on guard” over the next few weeks as flu season is expected to peak, but that initial indications were encouraging.

Abergel cited data showing that 44 per cent of emergency room visits were for conditions that could be treated else- where. “There are patients who have a family doctor and who come to the emergency room because they can’t reach their doctor – we’re going to find out why,” he said. “We need to understand the reasons why people go to the ER [in non- emergency situations].”

He encouraged people concerned about their health or the health of a loved one to call the Info-Santé 811 helpline. Calling 811 and pressing 3 leads to the Primary Care Access Point, where a nurse can help a patient who doesn’t have a family doctor book an appointment with a doctor, nurse or pharmacist. “Obviously, if your condition requires it, you do need to go to the emergency room,” he said.

Province reports slight drop in ER wait times Read More »

Demand for food aid expected to rise, study suggests

Demand for food aid expected to rise, study suggests

Ruby Pratka, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

editor@qctonline.com

The organization representing the province’s food banks expects demand for food aid to continue to rise in the coming year.

Late last week, Banques

Alimentaires du Québec (BAQ) released a study it commissioned forecasting future need for food aid in the province. The study “confirms the worrying trend observed by BAQ, namely that the number of requests for food aid to which the network responds will increase,” BAQ said in a statement. In 2024, the 34 food banks in the BAQ network responded to 2.9 million requests for assistance. BAQ estimates that this figure will reach 3.22 million per month in 2027, an increase of more than 320,000 requests within three years.

“The network isn’t built to sustain such a quick increase in demand,” BAQ director of philanthropy Véronique Beaulieu-Fowler told the QCT.

The study also explored the factors that influence demand for food aid in Quebec, finding that poverty and dependence on government assistance are major risk factors for food insecurity. Other risk factors include the rental housing crisis, “especially when employ- ment income is not growing at the same speed as the main household expenditure items,” the growth of part-time jobs at the expense of better-paid full-time positions and the financial precarity experienced by many recent immigrants. “The pandemic was the start of it, and then the housing crisis and inflation and the fact wages have not followed,” Beaulieu- Fowler said. “The reason food aid exists is that people don’t have enough money to meet their basic needs; we need to address wages and housing so people can meet their needs.”

In March 2020, as demand for food aid skyrocketed amid pandemic-driven job losses and economic uncertainty, the Coalition Avenir Québec government provided $2 million in emergency assistance, the first in a series of emergency grants. Amid rising food prices, BAQ is calling for government funding for food banks to become permanent and predictable. “We have had some help to purchase food over the last few years, we have had $18 million, then $24 million, then $30 million, but [a one-time grant] is an emergency solution. We are asking for recurring funding so we can invest to help build a more self-sufficient network,” Beaulieu-Fowler said. As part of the 2025-2026 pre-budget consultations, BAQ is request- ing funding of $38 million in 2025-2026, $36 million in 2026-2027 and $34 million in 2027-2028.

“With this study, we are able to anticipate what the coming years will look like for our net- work, which is already facing increased pressure to support people facing food insecurity in Quebec. Although we are fac- ing a sad and worrying trend, this allows us to have predictability about how the situation will evolve over the years and to prepare ourselves accordingly. As long as structural measures and actions that address the roots of poverty and social inequalities are not implemented, we will be faced with this increase. Given the results of this study, we hope to be able to establish a constant and predictable agreement with the Quebec government in order to ensure assistance to the most vulnerable,” said BAQ executive director Martin Munger.

“We don’t have regional data, but everything that’s being observed in the study, the fac- tors are pretty much the same here,” said Elisabeth Fortin, communications co-ordinator at Moisson Québec, a BAQ member and the largest food bank in the Quebec City region. “There are complex supply chain issues that have an im- pact on how much [donated] food we get, and we’re buying a lot more than before. We’re getting a lot more requests for assistance and a lot more people coming back month after month. During the pandemic, we talked a lot about a ‘perfect storm’ – the storm has never stopped.”

To make a financial or in-kind donation, to volunteer with Moisson Québec or to request food aid, visit moissonquebec.com.

Demand for food aid expected to rise, study suggests Read More »

Saint-Armand budget focused on “roads and essentials”

By Ruby Pratka

Local Journalism Initiative

Councillors in Saint-Armand approved the town’s 2025 budget on Dec. 30, after delaying adoption by two weeks to review last-minute changes, Mayor Caroline Rosetti told the BCN.

The 2025 tax rates were expected to be adopted at the Jan. 13 council meeting – 40.9 cents per $100 of assessed value for residential property and 38.5 cents for agricultural property. Houses adjacent to agricultural property, Rosetti clarified, will be taxed at the residential rate – the agricultural rate only applies to land and buildings used for agriculture.

Rosetti said residential property values rose by 66 per cent and agricultural property values by 56 per cent on the most recent tax roll. “A lot of people are confusing an increase in property values with an increase in taxes,” she said. “We lowered the tax rate, but it will probably result in a higher payment because property values are so high.” The town expects the average homeowner’s property tax bill to rise by about five per cent. Residents will be able to pay property taxes in five instalments this year.

“If people are not happy with their property value, they have until April 30 to contest it with the MRC,” the mayor added.

Major investments planned for the coming year include the hiring of a new fire prevention specialist, whose services will be shared with Frelighsburg, Pike River, Notre-Dame de Stanbridge and Stanbridge East. “We need someone to validate the intervention plans on all the farms … so if firefighters have to intervene, they know where the fuel tanks are, and that sort of thing,” Rosetti said.

Water quality is another ongoing issue in the lakeside community, which, like its neighbours, dealt with a series of blue algae (cyanobacteria) blooms over the summer.  The water treatment plant in Philipsburg is within Saint-Armand’s jurisdiction but is owned by the town of Bedford and supplies water to Bedford Township and part of Stanbridge Station. Bedford and Saint-Armand are jointly contributing to move the plant’s main water intake pipe deeper into Missisquoi Bay. “We are funding 45 per cent of that project, and we don’t want to put that burden on only 170 people [Saint-Armand residents who rely on water from the plant].” Budget documents estimate the town’s contribution in 2024 at about $134,000.

Beyond that major project, Rosetti said the town “cut back a lot” on infrastructure projects this year in an attempt to keep taxes down. The revitalization of the town’s dock is on hold “for the moment” while the municipality conducts further studies and applies for grants for long-awaited repairs. “We’re sticking with roads and essentials because of the new property value increase. We do have money for road work; we just need to plan for it. We’re thinking, ‘Let’s just keep the system rolling.’”

Rosetti encouraged anyone with concerns about the budget, the tax rate or upcoming infrastructure projects to attend council meetings and other public meetings organized by the town. “We give out a lot of information there; answering everyone’s questions one by one on social media takes a lot more time.”

Rosetti, a former town councillor, was elected mayor in a February 2023 byelection after the previous mayor, Brent Chamberlin, stepped down. After an “overwhelming” year, the mayor said she’s still undecided about running for a full term this fall. “I like working with the team [of councillors] we have now, and it will depend if they decide to run again. I’m still debating.”

Saint-Armand budget focused on “roads and essentials” Read More »

Neil looks ahead to final year as mayor

By Ruby Pratka

Local Journalism Initiative

When the BCN caught up with Brigham Mayor Steven Neil for a belated 2024 year-end interview on Jan. 6, Neil took the opportunity to announce the lifting of a boil-water advisory in the Guay sector. The town replaced the aging, convoluted pipe system under the 22-home residential development in September with help from a provincial program.

“As of today, at least in theory, everyone is on the new system,” Neil said. “There is no boil-water advisory in effect for the first time since 2007. I’m very glad to get that off our plate.”

Alongside the water network situation, Neil said the town’s biggest challenge over the past year was maintaining its extensive road network. “Having such a big municipality in terms of kilometres of road, finding people who could do the job at a cost we could afford was a challenge. Because we were redoing the water network in the Guay sector, our staff spent a lot of time dealing with contractors when they would have been doing other things. That stretched our resources a little thin, and we weren’t able to do some other things we wanted to do.”

“Over the past few years, we have been doing the minimum in terms of road work because of a lack of availability of staff and entrepreneurs,” he said. “We’ve been behind the curve ever since COVID, because we lost employees and it was hard to [recruit] an inspector. We now have the staff available to do what we are behind on.”

In the coming year, the municipality plans to move forward with the maintenance of wooded areas along local roads, digging ditches, chopping brush and paving work. To finance the road work, the residential tax rate will be raised by one cent per $100 of assessed value and the agricultural rate by three cents. “We needed the extra revenue to do more work than we usually do,” he said. Road work and other transportation-related expenses make up 45 per cent of the planned expenditures on the 2025 budget.

Other major expenses include increased snow removal costs and training for the town’s newly hired building inspector. The town also plans to carry out extensive lighting and road studies, with a view to replacing street lights with LED lights and creating a detailed bylaw listing the town’s roads and speed limits, “so if there is a modification or if the police need to know something, they have one document to check.”

Neil was first elected mayor of Brigham in 1999 and served until 2013. He decided not to run in 2013, but returned to office in 2017 and has led the town of about 2,450 people ever since. In 2023, he said he didn’t plan to run again. “I told people over a year ago that I was leaving – this is a preparatory budget for a new council to come in.”

Neil looks ahead to final year as mayor Read More »

West Bolton releases “transitional” budget for 2025

By Ruby Pratka

Local Journalism Initiative

West Bolton will take a “transitional” budget into 2025, Mayor Denis Vaillancourt told the BCN in a 2024 year-end interview.

“Our biggest challenge over the past year was recruitment – we had a road work co-ordinator who went on sick leave, we had the resignation of our urban planner and our director general, but with the recruitment of Monique Pépin as interim DG and secretary-treasurer, and with help from the Fédération québécoise des municipalités, we were able to put together a [2025] budget that responded to our needs,” he said.

Vaillancourt said the average West Bolton homeowner would see their tax bill rise by about three per cent, despite a decrease in the base tax rate from 36 cents per $100 of assessed value to 37.17 cents per $100. MRC service fees and waste management fees will also rise slightly, from $34 to $36.87 and from $195.00 to $205.00 respectively. “The general tax, public safety and utility costs are things we have no control over. For example, snow removal went up by 21 per cent – there are services we need that we don’t have control over,” the mayor said. 

The infrastructure plan for the coming year is centered around road repairs and renovations to the town hall. “The big projects will move forward only if we get grants,” Vaillancourt said. “We have road work [planned] on some roads that need serious repairs that we have to get done at some point.” Major projects include repairs to a number of culverts, extensive work on Chemin Stagecoach and Chemin Spicer and added signage to reflect reduced speed limits. The town also plans to conduct a septic tank inventory with a view to organizing a municipal septic tank inventory and laying the groundwork for a standardized septic waste collection system.

The current town hall is in a converted school, and it’s “very, very small” for the municipality’s present-day needs, said the mayor. Vaillancourt said no decision had yet been made on whether to build a new town hall or expand the current one. “We had a public consultation in April [2024] and we said that one of the first things we should do is make an offer on some adjacent land,” he said. “Because that land is zoned agricultural, we have to go through the Quebec agricultural protection commission. That request was sent to the MRC and we were hoping to have a response before the holidays, but our file was stuck in the mail – that should work itself out. The next step would be to apply for a grant for renovations, and we would have to have a public consultation period. Nothing is decided yet.”

Vaillancourt also said he hadn’t yet decided whether to seek a second term as mayor in this fall’s elections.

West Bolton releases “transitional” budget for 2025 Read More »

Judge to rule on future of Villa Châteauneuf

By Ruby Pratka

Local Journalism Initiative

The fate of the Villa Châteauneuf in Sutton will come before a judge in Cowansville on Jan. 28.

The former convent and religious retreat centre, run for decades by the Catholic Church-affiliated Foyers de la Charité, has sat empty since September 2023, after the church shut down the Foyers de la Charité network. The nonprofit which currently oversees the Villa, Villa Châteauneuf Inc., hopes to rent it out to La Passerelle, a Montérégie-based nonprofit which operates a centre for women dealing with substance abuse. Sutton Mayor Robert Benoit has previously announced the town’s intention to use its right of preemption to take the facility over and use it as a community centre. The diocese of Saint-Hyacinthe has also signalled its intention to get involved in the case, alleging that the nonprofit does not have a legitimate right to control the building.

Lawyer Benoit Chabot of Chabot Delorme represents Villa Châteauneuf. He plans to ask the court to grant a temporary occupancy permit so that La Passerelle can use the 25-acre property while other legal questions surrounding its fate and the diocese’s involvement are resolved. “There are many things that can delay the trial; it can take two years or more [before a final verdict is reached].” He says that if the building stays unoccupied during that time, it’s likely to become uninsurable. “We want the building to be occupied to minimize the prejudice [to the building].” Chabot said he hopes the permit will be granted in the days following the hearing, to allow La Passerelle to move its operations to the villa as soon as possible.

“All the criteria [for the granting of an occupancy permit] are met — the request has been filled out, the payment has been made, the fire safety and security verifications have been made,” he added. “The town’s lawyer said there was no other reason to refuse the permit other than the opposition of the diocese.”

In November, the diocese formally requested to be party to the case, despite an earlier indication from the papal delegate of the Foyers de la Charité that the Catholic Church would not intervene. The diocese also sent a mise en demeure to the town of Sutton, asking it not to grant the occupancy permit. Chabot did not go into detail about the diocese’s concerns about the nonprofit’s legitimacy. “We obviously believe [those concerns] are unfounded,” he said. The BCN was unable to reach a representative of the Diocese of St-Hyacinthe before press time despite repeated attempts.

Villa Châteauneuf vice president Victor Marchand said he hoped the judge would grant the temporary permit quickly, although “it’s his prerogative to take the time he needs.”

“If La Passerelle can’t move in and occupy the building, there are a lot of things at stake – insurability, maintenance, heating. If we don’t get revenue at some point in a relatively short period of time, we won’t be able to maintain it … this will determine for months and possibly years to come what we’ll be able to do with the place,” he said.

The town of Sutton and its lawyer declined to comment on the case. La Passerelle executive director Amélie Lemieux was unavailable for comment.

Judge to rule on future of Villa Châteauneuf Read More »

CIUSSS offers second language training to JHSB staff

CIUSSS offers second-language training to JHSB staff

Ruby Pratka, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

editor@qctonline.com

Amid sweeping cuts to subsidized French language-learning programs offered by school boards and service centres in the Quebec City region, organizations serving the local English-speaking community are placing their hopes in workplace-based programs that allow employees to develop their second language during work hours.

“I think at this point, strategies by employers for language acquisition in the workplace are probably our best bet, as well as initiatives such as [a one-on-one language-learning mentorship program] to try and mitigate these losses,” Brigitte Wellens, executive director of Voice of English-speaking Québec told attendees at a regional round table hosted by the Provincial Employment Round Table (PERT) late last year.

A partnership between Jeffery Hale–Saint Brigid’s (JHSB) and a McGill University program may be part of the solution. About a dozen francophone and anglophone JHSB employees, in management, administrative and pa- tient care roles, have been quietly improving their second- language skills with online courses since 2020.

The program is offered to “any employee of the CIUSSS de la Capitale-Nationale who would like to improve their practice of the English language in the context of their work” and whose job is on a long list of eligible positions, CIUSSS spokesperson Mariane Lajoie told the QCT. French-as- a-second-language courses are also offered through the same program.

“These are language classes – French or English – tailored to health professions [and] to staff who interact with the public,” explained Nancy Boulanger, manager responsible for the living environment at Saint Brigid’s Home. The online group courses are vol- untary, free and offered by the CIUSSS outside of work hours. Current employees can contact their manager or department head if they’d like to sign up for courses in either language. “It’s probably not that well known, so there’s a lot of word of mouth,” said Boulanger.

JHSB is the only designated bilingual hospital and long- term care centre in the Quebec City region; consequently, employees in most public- facing positions must have a baseline level of both English and French. “Since we want employees who speak English, sometimes we hire people who don’t speak French, but we’re not a 100 per cent English- speaking centre either, so they have to get by in French for various reasons,” Boulanger said. “There’s a minimal level of bilingualism required for user safety.”

JHSB also hires some health professionals, such as nurses, who have moved to Quebec from out of province and must pass a French exam to continue to practice.

“They have a licence from the Ordre des infirmières et infirmiers du Québec, but with restricted rights because they must pass a French exam … [It’s] beneficial for us to support them in their progress in French because they already have the element that is difficult for us as employers to get, which is English,” Boulanger explained.

Other employees sign up to keep their second language skills sharp, she said. “For those who learned English as a second language, it’s a golden opportunity to keep your skills up.”

CIUSSS offers second language training to JHSB staff Read More »

Brigham winemaker rewarded for betting on biodiversity

Photo courtesy of Francois Couture

By Ruby Pratka

Local Journalism Initiative

A Brigham vineyard has become the first vineyard in Quebec and the second in Canada to receive a certification from the U.S.-based Regenerative Organic Alliance. The certification goes beyond organic certification to assess not only a winery or farm’s crop-growing and pest control methods, but its wider environmental and social impact.

Winemaker Simon Naud took over the Vignoble de la Bauge from his parents, Alcide and Ghislaine Naud, in 1996. At the time, organic methods were not yet used there. “I was working to understand the wine and the terroir and gain our name recognition; I just wanted to produce the best wine we could at the best price. It wasn’t until later [in 2016] that I went organic,” Naud said.

As part of the organic certification process, Naud did away with chemical fertilizers on his land. Amid growing public awareness of the climate emergency, he realized he didn’t want to stop there. “Going organic is a big step, but just because we weren’t using chemicals, it doesn’t mean we were acting in the best interests of the planet,” he said. “We were using the tractor more, using gas more. We wanted to take things further and minimize our impact on the planet.”

He explained that switching to regenerative agriculture involved three major “axes” – fertilizing his vines with natural compost, encouraging biodiversity and putting more emphasis on community contributions. An independent auditor takes periodic soil samples, which are tested for “soil vitality.” The vineyard has acquired a herd of sheep to make a dent in excess vegetation and provide natural fertilizer, and installed nest boxes and begun growing berry bushes to attract birds, which eat insects. Naud also welcomes apprentice winemakers and soil scientists who want to work on research and development projects.

“We planted a biodiversity research patch – two rows of grapes and one row of berries … it creates disease barriers and you have other fruits you can ferment and produce other things with, where you can flavour the wine; that’s something I want to do,” he said. “I’ve found that people are keen to work with me and rethink agriculture together – botanists, wine lovers and urban farming experts. I enjoy talking to people, hearing what they have to say, seeing the birds in the spring and the life that pops up everywhere.”

“The oldest vineyards in Quebec are only about 40 years old,” he pointed out. “When you think about it, we have it all to rebuild and rethink, especially when we talk about adaptation to climate change. Every vineyard in this country is a lab.”

Brigham winemaker rewarded for betting on biodiversity Read More »

Frelighsburg passes tax increase to preserve surplus

By Ruby Pratka

Local Journalism Initiative

Town councillors in Frelighsburg passed the municipality’s 2025 budget on Dec. 16. The 14 per cent tax increase (from 37 to 41.58 cents per $100 of assessed value for all types of property) will allow the municipality to shoulder a heavier workload, pay rising service fees, pay off loans and avoid dipping into the surplus, Mayor Lucie Dagenais explained. A presentation posted on the town website indicates that total operating expenses have gone up by nine per cent. Water, sewage and waste management fees will be determined later this winter.

“Our accountants recommend that we have six months of money in reserve in case of an emergency, and right now we’re at four months – we’re at a point where it would not be responsible to keep using the surplus,” she said, arguing that residents still pay less than those in neighbouring towns. 

Dagenais said the amount of work involved in keeping the town running has increased “tenfold” in recent years.

“For a few years now, we’ve been having human resources issues, jobs that went unfilled, issues responding to citizens’ requests and maintaining stability. [This past year] was a good year – we got an assistant treasurer, an assistant director general, a new inspector, a better organized fire department. As a small municipality, we can’t hire full-time staff, and it was difficult to find competent staff who were willing to work part time. We made some intermunicipal agreements to share staff and we have a structure now where we can be really operational,” she told the BCN. “We have more and more responsibilities – we’re asked to be more proactive in promoting civic engagement, new responsibilities in terms of fire risk coverage and protecting the environment. It’s understandable, but it requires resources; it’s something else that taxpayers pay for.”

Dagenais also noted an increase in Sûreté du Québec (SQ) service fees of nearly 11 per cent. Along with her counterparts from across the MRC, she is asking Public Safety Minister François Bonnardel to order an external analysis before confirming the increase. “We have an enormous fee rise from the SQ. “We have fewer officers and it costs more … and we’ve had a big increase in population – and we have no say in the matter; we just have to put up with it,” she said. She noted that MRC fees, insurance and auditing costs and fees for the Cowansville municipal court and the Société de protection animale des Cantons had also shot up.

On the infrastructure front, Dagenais said she hoped to launch calls for tenders for a major upgrade to the town’s water treatment plant as early as this summer. “Until that’s done, there are a lot of other things we can’t start. We can’t have new [residential] development. Once we get rid of the marshes, we can build the new fire station and municipal garage. There will be a lot of groundbreaking in the next little while.”

The first-term mayor said she would seek a second term in the upcoming election. “You learn from experience – I feel like I’ve learned a lot in the last few years and I want to use that knowledge.”

Frelighsburg passes tax increase to preserve surplus Read More »

Cowansville passes balanced, responsible budget

By Ruby Pratka

Local Journalism Initiative

City officials in Cowansville presented the municipality’s 2025 budget at a council meeting on Dec. 16. The budget, totalling just under $37 million, will be “focused on responding to citizens’ needs and requests over the past few years,” said Mayor Sylvie Beauregard, who recently confirmed her own plans to run for a third term. She called the budget balanced, responsible and future-oriented.

According to the city’s three-year infrastructure plan, released in tandem with the budget and presented by director general Claude Lalonde, major planned investments in 2025 include upgrades to the town’s water pumping and filtration systems and ongoing work to separate the water and sewage networks (a total of nearly $4.9 million of which $4 million is expected to be paid by provincial grants), land acquisition for future use ($2.76 million), ongoing watermilfoil prevention, upgrades to lighting and walking trails in city parks, new pickleball courts, a permanent gazebo at the nature centre, the construction of an outdoor education space in Parc des Colibris as outlined in the participatory budget and the acquisition of a new garbage truck. The city is also setting aside $285,000 to fund Lake Davignon preservation efforts, and establishing a new fund for upgrades to water service ($560,000).

Longer-term projects include preparing for the city’s 150th-anniversary celebrations in 2026 and renovating the indoor aquatic centre, the only one of its kind in the municipality. Beauregard said renovating the centre, which opened in 1968, is “a very expensive operation” and a needs analysis needed to be carried out to see what form renovations might take.

In order to finance these projects, help the city pay down its debt and pay the city’s contributions to the Sûreté du Québec and MRC Brome-Missisquoi, a slight tax increase is planned for most types of property. Single-family homes and agricultural buildings will be taxed at 62.5 cents per $100 of assessed value, up from 62 cents last year. Other types of property which will be taxed at a higher rate are commercial buildings with a value under $800,000 (up from $1.740 to $1.762 per $100), commercial buildings over $800,000 (up from $1.940 to $1.964), industrial buildings under $800,000 (up from $1.760 to $1.782), industrial buildings over $800,000 ($1.960 to $1.984) and serviced vacant land ($1.24 to $1.25). The tax rate for multi-unit residential buildings with six or more units will stay unchanged at 72 cents per $100.

Flat rates for most city services will rise. Property owners paying a flat rate for water service will now pay $210 for the service itself and $180 for water treatment, up from $197 and $152 respectively. The increase, according to budget documents, “will be used to create a reserve for water services. Starting in 2024, any excess pricing over the annual cost of water services will be set aside. The accumulated amounts will be used for unforeseen events, to pay for future investment activities related to water services and thus reduce debt.”

Combined garbage removal fees will total $146 ($92 for trash and $54 for compost). The town’s compost program will be expanded to cover apartment buildings of six or more units. Recycling centre fees will rise from $32 to $37, and for those who use septic tanks, the emptying fee will go up from $65 to $99 due to a price raise by a third-party contractor. The pool levy will remain the same ($35 for above-ground pools and $70 for in-ground). For commercial properties using water counters, water and water treatment rates will creep up to a combined 95 cents per cubic metre from 90 cents. According to the budget presentation, the average single-family home will owe $65.50 more in taxes and utilities than last year, a 2.25 per cent increase.

Detailed information on the budget and three-year infrastructure plan is available on the city website.

Cowansville passes balanced, responsible budget Read More »

Dunham increases taxes, fees to balance budget

By Ruby Pratka

Local Journalism Initiative

Dunham mayor Pierre Janecek and director general Francis Bergeron presented the municipality’s budget and infrastructure plan during a Dec. 16 council meeting. The budget includes a 4.9 per cent property tax hike per $100 of assessed value for residential, agricultural and forested properties and a hike of nearly 10 per cent for industrial and non-residential buildings, and 21 per cent increase in the levy to cover road work on Chemin Noiseux and Chemin Selby. The town presented a balanced budget of $8.45 million.

The average single-family home will see a tax increase of 3.93 per cent in the village sector, 4.04 per cent in the Lac-Selby sector and 4.38 per cent for homes not connected to the town’s water and sewage network. Most service fees will also go up, with a $10 increase in the septic tank emptying fee and increases in the sewage network maintenance levy (an increase of $12.85 or 3.28 per cent in Lac-Selby and 32 cents or 0.12 per cent in the village).

“On our end, costs for everything are rising, so we’re stuck sometimes [with having to impose a tax increase],” Janecek said. He cited increases in the fees the town paid to the MRC Brome-Missisquoi, the Sûreté du Québec, the Cowansville municipal court, the SPA Brome-Missisquoi and insurance providers as among the reasons for rising expenses.  Revenues, Bergeron noted “are practically not going up at all,” with only seven new housing units added to the tax roll in the past year.

According to the presentation prepared by town officials, for every dollar of property tax revenue, $0.18 funds road work, $0.13 funds the municipal administration, $0.09 funds snow removal, $0.09 funds debt repayment, $0.08 funds the police, $0.08 funds the fire department and public safety, $0.07 waste management, $0.06 water and sewage, $0.06 urban planning, $0.05 the clerk’s office and $0.03 other allocations.

The three-year infrastructure plan was also presented. Major projects in 2025 include the construction and fitting-out of a new fire station (7.949 million) for which the call for tenders process began last week, new washrooms at Parc de l’Envol cybersecurity upgrades and a new cloud-based online system for handling citizens’ requests ($34,000), connecting the town hall and library to the water network ($25,000, intended to make it easier to use the two buildings as emergency management hubs), upgrades to walking trails ($125,000) and new sanitary facilities at Parc de l’Envol ($250,000). The town also plans to invest $1 million in road work, of which $900,000 will be covered by provincial grants.  

The BCN contacted Janecek and the Ville de Dunham to schedule a follow-up interview but did not receive a response before the holidays.

Dunham increases taxes, fees to balance budget Read More »

Farnham releases budget, infrastructure plan

By Ruby Pratka

Local Journalism Initiative

Farnham mayor Patrick Melchior presented the municipality’s 2025 budget and infrastructure plan during a brief council meeting on Dec. 9.

“We are proud to present the main points of the 2025 budget of the City of Farnham, the result of rigorous work aimed at reconciling economic development and protection of the purchasing power of citizens,” the mayor said. “We have a balanced budget, as required by law … The 2025 budget represents an increase of 7.17 per cent, or $1.45 million, compared to 2024. These funds will support our services, repay the debt linked to projects completed in 2024 and invest in our infrastructure, thanks to an ambitious three-year [infrastructure] plan.”

He said the new property tax assessment roll which came into effect this year, with an average increase of nearly 50 per cent in the values ​​of taxable properties, has “raised legitimate concerns.” Single-family home residential property values have gone up by 52.2 per cent, multi-unit residential property values by 53 per cent, agricultural property by 46.7 per cent, and serviced vacant property by nearly 60 per cent. Commercial and industrial property values have risen by 29.9 and 52 per cent respectively.

Consequently, the city has reduced tax rates and kept fees for most utilities stable. The residential tax rate has decreased from 70 cents to 47.8 cents per $100 of taxable value, and the multi-unit residential tax rate from 72 cents to 48.8 cents. Non-residential buildings are now taxed at $1.329 (previously $1.660) and industrial buildings at $1.947 (previously $1.331). The only tax rate increase applies to serviced vacant lots, now taxed at 95.6 cents (up from 88.7 cents). Additional fees of 3.43 cents per $100 and 8.59 cents per $100 will respectively go toward paying the town’s MRC and Sûreté du Québec funding obligations. Waste removal and water fees for residences will rise from $45 to $60 and $180 to $200 respectively; other utility fees will be stable. Citizens will no longer have to pay the $45 recycling fee due to a change in the way the service is funded; a new $30 fee for the removal of bulk trash will be put in place. Taxpayers will submit their payments in six instalments.

For an average home, whose value has increased from $243,300 to $369,816, he said the residential tax rate has been reduced from $0.70 to $0.478 per $100, in order to cushion the impact of the increase on residents’ finances, Melchior said.

Farnham was recently cited in a report by the Fondation Rivières as the municipality in the region most vulnerable to sewage overflows, and improving the capacity of the water treatment system is high on the town’s to-do list. “Over the next three years, we have major investments to make in infrastructure to ensure that our town stays healthy,” he said. “We don’t enjoy spending, but…it ensures we will have essentials like water … It’s heartbreaking when you see how astronomical the costs are now, but they are absolutely necessary.” He noted that scaling up the capacity of the town’s water filtration and treatment plant would have cost an estimated $900,000 in 1998, and the current cost of the project is estimated at $14 million. “That’s what happens when you put off needed investments.”

Planned investments in the coming year include studies that will go toward the planning of upgrades to the Éva-Dulude Dam, plans and estimates toward renovations to the fire station and town hall, adding  UV disinfection capability to the water treatment plant and extensive roadwork aimed at allowing upgrades to the water network. The Domaine du Sentier bike path is also slated to be completed this year, and the city intends to replace a fire truck, a garbage truck and a Zamboni. The 2025 portion of the infrastructure plan totals about $15.75 million.

Melchior has previously said he plans to seek a third term in this fall’s election. He was not available to respond to follow-up questions from the BCN. At the council meeting, he invited interested residents and property owners to consult detailed budget documents on the town website or in person at the town hall, and send questions by email to administration@ville.farnham.qc.ca

Farnham releases budget, infrastructure plan Read More »

Sutton budget dips into surplus to focus on priorities

By Ruby Pratka

Local Journalism Initiative

Sutton Mayor Robert Benoit and director general Pascal Smith presented the municipality’s 2025 budget and infrastructure plan at a Dec. 18 council meeting. They described the budget as “reasonable and forward-thinking” and “something that we can be proud of.”

With tax increases ranging from -0.11% to 1.39%, depending on the sector, the Town is undoubtedly proposing one of the most moderate increases among Brome-Missisquoi municipalities,” said Robert Benoît. “We congratulate ourselves on having achieved this feat while maintaining the level and quality of our services to citizens, and pursuing structuring projects for the town’s development.” Priorities laid out in the budget presentation include improving services to citizens, investing in engineering projects that reinforce climate resilience, working toward connecting the Mountain sector to the town water network and incentivizing affordable housing.

In 2025, residential taxpayers in the Village sector will see their bills rise by an average of 1.19 per cent (serviced properties) and 1.39 per cent (properties not served by municipal water and sewer services). Taxes in the Mountain sector will be reduced by 0.11 per cent. These figures are based on the average assessed value of a residence in Sutton, which is $472,939 in 2025. Taxes are expected to decrease for properties valued at $200,000 or less in the Village sector and $500,000 or less in the Mountain sector, according to a spreadsheet provided by the city.

There will be a 2.5 per cent increase in the basic tax rate for all types of property. Additional taxes aimed at servicing debt and funding public works will rise by 1.11 per cent and 7.5 per cent respectively. Waste removal, sewage and septic tank fees will decrease, but water fees will increase by slightly less than 7 per cent (6.77 per cent or $13).

On the infrastructure front, the town plans to conduct detailed studies concerning the cost and the work involved in piping water from the Village to the Mountain sector, upgrade the current water network and work toward converting the former Calvary Church (which was an art gallery until last year) to a daycare centre and community hall.

The city once again dipped into its surplus to balance the budget, taking $300,000 from its reserves, despite having previously planned not to touch the surplus this year. “It’s not normal to use the surplus to pay our expenses; it’s not normal to use credit to pay for groceries, but [otherwise] we were not able to achieve the objective of a balanced budget,” Smith said.

Benoit said the town needed to dip into its surplus to pay fees owed to the MRC Brome-Missisquoi and the Sûreté du Québec (SQ). He said the fees for both had risen by 9.6 per cent this year. “I don’t think any municipalities can survive with [SQ fee increases] of nine or ten per cent. The other [concern] is the MRC, where over the last three years we’ve had a roughly 10 per cent increase each year on average, which doesn’t make sense because they don’t really provide services for consumers.” He said the current SQ fee structure particularly penalized wealthier parts of the MRC like Sutton and Brome Lake, which had less crime and less regular police presence but a larger tax base. Councillors voted to send protest resolutions to the MRC and the director general of the SQ denouncing the fee increases.

Other issues weighing heavily on the town’s finances were an influx of new residents and needed upgrades to the road and drainage systems. “We have major [public] works to do, and we’ll have to finance those projects. That will be a big challenge also for the next coming years,” said the mayor.

However, he said the municipality was not in a position where services would have to be cut this year. “Public works is our priority – we have 245 kilometres of roads here and we have to maintain them, especially with climate change and the melting and refreezing. We don’t want to cut back on direct services to the population. If we don’t [invest], we’ll hit a wall at a certain point and we’ll have to spend money on crisis management, and that’s going to cost a lot more.”

Benoit and his Action Sutton slate of councillors were first elected in 2021. He told the BCN he is considering running again. “My focus was to deliver the budget first, and then think about [the election] next year. It’s a big decision, because the challenges are huge … but I’m pretty proud of what we’ve accomplished.”

Detailed French-language summaries of the budget and infrastructure plan can be accessed on the city website. English versions are expected to be available after the holidays.

Sutton budget dips into surplus to focus on priorities Read More »

Striking Canada Post staff must return to work, labour board rules

Striking Canada Post staff must return to work, labour board rules

Ruby Pratka, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

editor@qctonline.com

Canada Post delivery staff are expected to return to work on Dec. 17, despite the fact that by all accounts, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) and Canada Post are far from an agreement.

CUPW members across the country have been on strike since Nov. 15, and the parties remain far apart on issues including wage increases and staff planning for weekend deliveries. Since the strike, nonprofit organizations have seen a significant drop in donations, small business advocacy groups have raised concerns about disruption to the holiday shopping season and people living in rural and remote areas have struggled to access supplies. Govern- ment services such as deliv- ery of renewed passports and permanent resident cards have also been interrupted – during peak travel season. La- bour Minister Steven MacKin- non, who had previously ruled out legislating striking postal workers back to work, raised those issues when he told reporters on Dec. 15 that he would refer the dispute to the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB).

“It is my view … that the parties are at an impasse. I have asked the CIRB, if they also determine that there is an impasse, to resume and continue their operations under the existing collective agreement until May 22, 2025,” he said.

Shortly before midnight on Dec. 15, CBC reported that after two days of hearings, the CIRB ruled that there was indeed an impasse. Mail delivery was set to resume on Dec. 17 at 8 a.m. No further information was available as of the QCT’s deadline.

“Canadians are fed up,” the minister said. “As minister of labour, I have a responsibility to protect Canadians, the public interest, by maintain- ing industrial peace and respecting the rights of the par- ties involved in this dispute. That is why I am here today to announce that I am providing a solution to promote favourable conditions for the resolution of this labour dispute and thus protect the interests of Canadians. Not only have the parties been unable to show any progress towards an agreement, the federal mediator has now informed me that the negotiations between both parties are now, in fact, going in the wrong direction.”

MacKinnon mandated labour commissioner William Kaplan to meet with both parties in the coming months to try to find a long-term solution at the negotiating table. “The government is commit- ted to collective bargaining. It’s not easy, but we’ve seen time and time again that it produces the strongest enduring agreements to the benefit of workers and employers alike.” In the interim, MacKinnon encouraged Canadians to donate to charities however possible.

CUPW national president Jan Scott called MacKinnon’s proposal “troubling.”

“We denounce in the strongest terms this assault on our constitutionally protected right to free and fair collective bargain and our right to strike,” she said in a statement. “We are going to continue to fight hard to get good negotiated collective agreements for our 55,000 members. We will continue to fight for fair wages, safe working conditions and to retire with dignity. We have been pushing Canada Post for years to expand services to generate more revenue. We must stand strong in the face of this abuse of power.”

Canada Post said it “looked forward to welcoming employees back to work” while remaining committed to the negotiations. Post office pick-up and dropoff are expected to resume on Dec. 19.

Striking Canada Post staff must return to work, labour board rules Read More »

City broke promise on community centre renos, councillor says

City broke promise on community centre renos, councillor says

Ruby Pratka, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

editor@qctonline.com

In May 2018, then-city councillor Jonatan Julien left his seat on then- mayor Régis Labeaume’s executive committee to enter provincial politics, setting off a byelection in the district of Neufchâtel- Lebourgneuf. During the byelection campaign, Labeaume promised a $10- million renovation to bring the Charles-Auguste-Savard community centre in the district up to code, paid for entirely by the city if necessary.

“Honestly, I have to tell you, it’s been neglected,” Labeaume told Le Soleil at the time.

Six years and two mayoral administrations later, the work still hasn’t been completed, despite promises of completion by several parties, including Mayor Bruno Marchand’s Québec Forte et Fière (QFF) and Québec 21 (now Équipe Priorité Québec) under former leader Jean-François Gosselin, now a QFF councillor and member of the executive committee. Earlier this month, the project was potentially delayed further when city officials said it was conditional on support from other levels of govern- ment, according to Neufchâtel- Lebourgneuf Coun. Patricia Boudreault-Bruyère, a member of Équipe Labeaume’s successor party, Québec D’Abord.

Boudreault-Bruyère said the centre, which offers a wide range of activities for youth, families, seniors and amateur athletes in Neufchâtel, no longer meets city standards for accessibility and energy efficiency, and only has a single emergency exit. The Marchand administration, according to Boudreault-Bruyère, had announced plans to demolish and rebuild the centre at a cost of $16.6 million. “Two or three weeks ago, I was told they were targeting 2027 [for completion] and the project was well on its way.” Plans and estimates were already being developed, she said.

During discussions about the city’s 2025 budget, she was surprised to learn that the funding for the community centre project had become conditional on funding from other levels of government.

“Citizens and people in the recreation field have been waiting for this since 2018, and it was aberrant to see that the money wasn’t there,” said Boudreault-Bruyère, pointing out that Marchand recently promised the city would build a $40-million curling centre without support from other levels of government if necessary. “The administration made a political choice to put the [money allocated for the community centre] elsewhere and deprive 165,000 people of a community centre. They backed down from their commitment, and this is the kind of thing that contributes to cynicism in politics.”

The Ville de Québec had not responded to requests for comment at press time.

City broke promise on community centre renos, councillor says Read More »

Potton has finally found long-sought “stability,” mayor says

By Ruby Pratka

Local Journalism Initiative

Potton mayor Bruno Côté told the BCN in a year-end interview that he believed the town had “finally achieved stability” after several years of governance and infrastructure challenges.

Last week, the municipality tabled a balanced budget totalling over $16 million, the largest in recent memory – the 2023 budget was $9.3 million. Côté said $5.8 million of provincial government funding earmarked for the new fire station is the main reason for the increase.

“We’ve had big challenges over the past three years,” Côté said. “Three years ago we had to make a difficult decision to raise taxes, and we promised an increase of zero the following year … and we kept our promise. Last year, we had serious issues with the roads and we had to bring in an engineering service, who said the needed upkeep hadn’t been done for 20 years. The roads were beat up and we spent a lot of money re-gravelling the roads. Now is not the time to stop. This year, the budget as a whole went up, with [the new fire station and] an increase in road maintenance costs.”

The town will begin a call for tenders for the new fire station this year, which should be equipped with a decontamination room and a larger garage, eliminating the need for a fire crew to pick up a trailer or a support vehicle at another garage before going to a call, Côté said.

The municipality estimates that the average homeowner in the Mansonville sector will see their taxes go up by $8, from $1,839 to $1,847. Owl’s Head homeowners will see a steeper rise, from $3,772 to $4,220, an increase of $448 or nearly 12 per cent. The average rural homeowner will see a slight decrease, from $2,357 to $2,340. The average tax rate has risen from 38.75 cents per $100 to $39.4 cents per $100, less than a cent.

Other than ongoing road work, the new fire station and the purchase of a new fire truck, major planned infrastructure projects for 2025 include a new bike path linking the village and mountain sectors, opening a stage and amphitheatre in the Parc de la Grange ronde and making repairs to Église Saint-Cajetan, which the canton acquired from the Diocese of Saint-Hyacinthe in 2023 for a symbolic dollar and hopes to turn into a performance space and a community hall. The town will also establish its own boat patrol for the southern sector of Lake Memphremagog, stepping into the void left by the MRC which has discontinued its own lake patrol. The towns of Ogden and Stanstead will pay Potton to control their sections of the lake. “We’re the biggest municipality [in the MRC] in terms of territory and we need to show that we can take our responsibilities,” he said. “We’re continuing on with the big projects while keeping taxes at a reasonable level.” 

Potton has finally found long-sought “stability,” mayor says Read More »

Taxation, water network upgrades top of mind in Waterloo

By Ruby Pratka

Local Journalism Initiative

Skyrocketing property tax values have made piecing together the 2025 budget a challenge in Waterloo, Mayor Jean-Marie Lachapelle has acknowledged. Cumulative property values in the town of about 5,000 people have shot up from $581 million to $915 million with the release of the new tax role earlier this year, and the value of the average residential property has risen by 61 per cent, from $238,300 to $386,900.

“There’s a lot of work to do, and it’s a year of a new role,” Lachapelle said. “We needed to reduce the tax rate and go with everyone’s economic situation. The average person will have an increase of about 1.9 per cent in their tax rate; some will have less and some will have more. It’s important not to penalize people who have seen their property value go way up.”

Residential properties, multi-unit properties, agricultural land and forested land will share the same tax rate of 56.82 cents per $100 of assessed value, a decrease of about one-third from last year. Industrial and commercial property tax rates will also decrease. The only planned tax rate increases are for vacant land.

While the residential water fee has risen by $4, from $145 to $149, sewage, waste management and town recreation services fees have all gone down slightly; residents will pay a combined $44 less in service fees. Industrial service fees will remain the same except for the recycling fee, which has been removed for this year. The average homeowner’s combined bill for taxes and service fees will rise by an estimated $57, according to a town presentation. The average homeowner with a property value of more than $600,000 will pay an estimated $211 more.

The three-year infrastructure plan lays out six priorities for the municipality – respecting citizens’ capacity to pay, assuring the continued functioning of town infrastructure, improving the road network, maintaining the quality of services, reducing recourse to debt and developing the town’s active transit (walking and biking) network.

Major work on Rue Western, Rue Saint-Joseph and Boul. Industriel and the construction of a bike path along Chemin de l’Horizon are in the town’s plans for 2025, along with repairs to the roof of the Maison de Culture, the headquarters of the rowing club and the Jacques-Chagnon Arena, and replacing the town’s splash pad with a more water-efficient model. Upgrades to the water infrastructure are also planned, following a report by the Fondation Rivières using environment ministry data that indicated the municipality’s water network is vulnerable to sewage overflows, and a city-commissioned report that showed the town’s water network could accommodate five to 11 years of population growth at the most. Lachapelle plans to have the town’s water and sewage networks separated, which requires major roadwork.  “When we have [separate water and sewage] networks, and we get heavy rain, excess water goes into the river. When we have the one network, there is overflow and not all the sewage makes it to the water treatment plant,” he said. Further upgrades to the town’s pumping stations are planned in 2026.

Taxation, water network upgrades top of mind in Waterloo Read More »

Bedford brings balanced budget, long to-do list into 2025

By Ruby Pratka

Local Journalism Initiative

The town of Bedford will enter 2025 with several major projects on its to-do list, notably upgrading its water infrastructure, building a long-awaited new fire station and moving the town hall offices into the building currently occupied by the local Desjardins branch, Mayor Claude Dubois told the BCN in a year-end interview.

Along with Farnham and Waterloo, Bedford was recently singled out by the Fondation Rivières as one of the municipalities in the region most vulnerable to sewage overflow. In September, an exceptionally vigorous algae bloom turned the area of Missisquoi Bay from which Bedford draws its water “green as your grass” for several days; earlier this summer, a tanker truck was brought in at the town’s expense to provide drinking water. “Drinking water is our big bête noire – we need it. We have had huge cyanobacteria problems and we want to make an investment so as not to repeat the disaster of this summer.”

Dubois said the town has received necessary authorizations to build a new feeder pipe further out in the bay, at a cost of $2.17 million. He said the town plans to have the pipe installed in September or October of next year. “We used to be able to do work [on the bay] in winter, but it’s not safe; the ice isn’t thick enough anymore,” he added.

The largest single planned investment of 2025, $6.5 million (of which about half is covered by a provincial government subsidy), will go toward separating the water and sewage networks on the south side of the town. The town also plans to spend $108,000 on upgrading water filtration equipment and $60,000 on a sewage runoff reduction plan.

Firefighters will move into the long-awaited new central fire station by March 2025, Dubois estimated. Town employees will also move out of the current town hall into a building on Rue des Rivières partially vacated by Desjardins, which will continue to pay rent on its remaining office space. Dubois said the move to the new town hall, which has a parking lot and wheelchair access unlike its predecessor, would be much more accessible. According to the town’s three-year infrastructure plan, buying and renovating the building will cost the town about $1.37 million.

Most tax rates reduced

The town’s 2025 budget was released last week along with its infrastructure plan. Most tax rates were reduced in light of rising property values. The single-family home tax rate was reduced from 80 cents to 65 cents per $100 of assessed value, the multi-unit residential rate from $1.02 to 80 cents and the non-residential rate from $1.65 to $1.32. The rate for an industrial building will drop from $2.17 to $1.615 and for agricultural land from 85 cents to 60 cents. Utility rates largely stayed the same, although the recycling fee rose from $32 to $37. The average homeowner can expect to pay $71 – or 2.76 per cent – more in property taxes than last year.

“Some citizens will even see their tax rates go down,” Dubois said. “It’s always a challenge to provide the most services we can at the least cost to citizens.”

Dubois served as mayor between 2003 and 2013, when he was defeated by Yves Lévesque. He ran again in 2021 and got his old job back. Now 71, he told the BCN he was undecided about running for an additional term, but leaning towards running. “There’s a good chance I’ll be there again if the population wants me to be,” he said.

Bedford brings balanced budget, long to-do list into 2025 Read More »

Bromont passes “resilient” budget

By Ruby Pratka

Local Journalism Initiative

At the Dec. 9 council meeting where Bromont adapted its 2025 budget and three-year infrastructure plan, the key word was “resilience” – resilience amid a difficult economic situation, climate resilience and the resilience of the city’s aging infrastructure. Another key word was “participation” – this was the first budget for which a citizens’ consultative committee weighed in, and the first budget to include an amount set aside for projects proposed by citizens. Details of the participative budget project will be announced this fall.

“We are living in complex economic times. This 2025 budget represents our desire to be collectively resilient in this context. Despite this, we have managed to limit the tax increase to 1.94 per cent, while reserving amounts in the operating budget for projects such as the development of an affordable housing policy, improvements to bike paths, the fight against Eurasian watermilfoil [and] the return of Bromont Blues,” Mayor Louis Villeneuve said.

“With the economic situation, we had to respect everyone’s capacity to pay, but we did not want to cut services to citizens, lifestyle projects or climate resilience – those are things we have to deal with,” deputy mayor Tatiana Contreras told the BCN. She explained that other major projects include replacing aging water and sewage infrastructure and roadwork (“the kinds of things that are less sexy but need to be prioritized”), putting in place car-sharing and transport-on-demand projects, developing an affordable housing policy and working to improve access to daycare. Firefighters should also be able to move into the new central fire station in early 2025; Contreras said it remains to be seen what will be done with the two buildings the fire department will vacate.

The city also increased the funding it provides to the Société de conservation Mont-Brome, Les Amis des Sentiers, Action Bassins Versants Bromont, the CAB Marguerite-Dubois, Tourisme Bromont and the national cycling centre, for a total of $1,206,930 in grants (about $92,000 more than last year).

To finance these and other initiatives, the city chose to increase the property tax rate, bucking a regional trend of decreasing tax rates to compensate for rising property values. A single-family home will now be taxed at 62.3 cents per $100 of assessed value (up from 60.4 cents), a multi-unit residential building at 66.7 cents (up from 64.7 cents), a non-residential building at $1.628 (up from $1.578), an industrial building at $2.17 ( up from $2.104), agricultural land at 54.5 cents (up from 52.8) and vacant serviced land at $1.245 (up from $1.208). Total tax revenues are expected to rise by 8.6 per cent. Nearly 65 per cent of town revenue comes from property taxes, by far the town’s largest source of income.

In terms of utility service fees, homeowners and business owners paying flat rates for water and sewage will pay $6 more for water and sewage service and $4.50 more for recycling centre services, but $40 less for waste management. Businesses using water counters will pay two cents per square metre more than last year.

Detailed presentations on the budget and three-year infrastructure plan are available in French on the city website.

Bromont passes “resilient” budget Read More »

Multi-party campaign calls for wider access to prenatal care

Multi-party campaign calls for wider access to prenatal care

Ruby Pratka, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

editor@qctonline.com

In 2021, after years of pressure from immigrant and refugee advocacy groups, the Coalition Avenir Québec government passed a law allowing children born in Quebec to access public health care through the Régie d’assurance-maladie du Québec (RAMQ) regardless of their parents’ immigration status or RAMQ eligibility. However, that coverage only kicks in once they’re outside the womb.

On Dec. 4, Québec Solidaire (QS), the Quebec Liberal Party and several advocacy groups launched a renewed push to expand RAMQ eligibility to cover prenatal, labour and delivery care for all pregnant women, regardless of immigration status. As it stands, a woman who gives birth in a Quebec hospital and doesn’t have a health card or private insurance must pay thousands of dollars of hospital bills out of pocket – up to $100,000 or more if there are complica- tions, according to Médecins du Monde (MDM) Canada.

“If we want to protect our children, we have to protect their mothers, throughout their pregnancies and through- out the prenatal period,” QS immigration critic Guillaume Cliche-Rivard told reporters after tabling a bill that would expand coverage. “It’s a ques- tion of human dignity, equal opportunity, public health and prevention. A child, from the moment of birth, will be covered by the RAMQ, but during pregnancy, neither the child nor the mother is covered. We need to correct this incoherence which has a major impact on the lives of women and on society as a whole.” Cliche-Rivard and MDM national director Pénélope Boudreault, whose organization has long advocated for expanding RAMQ eligibility, argued that covering prenatal care would save the province money, because complications would be detected and addressed earlier. Boudreault said some new mothers at risk leave hospital earlier than they should to save money.

Not all Quebec residents without health coverage are undocumented – homeless people, people waiting for an immigration decision and some work and study permit holders are among those who may not have valid health cards. “More than half the women who come to see us for prenatal care work in health, social services and education and have work permits,” said Fernanda Gonzalez, a formerly undocumented mother who is now a peer support worker at the SPOT community health clinic in Saint-Roch. “We’re not tourists – we’re workers, students, spouses, mothers … and participants in Quebec society.”

“I had a lot of difficulties during my pregnancy because I didn’t have access to health care and because the immigration system is very complicated,” she said. “The financial burden and the stress that we have when we come out of hospital with a bill of thousands of dollars is unjust and it impacts our own health.”

Quebec City resident Andréa Mataragba-Nguiasset is a work permit holder who gave birth in August. She said she had a single prenatal care appoint- ment during her pregnancy – doctors generally recommend one per month during the first five months of pregnancy and more frequent appointments thereafter – and had to work until the day before giving birth because she was unable to see a doctor to be signed off work. “The government needs to realize that it is recruiting human beings abroad, and not just ‘labour’ – what I experienced is inhumane,” she said.

A petition launched by MDM with nearly 3,200 signatures was tabled in the National Assembly the same day by Liberal immigration critic André Fortin.

“Médecins du Monde welcomes the tabling of the petition and the bill, which reinforce the social and medical consensus of a hundred organizations and institutions in Quebec. Refusing pregnant women access to perinatal care because of their migratory status endangers their health and that of their children. We need concrete and immediate solutions for the health of all women in Quebec, without exclusion,” concluded Boudreault.

MNAs agreed to consider Cliche-Rivard’s bill. During Question Period, Health Minister Christian Dubé told MNAs he planned to establish a working group to “look at what was possible” in terms of expanding RAMQ access.

Multi-party campaign calls for wider access to prenatal care Read More »

Postal strike hampers charity fundraising campaigns

Postal strike hampers charity fundraising campaigns

Ruby Pratka, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

editor@qctonline.com

Local nonprofits which rely heavily on year-end postal donation campaigns are having to get creative amid the ongoing postal strike.

The Quebec Community Christmas Hamper Campaign has gotten used to dealing with the unexpected. After COVID precautions forced the elves at Hamper Headquarters to rework donation and delivery procedures in 2020, 2021 and 2022, a teachers’ strike last year required them to move operations from the Eastern Québec Learning Centre to the Jeffery Hale Pavilion on short notice. Now, the postal workers’ strike has slowed donations and put yet another wrench in the works.

“About a third of the donations we receive – 35 per cent – are through cheques in the mail, so it is pretty significant,” said campaign spokesperson Brigitte Wellens. “This time last year, we were at over $20,000 in donations, and this year we’re at about $16,000, so we’re quite a bit lower than where we normally are.

“We were hoping for a positive resolution [to the strike] before the holidays, but we were already thinking that we might have to find alternative measures for people to donate,” Wellens said, adding that she expects an uptick in donations after the strike ends, as cheques put in the mail before Nov. 15 find their way to Hamper Headquarters. She encouraged those who haven’t yet donated to consider donating online, dropping donations off at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church or the Jeffery Hale Pavilion, or calling Hamper Headquarters at 418-684-5333, ext. 11835 to discuss alternative ways to contribute. Financial donations are used to bulk-buy staples like flour, sugar, coffee and produce that go into each hamper, while donations of nonperishable food are used to top up the hampers. (Expired, opened or homemade items cannot be accepted. Breakfast cereal and canned soup, meat, fish and fruit are especially appreciated.)

Wellens emphasized that even if the campaign raises less money than expected between now and Delivery Day, delivering fewer hampers is not an option. “Times are tough. There has been a 15 per cent increase in demand. Some people are asking for a hamper for the first time, and we don’t know their stories, but my guess would be that they’re working full time and having a hard time making ends meet. The hamper is a big help during the holiday season. We’re in a situation where we might just have to run a deficit for a while after getting all the food.” Wellens expects that over 260 households will receive hampers this year.

At the Société protectrice des animaux de Québec, the city’s largest animal protection nonprofit, director general Karina Painchaud and her team have called up a small army of volunteers to drop off and pick up envelopes for the organization’s annual campaign at donors’ houses.

“We’re 150 years old, and the mailing campaign has had a privileged place for many of those years,” Painchaud told the QCT. “Our goal this year is to send out at least 2,000 letters. I’ve signed them all by hand!”

“Like a lot of nonprofits, we have this issue of distributing [appeals for donations] through the mail. Being confronted with the strike, we had to reinvent ourselves and find a solution. What we did was call on people’s generosity in terms of time; we asked volunteer elves to distribute the mail. Nine people distributed half of our cargo, and we’re still looking for a few elves!” she said. Like Wellens, Painchaud said the campaign has received fewer donations than this time last year.

Painchaud is also encouraging those who can to donate online or drop their cheques off at SPA headquarters on Avenue Galilée in Les Saules. Donations allow the SPA to feed, house and care for the 7,500 vulnerable cats and dogs the organization takes in every year.

Negotiations ongoing

Disagreements over wage increases, health and safety concerns and weekend de- livery staffing and schedules have hampered negotiations between the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) and Canada Post. On Dec. 8, Canada Post released a statement saying it was “still waiting” for the union’s response to its latest proposals.

Postal strike hampers charity fundraising campaigns Read More »

Morrin Centre wants to ‘make space for magic’ in 2025

Morrin Centre wants to ‘make space for magic’ in 2025

Ruby Pratka, Local Journalism Initiative report

editor@qctonline.com

The Morrin Centre is asking for community members’ support to “make space for magic” during its annual year-end fundraising campaign.

The campaign – launched on Giving Tuesday, Dec. 3 – aims to raise funds to refurbish the library’s children’s area and make it even more child-friendly, said education program co-ordinator Manuela Flores Denti.

“We’d like to make it more colourful and more obvious that it’s the kids’ section,” Flores Denti said. “We don’t have a lot of space for new books. We would like to get more books for the children’s section, the juvenile section, the young adult section, but there’s no space. We’re looking forward to doing that, but also changing the furniture. Hopefully, with money from the campaign, we’ll be able to buy more shelves for more books.”

She would also like to set up a display area where children and teens participating in the centre’s activities can show off their handiwork. “For example with the book club, we’re reading novels, but we’re also reading a lot of graphic novels. I got them to draw their own graphic novels and they did such an amazing job. I’m looking for ways to display it, showcase what we’re doing, and just finding a space is a challenge because the space is really limited. With creativity, we hope to be able to do that, but we need the budget.”

Funds will also go toward supplies for the centre’s science, technology, engineering, art and math club (S.T.E.A.M. Club) and book club for school-age children and storytime activities for younger kids.

People interested in supporting the Make Space for Magic campaign can drop off a cheque at the Morrin Centre, donate online at morrin.org or email info@morrin.org or manuelafloresdenti@morrin.org.

In addition to financial donations, Flores Denti said the centre is eager to accept in-kind donations of arts-and- crafts supplies. Gifts of time or expertise are also welcome – community members who are interested in proposing an activity should contact Manuela Flores Denti directly.

Morrin Centre wants to ‘make space for magic’ in 2025 Read More »

Emergency warming centres open in Farnham, Cowansville

By Ruby Pratka

Local Journalism Initiative

People who are experiencing homelessness this winter will be able to warm up and contact support services at warming centres (haltes-chaleur) in Farnham and Cowansville this winter.

The warming centres, in their third year of operation, will be open from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. whenever the wind chill drops below -15. The Farnham centre will be in its usual location at 525, rue Saint-Édouard; the Cowansville centre, after two years on rue Albert, is at a new location at 217 rue Oxford. The centres are run in partnership with the Maison des Jeunes de Farnham and funded by various sources including the CIUSSS de l’Estrie-CHUS, the Brome-Missisquoi-Perkins foundation, the MRC Brome-Missisquoi, local elected officials, Centraide and individual donors. The centres opened for the first time this year on Dec. 5.

The centres are not shelters with beds, but people visiting the centres will be able to rest, stock up on warm clothes, have a meal or a snack and speak with an outreach worker, according to Tania Szymanski, community development and immigration co-ordinator at the MRC of Brome-Missisiquoi. “There will always be an outreach worker asking about people’s needs in terms of mental health, medical care and food security and bringing them toward services. [The warming centres are] a pretext to intervene and help people.”

“In the past, we opened the shelters at -20 during the day, but there are already organizations that welcome people during the day, and we saw there was more of a need at night,” she added. “We don’t know how many nights we’ll be open – it depends on the temperature.”

Szymanski said she had seen rising demand for the centres’ services since they first opened two years ago. “There are more and more people [in the region] who are in situations of either hidden or visible homelessness,” she said. “It’s definitely something we need to work on.”

There is no permanent homeless shelter in Cowansville or Farnham. The project has a transport budget to bring people in need of a shelter bed to Granby, Sherbrooke or Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, but Szymanski said that was not an option for everyone. “The [warming centres] help, but they aren’t the only solution,” she said. “We want to house people in Brome-Missisquoi, because not everyone wants to leave the region.” She said the MRC is exploring the idea of establishing a shelter, but she expects funding and determining the right model for the shelter to take time.

If you or someone you know need a warm place to spend the night in an emergency, check the Halte-chaleur Farnham & Cowansville Facebook page to see whether the warming centres are open. No reservations are needed. To donate money or supplies, contact the Maison des Jeunes de Farnham.

Emergency warming centres open in Farnham, Cowansville Read More »

Prison protest was illegal, tribunal finds

By Ruby Pratka

Local Journalism Initiative

All of the 17 provincial prisons in Quebec, including the Sherbrooke detention centre, were placed in lockdown for several hours on Dec. 3 as correctional officers staged a spontaneous protest in solidarity with an officer who suffered severe injuries after a beating by an inmate at the Sorel-Tracy detention centre. Detainees remained in their cells all morning and were unable to attend court appearances, go to medical appointments, have meals or take part in educational or recreational activities from 7 a.m. to noon.

Mathieu Lavoie, president of the Syndicat des agents de la paix en services correctionnels du Québec (SAPSCQ-CSN), the CSN-affiliated union representing prison guards, said the protest was also intended to draw attention to guards’ longstanding concerns. “We’ve seen a lot more violence and infiltration [of contraband] into prisons over the last few months,” he said. “There’s also a labour shortage – the Sorel-Tracy centre has 30 unfilled positions, and while those positions are empty, people are doing overtime.” The union has been negotiating with the Ministry of Public Safety (MSP) for a new collective agreement; the previous agreement expired in 2023.

Prison guards, like nurses, police officers and paramedics, are considered essential services and normally don’t have the legal right to strike. The MSP called union representatives to an emergency hearing before the Quebec Labour Arbitration Tribunal (Tribunal administratif du travail; TAT) on the day of the protest.

According to Judge Sylvain Allard’s ruling, released Dec. 9, union representatives said the protest had been planned by the union the night before, and acknowledged their actions constituted an illegal strike. Allard found that “the prison population and the population in general were deprived of services to which they were entitled” and “security at the prison was not assured” during the protest. Allard noted that the protest disrupted court proceedings, impacted the health of vulnerable detainees, delayed prison maintenance work and disrupted the schedules of teachers and delivery workers.

Allard ordered SASPQ-CSN members to return to work “in the usual way” and ordered the union to inform its members that further work stoppages wouldn’t be tolerated.

Provincial prisons house detainees serving sentences of less than two years; those serving longer sentences are sent to federal prisons. Correctional officers at the ten federal prisons in Quebec, including the medium-security Cowansville Institution, are represented by a separate union and didn’t take part in the protest.

As of this writing, neither the SASPQ-CSN nor the MSP had commented directly on the ruling.

Prison protest was illegal, tribunal finds Read More »

Waterloo water supply sufficient for next several years, study finds

By Ruby Pratka

Local Journalism Initiative

Town officials in Waterloo say the municipality’s current water network is sufficient to respond to growing demand “without major investments in the medium term” but current water resources won’t last forever. According to studies commissioned by the town, the water treatment plant could reach capacity within a five to 11-year horizon, assuming a construction rate of 150 new housing units per year.

In February, the municipality mandated engineering firm Tetra Tech to evaluate the capacity of its drinking water and water treatment systems. Currently, 5,333 people are connected to the water network. Studies presented at a public meeting on Dec. 3 indicate that the town’s water filtration plant, built in 2001, and the three underground wells and two reservoirs that supply it can serve more than 960 additional homes – just over 2,000 people. The sewage treatment facility on Rue Allen should be able to safely handle waste from 1,365 homes. Town officials had hoped the facilities could serve 2,738 additional homes.

“Although the facilities are adequate for the current population, significant upgrades will be necessary to meet future needs. Given that the [water treatment plant’s] production capacity limit will be reached within five to 11 years and that this horizon could be shorter if some of the assumptions made prove more restrictive, it is recommended that the city conduct a feasibility study to determine the work required to meet future demand for drinking water production,” the author of the two studies, engineer Philippe Chouinard, warned.

Mayor Jean-Marie Lachapelle presented the findings in a positive light at the Dec. 3 meeting. “Water is an essential and precious resource in a context of growth like that of Waterloo. It is crucial to understand exactly where our limits are,” he said, adding that the town needed a “clear picture of the water situation” as it began work on its next urban plan. “The goal of the analysis was to determine how many residents our current infrastructures could serve while maintaining water quality. The studies confirm that the town has enough water for its current needs, and we have significant room to manoeuvre to welcome new residents.”

Director general Louis Verhoef presented the data from the two studies, explaining the processes in place to aerate, filter and disinfect the town’s drinking water. He noted that consumption had gone down by 28 per cent since 2009 despite the rising population, due to the patching of leaks, replacement of outdated equipment and changes in residents’ water use habits. He estimated that the plant was functioning at 66 per cent of its current capacity. “For the moment, neither the drinking water nor the sewage plant is an obstacle for our development,” he said.

Verhoef said the municipality planned to install a backup manganese filter in the water treatment plant and continue proactively testing water for PFAS (the “forever chemicals” found in some fire retardants) in response to public concern and strengthening provincial norms. Upgrades to the system will be funded in part by a “development fee” which companies or people requesting building permits for new builds will have to pay starting in 2025.

He added that the town had not made a decision on whether to reintroduce a proposed water counter requirement for residences, which was scrapped amid a public outcry this summer. “That will eventually be a question for council,” he said.

Waterloo water supply sufficient for next several years, study finds Read More »

Bedford Pole Health Committee determined to keep CHSLD expansion alive

By Ruby Pratka

Local Journalism Initiative

After a failed attempt to persuade the health and social services committee of the National Assembly to take another look at the shelved CHSLD expansion project, members of the Bedford Pole Health Committee (BPHC) and their supporters are looking at alternative ways to bring attention to the project and push for a policy change.

In May 2022, after several years of advocacy from community groups, Brome-Missisquoi MNA Isabelle Charest and then-seniors’ affairs minister Marguerite Blais announced details of an expansion plan which would allow the residence to accommodate up to 49 residents in private rooms and create a protected unit with eight places for people with cognitive disabilities who are susceptible to wandering, as the BCN reported at the time. However, in June of this year, officials from the CIUSSS de l’Estrie-CHUS announced the project was off the table, although smaller renovations would go ahead in consultation with a users’ committee.

Members of the BPHC and the Bedford Pole Economic Relaunch Committee launched a campaign to revive the expansion project, holding a protest in front of the CHSLD and gathering over 3,300 signatures on a petition which was tabled at the National Assembly on Oct. 10. Liberal seniors’ affairs critic Linda Caron, who tabled the petition, said she formally requested that the health and social services committee of the National Assembly hold a hearing on the issue, but that request was turned down. In mid-October, representatives of the Fondation Lévesque-Craighead, which had raised tens of thousands of dollars toward the project, met with officials from the CIUSSS de l’Estrie-CHUS and confirmed that the project was officially dead.

However, the BPHC is continuing to push for the project to be revived in some form. At a public meeting organized by the committee in Bedford on Nov. 29, local resident Marielise Deschamps announced plans to table a second petition in hopes that the National Assembly would hold hearings on the issue and pass a bill. “It’s clear that we won’t get the $15 million [initially promised for the project] but if we can get back $10 million, that will help.”

Lawyer François-David Bernier laid out a plan to send a “symbolic mise en demeure” to the Ministry of Health and Social Services denouncing what committee members see as its lack of investment in eldercare services in rural regions. Mises en demeure are formal letters asking the recipient to correct a perceived injustice, and raising the prospect of legal action if nothing is done.

Bernier acknowledged that the committee wasn’t in a position to sue the government over the cancelled project. “The legal sphere can’t dictate the political sphere; even if politicians have made promises, we can’t constrain them to follow through,” he said. “A mise en demeure to the government would be symbolic, but we want to tell them not to trivialize this issue. It’s a newish concept, but we want to denounce the inaction – the things that were said and not respected.”

“There are a lot of issues with our elders, there are a lot of budget cuts, and this is an important cause,” Bernier added. “Any self-respecting society is obligated to treat their elderly people with respect and give them appropriate care in their region. It is rare that you see people get mobilized like they have.”

Bedford Pole Health Committee determined to keep CHSLD expansion alive Read More »

ETSB, Val-des-Cerfs left out of francisation funding

By Ruby Pratka

Local Journalism Initiative

On Dec. 5, Minister for the French Language Jean-François Roberge announced an investment of $10 million in provincial funding to reopen French-as-a-second-language classes for adults known as francisation, offered by school boards and service centres in underserved regions, in January 2025. However, the Eastern Townships School Board (ETSB) and Centre de services scolaire Val-des-Cerfs (CSSVDC) won’t receive any of the money. 

Both the ETSB and CSSVDC were forced to suspend francisation courses in November because of a mismatch between high demand for the courses and insufficient funding. They were among many school boards and service centres around the province that invested heavily in adult francisation because of rising demand and were forced to close or drastically cut course offerings, laying off teachers and sparking weeks of protest by immigrants’ rights groups, unions and students and teachers. Ten service centres were funded.

“We were expecting to be on the list [to receive funding], but neither we nor Val-des-Cerfs are on it,” ETSB board chair Michael Murray told the BCN. “We were hoping to get funding for 50 or 60 students who depend on French to find employment.”

Roberge surprised many when he told reporters at the National Assembly that the funding top-up had been planned since September, using money the government saved after ending a financial incentive program for part-time francisation students. “It’s too little, too late – they’ve disrupted the lives of educators and students for no particular reason,” said Murray. “To say $10 million solves the problem [provincewide] is a joke.” He added that only “a fraction” of the students and teachers affected by cuts to the ETSB francisation program had been reassigned.

There are no plans to revive the school board’s adult francisation program, which was enthusiastically launched ahead of the 2024-2025 school year despite funding uncertainty, in the short term. “We were forging ahead thinking we would receive the money, and it turns out we won’t,” Murray said. “We are closing the book on a program we thought was a great success.”

Roberge said other courses offered by community organizations in partnership with the Ministry of Immigration, Francisation and Integration (MIFI) would become available in the coming months. He said he hoped to offer more “predictability” to French language learners in 2025, although he couldn’t promise that everyone who asked for a place in a classroom would get one. “There are way, way, way too many people in Quebec, mainly temporary workers, who don’t speak French, and our capacity to [teach French] isn’t bottomless, Quebecers’ capacity to pay isn’t bottomless,” he said. “We’re going to do the best we can with the money we have.”

Since the closure of the ETSB program, there are no longer any full-time, in-person subsidized French courses available in Brome-Missisquoi, according to the MRC of Brome-Missisquoi.

ETSB, Val-des-Cerfs left out of francisation funding Read More »

RTC scales up wheelchair access at bus stops

RTC scales up wheelchair access at bus stops

Ruby Pratka, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

editor@qctonline.com

Wheelchair users who use the Réseau de transport de la Capitale (RTC) to get around the city will have a much more extensive choice of routes in the coming year, the transport authority announced last week.

All of the network’s 158 routes will feature accessible stops as of Dec. 21. Previously, only 14 routes were considered accessible, comprising less than 10 per cent of the network. About 1,400 of the 4,500 stops throughout the network will be accessible, an increase of more than 950.

A change in RTC rules surrounding the use of wheelchair ramps has led to the increase in the number of accessible stops. A 1.5-metre-wide stretch of pavement is considered wide enough to deploy a wheelchair ramp; the previous requirement was two metres. Changing the requirement, in consultation with disability rights organizations, was enough to multiply by 10 the number of accessible stops without doing any roadwork.

“I am delighted with this major step forward for our wheelchair users, who will now be able to move around our network more freely and efficiently. … With more than 1,400 accessible stops that will be in service on Dec. 21, we will exceed the goal we set two years ago, which was to add 1,000 [stops] by 2028,” Coun. Maude Mercier Larouche, president of the RTC, said in a statement.

“This new approach to accessibility for people using wheelchairs, developed in collaboration with the community, is a concrete demonstration of the RTC’s desire to make its network increasingly accessible to people with reduced mobility. This improved offer will allow greater autonomy and spontaneity in the travel of people in wheelchairs,” said Jean-Michel Bernier, president of the Regroupement des organismes de personnes handicapées de la Capitale-Nationale, in a statement.

Mercier Larouche said the RTC intends to continue working to improve accessibility on the regular transport network in the coming years. The RTC also operates the Service de transport adapté de la Capitale (STAC) on-demand door-to-door transit service for people with disabilities who are unable to use the regular network or who are uncomfortable doing so, or who are travelling to or from a destination without an accessible stop nearby, although STAC users must reserve trips at least a day in advance.

RTC spokesperson Véronique Lalande said about 85 per cent of RTC buses are equipped with ramps. Wheelchair users “can now board any bus equipped with a ramp that is at an ac- cessible stop,” she said. “These additional stops give wheelchair users a lot more flexibility.”

Lalande said further information would be made available on the network’s website and mobile app. In the meantime, transit riders with questions can contact the Service d’aide à la mobilité intégrée (SAMI; Integrated mobility assistance service) at 418-627-2511, option 1. The service is open Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

RTC scales up wheelchair access at bus stops Read More »

Documentary gets people thinking about housing crisis solutions

By Ruby Pratka

Local Journalism Initiative

Two local nonprofits confronting the housing crisis in Brome-Missisiquoi held a free film screening and round-table discussion at the Princess Cinema in Cowansville on Monday evening to talk about creative ways to make housing more affordable.

The Table de logement de Brome-Missisquoi and Sutton-based Territoires Solidaires presented the documentary Le Dernier Flip, produced by Territoires Solidaires cofounder Samuel Gervais, and hosted a roundtable discussion with Gervais and Table du logement spokesperson Cédric Champagne.

In the film, Gervais, the executive director and cofounder of Territoires Solidaires, and coproducers Diane Bérard and Mathieu Vachon travel to Vermont to meet U.S. Senator and former Burlington, Vt. mayor Bernie Sanders and explore different ways of taking property off the speculative real estate market, notably community land trusts (CLTs), which Sanders backed during his time as mayor. A CLT is a nonprofit which holds land on behalf of a community and ensures its management; a CLT can encompass and collaborate with a housing co-op. “It’s a model coming from the States to make housing more affordable and accessible,” Gervais said.

Territoires Solidaires is currently working on two CLT pilot projects in Sutton, one on Western St. and one on the former vineyard now known as the Terrain du Vieux-Verger; Gervais said the organization is also looking into a possible project in Abercorn. Gervais said his organization’s “mission” is to create and manage CLTs around the region, keeping at least some housing affordable amid skyrocketing property resale values. 

Gervais said he and his colleagues wanted to make the CLT model, which is already used in the Montreal area and elsewhere in the country, better known around Quebec. “We’re not building on something completely new. We’re building on something that has decades of existence, huge impacts in the US, where it started, but now across the world, so we feel lucky to be part of that movement,” he said. Co-ops, CLTs and social utility trusts are complementary to each other and are different ways of “decommodifying real estate,” Gervais said.

In light of the Sutton pilot projects and of other initiatives which Territoires Solidaires is hoping to launch around Brome-Missisquoi, Gervais said he hopes the documentary screening will get people talking.

Documentary gets people thinking about housing crisis solutions Read More »

Twinning programs provide francisation opportunities amid funding cuts

By Ruby Pratka

Local Journalism Initiative

Cowansville-based adult literacy organization Le Sac à Mots is actively looking for area residents to help teach newcomers French on a volunteer basis after the Centre des services scolaire Val-des-Cerfs and the Eastern Townships School Board were forced to suspend subsidized French classes over a lack of funding.

Caroline Plaat is the coordinator of the long-established nonprofit, which serves the entire MRC of Brome-Missisquoi except for Bedford and Farnham (which are served by a separate organization). Its primary raison d’être is adult literacy – helping francophone adults who never learned to adequately read or write in their first language to improve their skills. However, for at least two decades, the organization has had a twinning program, pairing adult French language learners with fluent speakers who volunteer to either tutor them formally or provide practice opportunities.

Plaat said the program has helped anglophone Townshippers and newcomers improve their French for years. “Since a few years ago, we’ve had a lot of people from Latin America, Spanish speakers, who come here to work in the fields. We’ve had a few Ukrainians. We’ve had a lot of immigration in the last few years, and we’re hoping to be able to offer more ‘twins’ to help these people in light of the disappearance of [subsidized] courses.”

“At Le Sac à Mots, we facilitate the meeting, support the volunteers, help them find a room if they need it, but then people organize themselves. We’d like it to be in person as much as possible, but if it’s winter and people want to do a Zoom meeting so as not to have to drive, that’s fine. If your idea of ‘class’ is to go grocery shopping together so the person can work on their vocabulary, then go for it,” she said.

She emphasized that the volunteer tutoring program does not replace a francisation course. She said many of the remaining francisation courses are not accessible for the most vulnerable immigrants, who may not have a ride to Granby or a stable internet connection.  “Whatever happened, the result is the same – whoever’s fault it is, whatever logic they use, the courses aren’t there. We want to continue to put pressure on the government to fund francisation. It’s not coherent to say ‘Vive le français’ and then shovel [the responsibility] into the backyard of community organizations.”

She said the twinning program “won’t fill that gap, but we want to tell people, ‘Hey, if you want to help newcomers, here’s a way to do it.’”  The current volunteer roster is “super varied” and there’s no need to be a retired teacher or a native French speaker – just a person with room in their schedule who feels comfortable helping someone learn the language.

A partial solution

The Deux par deux online twinning program, started by the Fondation pour la langue française (FFLF) at the height of the pandemic, is also seeking volunteers to offer more French language learning opportunities. They hope to recruit as many as 3,000 conversation partners across the province, to work with advanced beginner, intermediate and advanced learners – people who are already capable of holding a conversation in French but who might be shy.

Like Plaat, FLF board chair Marie-Anne Alepin said formal courses were “necessary,” especially for beginners, but that conversation opportunities were important for language development.

“We don’t offer courses – what we offer is complementary to a course,” said Alepin, who is also president of the Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste and an established actor and theatre producer.  “There’s nothing better than a little chat!” 

In November, the Provincial Employment Round Table (PERT) launched a linguistic mentorship program for anglophones looking to improve their French, in partnership with Townshippers, the Regional Development Network and Concordia University. The Circonflexe program pairs English-speaking professionals with French-proficient mentors from a variety of fields in order to help them improve their proficiency in professional French, and ideally in their field, willing to meet in person or online and chat in “la langue de Céline.” PERT is seeking volunteer mentors who are fluent in French and have good leadership and communication skills.

“The objective is to twin people who are in the same industry, in the same sector and in the same region,” said PERT communications director Chad Walcott. Mentors will also have access to an online “toolbox.”

Walcott mentioned that many anglophones have a high level of French but struggle with shyness when using the language, especially in professional situations. He said the organization hoped to “expand French language learning programs with informal, immersive experiences” like language twinning.

For more information on Le Sac à Mots, Deux par Deux or the Circonflexe mentorship program, visit the programs’ respective websites.

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