Ruby Pratka

By Ruby Pratka

Local Journalism Initiative

After months of lobbying efforts and a series of well-attended protests in cities and towns around the province, the Front Commun pour les Arts (FCA; Common front for the arts) said in a statement that it was “celebrating a major victory” after Finance Minister Eric Girard tabled the 2025 budget.

The budget announced $200 million in funding for the Conseil des arts et lettres du Québec (CALQ; Quebec council for arts and letters) over the next three years, in line with the demands of the FCA. The CALQ is the government agency which supports the development of arts and literature across the province; according to its website, it provides grants to more than 1800 artists and 900 organizations every year.

FCA member organizations argued that without guaranteed funding, the survival of Quebec’s unique culture was at risk as artists chose to leave the arts.

“The new funding provides a first step toward stability for the sector and must mark the beginning of sustained collaboration to address the systemic and structural challenges that have multiplied in recent years,” the FCA said in a statement. “These issues have had devastating impacts not only on the working conditions of artists and cultural workers, but also on the quality, accessibility, and the reach of their artistic works across the province and internationally.

“It took a historic mobilization by the artistic communities to achieve these gains,” they said.

“The progress achieved through the actions surrounding le Front commun pour les arts and its allies must now serve as a foundation on which to build a sustainable and thriving cultural sector, in the best interest of Quebec society as a whole.”

Caroline Gignac is director general of the Conseil québécois du théatre and co-spokesperson for the FCA. She said the funding would bring much-needed “oxygen” to give artists “the energy to continue our efforts to preserve our cultural identity, maintain the vitality of our artistic ecosystem and improve artists’ socio-economic conditions.”

Gignac said although the exact use of the funding would be up to the CALQ, the money would give some much-needed structural stability to Quebec’s arts sector amid wider economic uncertainty. “The sector is facing challenges, but it was hard to address the challenges when it felt like everything was collapsing.”

The CALQ is “the best vehicle to ensure that money gets into the hands of artists through grants and support to organizations,” said Nick Maturo, director of programming at the English Language Arts Network (ELAN). Maturo said Finance Minister Eric Girard, who is also minister responsible for relations with English-speaking Quebecers, “definitely gets it when it comes to the importance of culture.”

Maturo emphasized that English-speaking artists can apply for CALQ grants in English if they choose, and ELAN offers free support services to those who may be interested in applying.

“A lot of decisions need to be made from here on out on how [the funding] gets into communities to create compelling quality arts and cultural content –  it is a question of being engaged in the process for community groups, for artists and for English-speaking Quebecers,” he said. English-speaking artists in the regions in particular, he said, needed “to be part of that conversation.”

By Ruby Pratka

Local Journalism Initiative

As Quebecers came to grips with the announcements contained in the latest provincial budget, tabled March 25 by finance minister Eric Girard, representatives of several sectors, including arts and culture and community health, the union representing the province’s farmers said its members were disappointed and worried by allocations in the budget which failed to address their concerns amid threats posed by climate change and uncertainty around cross-border trade and the wider economy.

The Union des producteurs agricoles (UPA) “acknowledges the amounts allocated to the continuation of the Sustainable Agriculture Plan 2020-2030 ($100 million over five years), to the implementation of the Quebec Biofood Policy 2025-2035 ($60.3 million over five years) and to the financing of the Sustainable Growth Investment Program ($42 million over five years), while pointing out that they are well below the expectations and concerns of the community,” a UPA statement said.

“Agricultural and forestry businesses will be among the hardest hit by the U.S. president’s tariffs. This threat adds to the difficulties thousands of them have experienced in recent years. The government’s response, which also reduces the overall budget of the Quebec Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food by 1.7 per cent (from $1,303 million to $1,281 million), will be met with a lukewarm reception,” declared UPA national president Martin Caron.

UPA representatives also criticized Girard’s decisions to table a budget with a record $13.6-billion deficit, and to plan for the impact of U.S. tariffs of an average of 10 per cent rather than 25 per cent.

Christian Kaeser is a dairy farmer based in Saint-Herménégilde, a border community east of Coaticook. He is the UPA regional vice president for Estrie.

He said “nothing in the budget” would help farmers respond to the impact of tariffs, adding that he found Girard’s tariff projection overly optimistic. “Ten per cent is not going to happen.”

Kaeser called on the Legault government to return a larger share of provincial carbon market revenues to Quebec farmers to make it easier to invest in climate change mitigation efforts and scale up productivity. “We have a lot of ambition to grow and export more and feed more Canadians and depend less on food imports. A lot of investment is needed for innovation, productivity, [responding to] new animal welfare rules and climate change and doing better for the environment. This is lightyears away from what we asked for.”

“Seventy-two per cent of our farm exports are to the United States right now,” he added, noting that fluctuating prices and interest rates are also expected to negatively impact farm revenue.  “Both [the provincial and federal governments] need to reassure farmers that they will be there for them.”

By Ruby Pratka

Local Journalism Initiative

The town of Bromont has opened an indoor playground to get its youngest residents moving.

The Espace Bougeotte opened March 29 in the multipurpose room of the Bromont Arena, and will stay open on weekends from 8:30 a.m. to noon until May 19, and reopen in the fall. The project is developed in partnership with Loisir et Sport Montérégie, funded by a Quebec government grant and inspired by a similar initiative in Nicolet, near Trois-Rivières. The space includes soft play modules for preschoolers and a “chill space” where children and their parents can rest, have a snack, draw or play with tabletop toys and games.

While a city employee will be on hand to welcome kids and their families, keep the space clean and address any safety concerns, parents, grandparents and caregivers are responsible for their children, explained Laurent Bédard, head of the sports, recreation and events division at the Ville de Bromont. The space might host occasional organized activities in the future, but for now, free play is the name of the game. The facility is free, reserved for Bromont residents and targeted to children under 5.

“With the creation of this new space, we are contributing to the development of healthy lifestyle habits for our children, from a very young age. We invite families and the entire community to come and discover this beautiful place dedicated to our little ones,” Shefford district councillor Jacques Lapensée said in a statement announcing the centre’s opening.

Bédard said city officials wanted to respond to a lack of free and accessible activities for babies and preschoolers that encourage physical activity, as part of the city’s action plan for healthy lifestyles.

Bédard took his own two-year-old son to the Espace Bougeotte on opening day, and said he enjoyed the experience. “He tried it, and after an hour, he got tired and went to the quiet room and built some stuff and had a snack. Then he went back to running everywhere with the other kids.”

The space also gives kids and their parents an opportunity to socialize and get to know their neighbours, Bedard said. “Families are so busy, it’s good to meet other parents and talk and say ‘I’m not going through this alone.’”

“There are a lot of private play centres that are bigger than ours, and they’re excellent – I go there with my family and we enjoy it – but it’s important to have low-barrier access to sports,” Bédard said. “Getting kids into skiing, soccer and hockey is expensive; putting them in front of the TV or giving them an iPad is not. We have a tendency to park kids in front of the TV when they’re little, and then sign them up for soccer when they’re old enough; they might specialize in soccer, but they don’t necessarily learn to jump or do cartwheels. Even when you’re a year old, you should have the opportunity to jump up and down or throw a ball.” He said he believes free play for preschoolers should eventually become a regular part of municipal recreational programs, “like free swim or public skating sessions.”

If you are a Bromont resident and would like to learn more about the Espace Bougeotte, visit bromont.net/loisirs-et-culture/programmation-des-loisirs/espace-bougeotte.

By Ruby Pratka

Local Journalism Initiative

The Brome County Historical Society has received a $2.21-million grant from the federal ministry of housing, infrastructure and communities to carry out a long-awaited expansion of the Lac-Brome Museum.

The expansion will take the form of a 6,000-square-foot extension to the current reception building, which will hold three galleries (including one featuring a new permanent exhibit on the Abenaki people), an expanded reception area, a collections lab, storage space and “flexible spaces” that can be rented out for events, explained Denis Piquette, executive director of the historical society, which oversees the museum. It will also be equipped with an elevator and washrooms accessible for people with reduced mobility, and a heating system which will allow it to stay open year-round.

Piquette said the expansion had been in the works for several years. “The historical society had an ambitious vision that was redrafted in 2020. At the time, [Premier François] Legault was talking about the Espaces bleus, and he made a statement along the lines of, the regions are filled with dusty little museums. We thought that was not very complimentary, at a time when we were aiming to be a leading museum and archive centre.” The historical society had an initial feasibility study done in 2021, but it wasn’t until late last year that the federal government rolled out a grant program – the Green and Inclusive Community Buildings (GICB) program, focused on developing “community spaces” in official language minority and Indigenous communities using energy-efficient construction techniques – that was adapted to their needs and didn’t require a disproportionate investment of time or money to apply.

“I found out about the program in September, and the deadline was Oct. 13,” Piquette recalled. “Of course, I had to supply an engineering report… but somehow we made it. We got a call from [Brome-Missisquoi MP] Pascale St-Onge on March 11 and then we got a letter [confirming the grant] from Minister [Nathaniel] Erskine-Smith.” Before the recent federal cabinet shuffle, Erskine-Smith was minister of housing, infrastructure and communities, the ministry which oversees the GICB program. The $2.1-million grant, which will cover 60 per cent of the costs linked to the new extension, is among the largest given out to a Quebec-based organization through the GICB program.

“We have a huge collection, a strong following, a long list of members and support from the town, but we’re a bunch of old buildings that need repair,” Piquette said. The extension, he said, would give the society breathing room to carry out further renovations in the future, by allowing it to safely store artifacts.

The historical society needs to co-ordinate with the Town of Brome Lake urban planning department and raise an additional $1.5 million from other sources to ensure construction moves forward. Piquette said he hopes the extension will be completed by fall 2026.

Archives/William Crooks
Local MPs Elisabeth Brière, Pascale St-Onge, and Marie-Claude Bibeau meeting with around 40 local mayors to discuss significant municipal issues in August, 2024

By Ruby Pratka

Local Journalism Initiative

When soon-to-be-former Brome-Missisquoi MP Pascale St-Onge picks up the phone, the cries of her four-month-old son can be heard clearly in the background. She briefly puts the phone down to go soothe him before hurrying back. A few weeks from now, St-Onge, 47, who became the first lesbian federal cabinet minister to take parental leave when her son was born, will no longer have to juggle her responsibilities as a politician and a mom – and she’s fine with that.

St-Onge announced in February that she would not seek a second term as MP for Brome-Missisquoi, preferring to focus on her family for the next few years.

“I have no regrets,” she told the BCN. “It was a well-thought-out decision. For the next few years, I really want to be present for him. With the fact that [the Liberals are] going up in the polls, it became obvious that this was the right decision at this time.”

St-Onge, a former communications union representative, has had a busy four years. In October 2021, then-prime minister Justin Trudeau appointed her minister for sport – where she stickhandled reforms to Hockey Canada’s governance in the wake of a sexual abuse scandal before restoring its federal funding – and minister responsible for the Economic Development Agency for the Regions of Quebec at a time when the post-pandemic economic recovery looked precarious. In 2023, she was shifted to the Canadian Heritage portfolio, coming under the national spotlight as the federal government negotiated with Google and Meta to compensate media outlets for lost revenue, renewed funding for local media outlets and took steps toward modernizing and reshaping CBC/Radio-Canada. Earlier this year, when Soraya Martinez Ferrada stepped down to run for mayor of Montreal, Trudeau briefly named St-Onge tourism minister as well.

St-Onge looked back on the 2021 campaign, conducted amid COVID restrictions. “It was such an honour to have been elected in 2021 and have the confidence of the citizens of Brome-Missisquoi,” said St-Onge, a native of Saint-Eustache on Montreal’s South Shore who now lives in Orford. “It was a tight race. When I got elected, we were still in the pandemic. We had to support the tourism sector and make sure there were opportunities for sustained growth … and make sure municipalities had public spaces to gather again. That’s a legacy I’m happy with, that the region will have for years to come.”

As heritage minister, St-Onge’s signature piece of legislation is the Online News Act, which aimed to force web giants such as Google and Meta to negotiate compensation agreements with news outlets. While Google paid $100 million to a consortium of news outlets earlier this year in response to the act, Meta, Facebook’s parent company, got around the act by blocking access to news in Canada on its platforms, opening the door to spoof accounts mimicking Canadian news outlets and presenting false stories as fact. “I wish I could have done a deal with Meta, but they are not [acting as] partners, and that will ultimately end up in court,” St-Onge said. “I’m worried about misinformation, but I’m mostly worried about Meta’s attitude, because they don’t comply, they don’t recognize the legitimacy of governments, which is extremely problematic. Not only did they remove Canadian news, but they fired their fact checkers. The quality of information [on Facebook] is going to keep spiralling down, and people need to be aware of what this means for democracy. A lot of people are exposed to misinformation [inaccurate information], disinformation [deliberate falsehoods] and foreign interference from people using these powerful communications platforms, and that should ring alarm bells.”

For St-Onge, CBC/Radio-Canada is a weapon in the fight against disinformation. “Having a strong public broadcaster that is funded appropriately and stable is not only a question of survival of who we are – of Canadian identity – but of national security and making sure Canadians can turn to their public broadcaster in case of an emergency,” she said. In February, she proposed a major boost to CBC/Radio-Canada funding, and changes to the public broadcaster’s governance and funding structures which she believed would make it less vulnerable to political interference. “Even though I didn’t get to present the [proposal] in the House of Commons, I’m optimistic that the next Liberal government will take it up.”

When the BCN spoke to St-Onge, the Liberal party had not yet announced who would run for her Brome-Missisquoi seat. She said that decision was in the hands of the party, but she did point out specific challenges that awaited her successor in light of the Trump administration’s challenges to Canadian sovereignty. “Everything going on with the United States is going to be super important; we have a lot of industries that import-export into the U.S. We know that a lot of Americans come [to visit the region] and we believe a lot of them are going to support us and support the Canada-U.S. relationship. The future [MP] is going to have to fight for that, to fight for supply management for our farmers and for the renegotiation of [the Canada-U.S.-Mexico free trade agreement].”

“I am proud of the work that we have done with [Sherbrooke MP] Élisabeth [Brière] and [Compton-Stanstead MP] Marie-Claude [Bibeau] with supporting English-speaking communities, implementing the Official Language Action Plan and making sure that Townshippers and other organizations would get support; we made a great team,” she concluded. “I thank everyone in Brome-Missisquoi for their support and their trust over the past few years. Right now, I want to spend time with my family. I’m open to opportunities and I still have a lot of passion for the issues, but I’m in no rush. I haven’t picked up my bass guitar in quite a while, so I may do that.”

By Ruby Pratka

Local Journalism Initiative

The town of Dunham intends to go ahead with the construction of a new fire station despite concerns from some citizens about the need for and the cost of the facility, Mayor Pierre Janecek said last week.

In December, the project faced a roadblock after more than 300 people signed a register calling for a referendum on a planned $7.9-million loan to finance the project. Rather than move forward with the referendum, councillors went back to the drawing board and devised a new funding formula.

At the March 11 council meeting, councillors approved $6.4 million in spending and a $2.1-million loan to fund the project, to be paid by taxpayers proportionally to their property values. Janecek said the loan, to be repaid over a period of 25 years, would add an estimated $63 per year to the average homeowner’s tax bill, although those with higher property values would pay slightly more. He noted that a provincial subsidy would pay 73 per cent of the cost of the new fire station.

“We made a budget based on what we thought the project would cost, but the bids were lower than we thought, so we had to do a new one, $1.5 million less than the one before,” the mayor said. “We also [became eligible for] a slightly larger grant because we’re going to use wood [in the construction of the firehouse]. Because we have more than half of the project subsidized, we’re not legally obligated to do a register.” The funds were expected to cover construction, furniture, specialized equipment, landscaping, water treatment and professional fees for the new fire station and a contingency amount to cover unexpected cost overrruns, equivalent to 10 per cent of the project’s total budget, town clerk Jessica Tanguay explained at the meeting, which can be seen on Facebook Live.

Tanguay announced that Construction Richelieu, a contractor based in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, had submitted the winning bid, with a cost estimate of $5,547,000. One lower bid, from Athena Construction, was disqualified due to an incomplete application, she said.

The loan bylaw and the bylaw authorizing the construction of the firehouse passed easily at the council meeting, with councillors silently assenting to Janecek’s perfunctory, “Is everybody OK with that?” after Tanguay’s explanations. However, some residents who learned they would not be able to oppose the project through a register or a referendum expressed their concerns during the public question period, about the integrity of the bidding process, the necessity of the project and the qualifications of fire chief Patrick Cournoyer.

“No one has done a needs analysis of our fire safety needs,” argued one resident, Diane Cormier. “You haven’t done that – you said, right away, ‘We need a fire station.’ We need to analyze everything.”

“That’s what was done,” answered Coun. Florencia Saravia.

Another attendee, who didn’t give his name, spoke up to call for Cournoyer to be fired. “I’m not going to impugn anyone’s reputation here, and we’re not going to do that – not to citizens, not to town employees and not to elected officials; it’s totally disrespectful, and we have enormous confidence in our fire chief who has worked on this project for years…and has a whole team around him,” countered Saravia, who had been answering Cormier’s question.

A few other attendees began speaking over Saravia and Cormier, leading Janecek to adjourn the meeting. He briefly reconvened it, giving councillors a few minutes to express their support for Cormier, before wrapping up proceedings. He later said the chaotic council meeting, a first since the current council took office, had been “hard to manage.”

He argued that the new fire station was necessary because the current one, a converted garage, didn’t meet modern standards. “There will be more space for trucks, a decontamination room as required by the CNESST [Quebec workplace safety board], a small kitchen and a break room … it will be more spacious and we’ll be up to code.”

“There are people who are against the fire station and who are worried about the impact on their tax bill. That’s legitimate. We live in a democracy. People will be against it, but I think they’ll understand eventually,” he added.  “When you explain the project well, people get it.”

Construction of the fire station is expected to begin later this spring and wrap up in 2026.

By Ruby Pratka

Local Journalism Initiative

On March 19, as talk of a federal election buzzed in the air, about 300 English-speaking teens and young adults from around the province, including many first-time voters, gathered at the Coeur des Sciences at Université du Québec à Montréal, for the annual Youth Forum organized by Montreal-based civic participation organization Youth 4 Youth (Y4Y).  The nonpartisan organization encourages English-speaking youth to get involved in their communities and get informed about wider social and political issues,

At the eighth annual Youth Forum, under the theme “Inform, Educate and Empower,” high school, CEGEP and university students and young professionals from around the province discussed anglophone out-migration, the democratic deficit and youth voter turnout, identity in Quebec and media consumption. Although most of the speakers and participants were from the greater Montreal area, participants came from Sherbrooke, Trois-Rivières, the Outaouais region and as far away as Sept-Iles.

Y4Y president Sufia Langevin, a recent Bishop’s University graduate, encouraged participants to “disagree without delegitimizing” other people’s arguments, and enjoy discovering points of view and realities they might not be familiar with.

Policy director Alex Pettem presented sobering data about youth outmigration, showing data that indicated that 14 per cent of Quebec anglophones, including 28 per cent of youth 18-24, were considering leaving the province in 2022. Younger people, people with more formal education and people in rural areas with fewer educational and employment opportunities were most likely to leave; among their reasons for considering a move, anglophones cited wanting to live in a more anglophone environment, discomfort with political dynamics in Quebec, work opportunities and family considerations, in that order, Pettem said. “It has long been a part of [Y4Y’s] message to stem outmigration, to encourage youth to stay in the province,” he said.

Panelists addressed their sense of belonging in Quebec and youth political participation – the merits of lobbying politicians, signing petitions, joining neighbourhood youth councils and lowering the voting age to 16. “Politics belongs to a group of people we don’t have contact with,” said Frishta, a student at CEGEP Champlain-St. Lambert, who didn’t give her full name. Petitions, she said, were a good concept, but “there’s often a gap between the effort you put in and the results you get.”

“It’s not apathy that’s the problem, it’s accessibility,” agreed Charles, a McGill student who also gave only his first name. “Every university should have a polling station.”

Félix Joly, a Secondary 5 student at the Séminaire de Sherbrooke, was one of the few participants from the Estrie region. Unlike most of the participants, he identifies as a francophone. He was eager to share his perspective as a francophone, a person from “the regions” and an advocate for student governance (he is a board member of a provincewide network of student council presidents), and to listen to what others had to say. “I found that on a vast number of points, [anglophone and francophone] participants were similar,” he said. “We have a lot of the same struggles, in terms of social media addiction and buying local. For us [francophones], immigration is a big language and cultural issue … it was nice hearing the other side of the coin; it made me think about my own point of view.” 

Although he and many of his peers will not turn 18 in time to vote in the April 28 election, they encouraged candidates and elected officials to take notice – and encouraged teens to take action on issues that mattered to them. “We don’t have the right to vote, so we’re not useful for anyone now, but we have to live with those policies,” he said. “We have to be like, ‘Hey, you’re working for us too.”

By Ruby Pratka

Local Journalism Initiative

The six funeral homes in the Salons Funéraires Desourdy network, in Cowansville, Farnham, Henryville, Knowlton, Mansonville and Sutton, have been sold to the Coopérative funéraire de Saint-Hyacinthe, a representative for the co-op confirmed last week.

Gilles Cardinal, president of the Coopérative funéraire de Saint-Hyacinthe (CFSH), said discussions had been ongoing for nearly two years between the Fédération des coopératives funéraires du Québec (FCFQ), of which the CFSH is a member, and the private funeral home chain, which has been established in the area for nearly a century. He did not disclose the amount the chain was sold for.

The previous owner, Jean-Pierre Desourdy, was unavailable to comment before press time. Cardinal said Desourdy was “a great worker, who didn’t have any [potential successors] in his immediate family. He had not put [the company] on the market, but through contacts, we learned that he wanted to slow down, and we said if there is interest, maybe we can start talking. The first documents were signed between the FCFQ and Desourdy; after that commitment, the FCFQ asked around to see which of its members might be interested [in taking over the company], and we showed our interest.”

Before the sale, the co-op ran a single funeral home in Saint-Hyacinthe. “The company [Salons Funéraires Desourdy] was very well maintained, had a very good reputation, and had all kinds of equipment that we haven’t got in Saint-Hyacinthe – the embalming service, the crematorium, the fleet of vehicles for funeral processions – as well as a team of quality people,” said Cardinal. “We subcontracted [embalming and crematory] services before, and now we’ll be able to offer them in-house. [Desourdy] has some very dedicated employees, and we have some things we can learn from them.” Cardinal said the co-op planned to keep existing staff at the six funeral homes – including Jean-Pierre Desourdy – on staff.

He emphasized that the co-op was “the property of Quebecers that will stay in Quebec,” adding that “we made this acquisition with a lot of pride.”

Cardinal said the sale would not change much for families making funeral arrangements via one of the six Desourdy homes. The homes will be incorporated into the co-op, which functions a bit like a credit union, with members able to join the board and vote on some governance decisions, and a small slice of the profits returned to the membership. “They will be able to become members of the co-op if they choose, which comes with some economic advantages. They will continue to have the same services they had at Desourdy, [such as] advance funeral arrangements … in Saint-Hyacinthe, it will allow us to add a lot of services.” Services in English will still be available where there is demand. “In places like Knowlton, Sutton and Cowansville, where there are a lot of anglophones, we will make sure there are people who can serve those families.”

By Ruby Pratka

Local Journalism Initiative

Twenty hectares of mostly forested land in Brome Lake and Sutton will be preserved in perpetuity thanks to donations by two local landowners to the Mont Echo Conservation Association (MECA), a member of Appalachian Corridor.

The generosity of the two anonymous donors “ensures the perpetual protection of nearly 20 hectares of additional natural environments of high ecological value in the sector,” Appalachian Corridor communications co-ordinator Frédérique Vuillermoz said in a statement last week.

The larger of the two donations is an 11.4-hectare swath of land in Sutton, southeast of Chemin Parmenter, close to Mount Echo, adjacent to an existing protected area. It “makes a remarkable contribution to expanding the ecological corridor of the Réserve naturelle des Montagnes Vertes,” the statement said. The smaller of the two is an 8.5-hectare forested property close to the centre of the town of Brome Lake; during a ceremony held last August, it received the name Kpiwi Pmossa, which means “wood walkers” in Abenaki, in honour of the Indigenous people who once hunted and fished there.  Both properties “have some [plant and animal] habitats we want to protect,” Caroline Bisson, co-director general for community relations at Appalachian Corridor, told the BCN.

“These two donations were given to a local organization, MECA, and they were interesting because they were very diverse habitats with a lot of ecological value,” Bisson said. “The Sutton one is a [key] habitat in our conservation strategy, and the one in Brome Lake has a stream and some bird habitats we want to expect.”

Bisson said she wasn’t familiar with the details of the discussions that had been ongoing with the two property owners, but that generally, discussions with donors can go on for months or years. “The particularities [of donations] are always discussed with the owner. We meet the owner, we do evaluations and the owner has to consider their options.” 

Christian Godin is the treasurer of MECA, a volunteer-run conservation organization based in Brome which is a member of Appalachian Corridor. He said the donation of the Brome Lake property in particular has been “long in the making.”

“The owners keep on adding access to the property and they are sort of the guardians, but MECA will become the long term fiduciary for monitoring that the land remains a forest and keeps its integrity,” he said.

Donors who make a gift of land to Appalachian Corridor or a similar organization benefit from certain tax advantages. Although land donations do come with transaction and evaluation fees, Appalachian Corridor covers those fees through donations.

Appalachian Corridor intends to leave nature to its own devices on the two properties. “We do develop hiking trails on some of our larger properties, but…these are relatively small. They will be registered as protected areas and evaluated each year. Our goal is to let nature do what nature does,” said Bisson.

“We want to emphasize the contribution of these two ladies, who have so much heart, and who gave their land. Natural heritage is very important to them, and they want this land to remain a forest,” Bisson said.

She added that land donations are not the only way to support local conservation initiatives. “There are a lot of opportunities to contribute as a volunteer as a donor to help us maximize our efforts,” she said. 

By Ruby Pratka

Local Journalism Initiative

The town of Bromont has set aside $60,000 to fund projects proposed by residents as part of its first-ever participatory budget initiative.

Residents have until April 30 to submit proposals on the city website, via email or in person at the town hall. Proposals will be accepted in three categories: youth (projects submitted by Bromont residents under age 25 focused on improving youth quality of life), collective (submissions by residents or groups of residents 18 and older), and seniors (submitted by people of any age, aimed at boosting quality of life, mobility and access to services for local seniors). Proposals will be analyzed by a city-appointed committee between May 1 and 23; the winning projects will be announced in June, and realized over the course of 2025.

An eligible project “needs to meet the [submission] deadline, needs to be doable over the course of 2025 and within the budget,” Mayor Louis Villeneuve explained. Projects that involve building “fixed infrastructures” must be on public land. “We will also look at the number of citizens who might benefit, the project’s alignment [with] municipal policy and strategy, the capacity of the city to realize it, the impact of any recurrent expenses, and geographical equity within the city. The committee will review all of the projects with a point system, and the projects with the most points will win.”

Similar initiatives, where cities earmark a specific amount of money for citizen-driven projects, have been established in Montreal, Longueuil, Laval, Granby and several smaller towns over the past few years. The town of Sutton launched its first participatory budget in 2023 and funded a turtle crossing and a new dog park; last year, Cowansville got on the bandwagon and funded an outdoor education space in the Parc des Colibris, to be completed by the end of 2025.

According to a participation document provided by the city, the participatory budget initiative “A “is a unique opportunity for citizens to get involved in community life; develop community-led projects and contribute to [community] development; understand the challenges of city management; create spaces for interaction and strengthening of the social fabric; contribute to the creation of a fairer, more equitable and more responsive city [and] make democracy more vibrant and closer to citizens.”

“I’m very curious and impatient to see what kinds of projects people are going to come up with,” Villeneuve told the BCN. “It’s a democratic process, and the goal is to involve people in town life.” He said he hoped the initiative would allow residents, including children and young adults, to better understand municipal governance.

He added that amid difficult and uncertain economic times, “little things can do us good,” and the participatory budget and the projects that come out of it are one way to integrate “little things” that might ordinarily go under the radar.

“We’re hoping to get the most [submissions] possible, for people to look at this project and think, ‘It’s possible for me to submit something,’” said the mayor. “Our ambition is for Bromont residents to come and sit down with us at the drawing board [and] add a touch of ‘proudly made by and for Bromont residents.’”

Residents can submit projects via the online form at bromont.net/administration-municipale/budget-participatif; download the form on the city website and scan and email the completed form to imagine@bromont.com; or pick up a paper form at City Hall, the Lucien-Parent Community Centre or the Pauline-Quinlan Library. Paper forms must be returned to the City Hall reception desk by the April 30 deadline.

By Ruby Pratka

Local Journalism Initiative

A local environmental group has good news about Cowansville’s drinking water. Last year, the Comité de sauvegarde du bassin versant du lac Davignon (CSBVLD; Lake Davignon watershed safeguarding committee) completed a two-year water quality sampling campaign covering multiple areas of the lake. The resulting report, which will be presented to the public at the CSBVLD annual general meeting on April 2, shows broadly encouraging results for the lake, which has provided drinking water and much-appreciated swimming and boating and outdoor recreation opportunities for Cowansville residents since soon after it was dug in 1965.

Sampling was carried out in 2022 and 2023 at 20 locations in and around the lake and along its tributary streams. The samples were collected by CSBVLD volunteers and analyzed by biologists and field technicians from the Organisme du bassin versant de la Yamaska (OBV-Yamaska; Yamaska watershed organization).

The 2022-2023 campaign is a follow-up to an initial sampling campaign conducted from 2010 to 2012. “Analyses of data collected in 2022 and 2023 show that the good overall water quality in the Lake Davignon watershed observed between 2010 and 2012 continued through 2023 and even improved for fecal coliforms. All stations demonstrated good water quality for phosphorus, fecal coliforms, ammonia nitrogen, pH and dissolved oxygen,” OBV-Yamaska analysts wrote in a summary of the report. The majority of the samples received an “A” (good quality for most uses, including swimming) rating for most contaminants, although there were a few isolated “B” (generally satisfying quality for most uses) ratings for nitrates and nitrites and suspended particles, and two “C” (suspect, may compromise some uses) ratings for chlorophyll.

The authors cautioned that continued surveillance was needed to monitor levels of chlorophyll, nitrates and nitrites, and suspended particles (sediment) in the water.

They also noted that three specific sites, at the Cowansville beach and the Ruisseau marsh, and in the stream between Brome and Cowansville, had lower overall water quality and had been singled out for further analysis.  “Water quality improvement efforts should prioritize” these areas, according to the report’s authors. They also note that the water quality at sampling stations on the beach is “generally good,” even if it is lower than that observed at other stations.

The authors recommended that the town of Cowansville prioritize runoff reduction and “renaturalization” efforts in the targeted areas; continue to monitor targeted pollutants and continue to monitor fecal coliform and acidity (pH) levels at the beach specifically; start to plan a long-term response to the gradual filling in of the lake with sediment; and plan a similar sampling campaign in ten years.

“We are pleased to see that the majority of the analysis results show good water quality. This indicates that the improvement work carried out in the watershed (e.g., sediment traps that filter runoff and capture sediment) in recent years by the Brome-Missisquoi MRC and the municipalities concerned has borne fruit,” said Gérard Houle, vice-president of the CSBVLD and volunteer responsible for the sampling campaign.

“These results are good, and they show that what has been done over the past ten years [to control runoff] is working, but with climate change and extreme weather, there are a lot more downpours, and we need to think about what’s going down our gutters and into our streams to end up in our drinking water,” Jonathan B-Mailhot, president of the CSBVLD, told the BCN in an interview. “Having the data helps us go to officials and say, ‘This is what you need to do to protect our drinking water.’”

The City of Cowansville had not responded to a request for comment by press time.

Mailhot noted that the water sampling results aren’t the only encouraging trend in lake conservation. “Every year around Earth Day [mid-April], we go and clean the banks of the lake, and every time we go, there is less and less rubbish down there.” He asked residents and people who spend a lot of time around the lake to inform the CSBVLD if they notice anything unusual in or around the water.

Anyone who wants to attend the presentation of the water quality report on April 2 at the Salle Arthur-Fauteux of the MRC Brome-Missisquoi office is advised to reserve their seat in advance at lacdavignon.org/echantillonnage.

By Ruby Pratka

Local Journalism Initiative

Matthew Long hasn’t gotten much sleep since U.S. president Donald Trump began talking about tariffs on Canadian imports.

Long is the owner of a Knowlton-based trucking company, LJH Trucking, which employs 30 people and has a fleet of 24 trucks. He estimates that about 80 per cent of the company’s business relies on cross-border orders.

“In January and February, I’ve been getting a full night’s sleep maybe every three nights – I’m just exhausted, monitoring the tariff situation,” Long said. “The day before the tariffs were [to have been] put in place, 85 per cent of our workload got cancelled or put on hold. We had trucks and drivers without anywhere to go and clients with loads cancelled. It’s a huge challenge for everyone involved.”

On Feb. 1, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order imposing a 25 per cent tariff on all Canadian products entering the U.S., except for energy imports, which would be subject to a 10 per cent tariff. On Feb. 3, the day before tariffs were to take effect, the imposition of the tariffs was suspended for 30 days, leading Canada to pause its own planned retaliatory tariffs. On March 3, the Trump administration confirmed its intention to impose tariffs; three days later, Trump announced another pause until April 2. As of this writing, separate 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminum imports were expected to go into effect March 12. Outgoing federal finance minister Dominic LeBlanc has said Canada plans to introduce retaliatory tariffs on April 2.

Long said the on-again-off-again tariffs have made day-to-day operations and planning for the future more difficult. “Demand was really high in February, because people were trying to get shipments across the border before the deadline. We don’t know how March will play out, but it’s probably going to be the same thing. It’s a logistical nightmare.”

The tariffs have also made him rethink his purchasing plans. He noted that car and truck parts usually cross the U.S.-Canadian border several times during the vehicle manufacturing process. “Tariffs are going to increase the cost of everything, including trucks, but I don’t want to let go of my current truck [orders] because if I do, someone else will grab them,” he said.

“The pressure on our staff and the drivers to get everything done is unjustified – there’s no reason for this to happen,” he added.

Pascal Lafrenière is the president of the Chambre de commerce de Brome-Missisquoi (CCBM). He echoed Long’s observations that the ongoing uncertainty is bad for business, especially in sectors where companies are used to planning weeks and months ahead of time. “We’re in the unknown, and everything is changing so quickly,” Lafrenière said. “If you’re a business, it’s hard to adapt on a dime… but it’s time to rethink our strategies. The link of reliability with the United States is broken.”

Both Long and Lafrenière said they were optimistic that the situation would ultimately be resolved as its negative impacts on both sides of the border became apparent. Lafrenière said the CCI was working with its partners on short- and medium-term solutions, including a local purchasing strategy and ways to connect businesses with emergency funding opportunities such as those announced by the provincial government last week. A spokesperson for Economy Minister Christine Fréchette said the emergency measures – including two loan programs for businesses looking to diversify international partnerships and scale up productivity and a 25 per cent bid penalty for American companies applying for Quebec government contracts – would remain in effect until further notice.

CLD offering support for businesses

In response to the uncertainty, the Centre local de développement (CLD) de Brome-Missisquoi announced plans to put in place a “strategic cell” bringing together experts and economic stakeholders.

“Our advisors actively support businesses so that they can assess their exposure to risks. We encourage them to establish different financial scenarios, contact their suppliers and customers to anticipate the impacts and identify opportunities that could emerge from this situation,” said  Marie-Josée Lamothe, director of business services at the CLD.  In addition to risk assessment, the CLD offers support to help local businesses review their business model and update their strategic planning, diversify their markets, find local suppliers, scale up productivity, access existing assistance programs and adopt a “Made in Quebec” marketing strategy. 

“Some sectors can do well in this context, such as tourism, local [food and agriculture] producers or manufacturers of ecological goods. We are also here to support these companies in their development,” said Lamothe.

By Ruby Pratka

Local Journalism Initiative

The towns of Brome Lake and Waterloo have announced plans to expand the service areas covered by their on-call first responders.

Starting later this year, as part of a pilot project, Waterloo first responders will cover Warden, Saint-Joachim and Sainte-Anne-de-la-Rochelle in addition to parts of Saint-Étienne de Bolton and Stukely-Sud. Brome Lake first responders will now cover Brome village in addition to West Bolton.

Waterloo fire chief Patrick Gallagher and Brome Lake fire chief Kevin Robinson said they hoped that expanded 24-7 first responder services would ensure that trained personnel reached rural municipalities more quickly in case of an emergency. “Ambulances sometimes come from Cowansville … our first responders in Brome Lake are usually there quite quickly,” Robinson said.

They explained that ambulances and on-call fire crews are sometimes diverted en route to deal with higher-priority calls, and may not be available for all emergencies. “If an ambulance is going to Saint-Étienne to help someone who has fallen off a ladder, and then someone has a heart attack in Magog, the ambulance will go there first, and the person at the bottom of the ladder might just have to wait,” Gallagher said.

Although on-call first responders don’t have the same level of training or equipment as full-time paramedics, they are able to stabilize and assess patients in a variety of situations. Level 3 first responders such as those in Waterloo, who complete a 60-hour certification course, can help someone who is injured or has suffered a suspected heart attack, stroke, allergic reaction or poisoning before paramedics arrive, Gallagher explained. First responder training, he said, “is basic, but it can make a difference.”

Transition for Brome village

Although the service-sharing agreement was signed last week, in practice, Brome Lake first responders have covered Brome village since the beginning of the year. Brome mayor William Miller explained that Brome had previously had an agreement with Sutton for first responder services, but that coming under Brome Lake’s jurisdiction “made more sense geographically.” Also, he explained, first responder services in Brome Lake, unlike in Sutton, are distinct from fire services, meaning first responders won’t have to be diverted from a medical call to respond to a fire call.

Brome Lake, West Bolton and Brome will share costs for the service according to a formula based on tax revenue and the level of risk in each municipality. “Now, they’re pooling [cost sharing] from three towns instead of two. Brome Lake is not trying to make a profit –it’s to cover costs and help support training of the firefighters. There are a number of people in Brome who work in Brome Lake or who are part of their fire personnel already, so I don’t think it will be a huge transition,” Miller said.

While firefighters generally have first responder training, not all first responders are firefighters, and the two services are separate. Robinson, the Brome Lake fire chief, who also manages the first responder service, said his team of 28 first responders was “quite proud” to serve Brome village.

Objective 75%

The Waterloo service expansion is part of a pilot project that officials hope will be fully implemented by June. “With the recent Quebec government announcement that they want 75 per cent of the province to be covered by first responders by 2030, we asked questions to see what might be possible,” Gallagher said. “We said we would do a pilot project, and once the government puts [formal] parameters in place, we’ll take another look … and see what we can do to assure the continuation of the service. It’s easy to start, but you need to make sure it lasts.”

Waterloo currently covers 100 per cent of the cost of training and deploying 32 on-call first responders. Under the pilot project, 56 per cent of that cost would be picked up by neighbouring municipalities.

“For smaller municipalities, finding on-call first responders for a town with a population of 1000 is impossible,” Gallagher said. “With this project, we can share costs and offer the service to more municipalities. It’s a win-win.”

By Ruby Pratka

Local Journalism Initiative

Nearly one-third of the territory of the town of Waterloo could be part of an environmentally protected area by 2037, town officials announced last week.

The municipality commissioned a report from the Granby-based Fondation pour la sauvegarde des écosystèmes du territoire de la Haute-Yamaska (SÉTHY), which promotes conservation initiatives around the Haute-Yamaska region. The report, released Feb. 11, included an inventory of existing natural spaces and threatened animal and plant species in the area, listed areas that should be prioritized for conservation based on a point system and laid out detailed recommendations for conservation, focusing on wetlands and forested areas.

The report found that 12 per cent of the municipality’s territory is made up of wetlands and 35 per cent of forested areas; the latter are particularly at risk from expanding residential development. Preserving the continuity of forest corridors, the report’s authors note, is particularly important for protecting vulnerable wildlife.

The report is the latest among several steps the town has taken to protect green space and forested areas in recent years, according to town spokesperson Marilynn Guay Racicot. With support from Appalachian Corridor, she said in a statement, Waterloo is in the process of having its lots south of Lake Waterloo recognized as a nature reserve. In April 2024, councillors adopted the 2024-2028 sustainable development action plan, which prioritized increasing the area of ​​natural environments subject to conservation measures. The town has also mandated SÉTHY to create an ecological inventory of town land over the next few months.

The SÉTHY report listed eight recommendations, including placing a moratorium on the destruction of natural environments, making it easier to integrate elements of the sustainable development action plan into the revised urban plan, restricting the list of allowable uses for green spaces, passing a bylaw to preserve 50 to 70 per cent of green space in areas earmarked for development, allowing the town to use its right of preemption to preserve ecologically sensitive areas, modifying other development bylaws and adding tax incentives for conservation.

The report also laid out a list of vulnerable plant and animal species present in Waterloo, including the threatened least bittern, wood thrush and chimney swift, the serpentine tortoise and the monarch butterfly.

Mayor Jean-Marie Lachapelle said the town intends to implement the report’s recommendations “as much as possible.”

“Waterloo is growing, and it is essential to preserve our natural environments, which are the richness and appeal of our part of the country. Since they are still numerous and of high quality, we have a great opportunity to act now. Without waiting for our conservation plan to be developed, we will take steps to protect several lots belonging to the city to set an example and ensure their preservation for future generations,” Lachapelle said. The report and the forthcoming inventory “give us an idea of where the [ecologically sensitive] areas are” so that when a developer approaches the town with a plan, the municipality can negotiate. 

“The biggest challenge going forward is to manage progress,” he said. “There’s a lot of construction in the town – where are we going, what are we heading toward? This will allow us to make enlightened decisions.”

Lachapelle estimated that the two SÉTHY reports would cost the town a total of about $30,000.

By Ruby Pratka

Local Journalism Initiative

Mandatory mask-wearing is back until further notice in hospitals, long-term care centres and rehabilitation centres in the Estrie region as flu cases surge.

Masks are obligatory for staff and visitors in general and specialized hospital centers including emergency rooms, oncology, hemodialysis and mental health hospitalization units;

rehabilitation units; and in long-term care and residential centres (CHSLDs), seniors’ homes and alternative homes.

The CIUSSS de l’Estrie-CHUS said in a statement on Feb. 13 that long-term care centres in the  greater Sherbrooke area are most affected, but the situation was worrisome enough to reinstate mask-wearing in health facilities elsewhere in the region.

Masks are not required in outpatient centres, offices or common areas such as hospital cafeterias, nor are they required in CLSCs or other facilities.

On Feb. 14, public health director Dr. Luc Boileau and Santé Québec deputy vice president Robin Marie Coleman briefed reporters on the evolution of the spread of respiratory viruses around the province.

“The good news is that COVID-19 and respiratory syncytial virus [test positivity rates] are continuing to drop. The bad news is that the influenza A curve is still rising,” Boileau said. “A few weeks ago, we said the peak would arrive around the first or second week of February. We are in the second week of February, so the data we have over the next week will allow us to determine whether it’s continuing to rise or if it’s stagnating or falling off.”

Boileau said this flu season is the worst since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and one of the worst in the last ten years. He said the Estrie and greater Montreal regions were the most affected, with positivity rates above 40 per cent, although there was no immediately obvious epidemiological reason why this was the case.

Boileau said elderly people and young children face the highest risk of serious complications from the flu. He encouraged the general population, especially health care workers, future parents and people with chronic illnesses, to take advantage of free flu vaccination, available at most local pharmacies via ClicSanté. “It’s not too late!”

He noted that elderly and at-risk people can get a flu or COVID test at their local pharmacy and receive medication to stave off complications.

He advised people with the flu to isolate at home unless absolutely necessary. “If you must leave home, to go to work or what have you, wear a mask while you have symptoms. You can be contagious seven or eight days after the beginning of symptoms. It’s not measles, but it’s still a very contagious virus. Be careful, wash your hands, cough in your elbow and take all of the other measures you’ve been hearing about.” He also suggested that people who are members of vulnerable groups wear masks in crowded environments, although the health ministry has no plans to impose additional mask requirements.

By Ruby Pratka

Local Journalism Initiative

A Shefford farmer and a local cycling booster are hoping a new planned mountain bike trail between Shefford and Bromont will help get young people interested in farming and the outdoors and build bridges between the two communities.

Paul Sauvé of GNR Shefford plans to develop and maintain the trail or trails – described in an information document as seven to 15 kilometres of paths for beginner and intermediate mountain bikers – on his land, potentially using trails already accessed by snowmobilers in the winter.

“We came to the realization that rather than fighting the sprawl that’s going on, we wanted to cohabit in harmony … much like Europe where you have farms in the middle of the village,” Sauvé said, noting that in parts of the United States, it’s common for biking trails to cross private land. “We have 42 acres of land and we’ve given access to the snowmobile club for the last 23 years. We could fence it off, or [open it to traffic] and let kids and older people and people who want to go biking have fun with it. There has been a bit of a rivalry [between Bromont and Shefford] over the past few years, but with cycling, you break barriers.”

A quarter century ago, the Sauvé family took over a farm that has been in operation since 1797. Paul Sauvé hopes the children and families cycling across his property will enjoy the landscape and start conversations about sustainable agriculture and “what it is to farm.”

“We’re giving access to our land and hoping others will follow suit,” he added. “Just make sure you pick up your trash and everyone behaves themselves.”

Sauvé’s neighbour, Louis Barbeau, is the director general of the Fédération québécoise des sports cyclistes and a major backer of the project. He says the proposed trails would draw visitors from around the region and allow beginning bikers to have access to easier terrain than the trails in Bromont or on nearby Mount Gale. “If you go to Bromont or Mount Gale you need experience, and not everyone has that,” he said. “Everyone should have a place to practice cycling safely.”

Barbeau said discussions had taken place with stakeholders including the Bromont National Cycling Centre (BNCC). According to the information document, the current project hinges on getting authorization from Hydro-Québec and the Quebec Ministry of Transportation (MTQ) to cross land owned by the utility and use an existing tunnel under Highway 10. He also hopes to get the municipalities of Bromont and Shefford involved. “The main challenge is to get all of the stakeholders together – I don’t know if there will be other private landowners involved, but the municipalities and Hydro, definitely. Before thinking about the money, we need to make sure everyone is on board.”

Barbeau said he hopes the first cyclists will be able to hit the trail by 2026. “There’s some work to be done, but it’s not extensive – a bit of land clearing and maybe some lean-tos and signs. Once everyone is on board and all the administrative things are sorted out, I think it’s something

that can be realized in six months.”

Hydro-Québec regional affairs advisor Ève-Marie Jodoin could not immediately comment on the bike trail project. Isabelle Dorais, a spokesperson for the MTQ, said the ministry “had not received any requests” in conjunction with the project. Audrey Leboeuf, a public affairs advisor for the town of Bromont, said no one from the municipality could comment in detail for the time being because the project was “too embryonic.” 

Shefford Mayor Éric Chagnon told the BCN no one involved with the project had approached the town yet. He noted that a new bike trail linking Waterloo, Shefford and Brome Lake had opened last May as part of the Estriade bike trail network. “Before I say anything [about the Shefford-Bromont trail], I would need to know more – what would the trail be, how long it would be, where the funding would come from – but clearly, we’re at a point where biking is important for tourism and for our economy,” he said.

By Ruby Pratka

Local Journalism Initiative

The mayors of Sutton, Brome Lake and Cowansville are asking Hydro-Québec to reconsider the location planned for the new Brome substation.

The substation, which is expected to be built in 2027, will replace the existing Sutton and Knowlton substations and provide electricity to Sutton, Brome Lake and Cowansville. While its exact location has not been determined, Hydro-Québec has narrowed down the area under study to a swath of rural land near the boundaries of Brome Lake, Brome village and Sutton.

Brome Lake Mayor Richard Burcombe, Sutton Mayor Robert Benoit and Cowansville Mayor Sylvie Beauregard have been openly sceptical of the proposed location.

“The three municipalities agree that Hydro-Québec’s current proposed site targets a particularly bucolic area where the presence of this substation, much larger than the previous ones, and new towers up to 45 m high, risk disfiguring a landscape that makes our region so attractive,” according to a statement released by the town of Sutton.

Benoit and his counterparts are asking Hydro-Québec to consider another location. “The Pearson sandpit site along Route 104, between Cowansville and Brome Lake, ticks all the boxes in terms of the project’s social and political acceptability,” Benoit said. “It would eliminate the need to build the transmission line to Sutton Junction; It would use an already disturbed site; It would benefit from access to a major roadway [and] it would preserve the environment and landscapes,” Benoit said. Brome Mayor William Miller also said he was “looking for answers as to why the site along Route 104 would not be adequate.”

The Pearson sandpit site is north of the current area of study, and would involve an additional transmission line being built through Brigham and East Farnham, according to Brigham mayor Steven Neil. Neil said he has been “blindsided” by his counterparts’ insistence on the Pearson sandpit site. He said it would involve building pylons and transmission lines through agricultural zones in Brigham.

Neil said that at a Jan. 30 meeting with Hydro-Québec, representatives from the utility explained why the Pearson sandpit site wasn’t viable. The three mayors “know why it’s not a usable site,” he said. “Brome Lake, Sutton and Cowansville are the three places that need the electricity, but none of them believe it should have any impact on their municipality. No one wants this substation in their backyard, but [they] need it, not us. If you want electricity, you have to put on your big-person pants and accept responsibility for it.”

Hydro-Québec regional affairs advisor Ève-Marie Jodoin referred the BCN to a Feb. 13 statement, which said Hydro-Québec was “currently conducting detailed analysis” on the sandpit site.

“This analysis will clarify whether the installation of the future substation at this location is technically viable and, if so, to what extent,” Jodoin said in the statement. “To date, Hydro-Québec has evaluated a dozen sites inside and outside the target reception area for the location of the future substation. The sandpit site is located a few kilometres north of the reception area. This perimeter is determined based on several variables to allow the future network to ensure quality of service and meet the long-term electricity needs of the population.”

“Hydro-Québec has said they are ready to go back to work and seriously consider the sandpit,” Benoit said. “If that site doesn’t work, I’m convinced we can find another site that will have less of an impact on our landscapes. Everyone agrees that we need this line, but we can’t put it just anywhere.”

Jodoin said the results of the analysis would be shared with local elected officials “in the coming days.” She said local residents were invited to an online information session about the project on Feb. 26.

Neil said he is confident that the utility “will do their job, look at the options and choose the one with the least impact, in a non-partisan way.” He encouraged landowners potentially affected by the project to attend the webinar and make sure Hydro-Québec was aware of any ecologically sensitive areas on their property. “There’s nothing else you can do, except wait.”

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.”

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.”

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.”

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.

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.”

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.

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.

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.

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.” 

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.

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.”