Wakefield

‘Just like us, trees deserve to live’

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , , , , , , ,

By Madeline Kerr

Students at Wakefield Elementary are learning how to save lives – the lives of trees, that is. 

On May 20, local certified arborist, Paul Hetzler, visited a handful of Grade 5 and 6 students who make up part of the Green Project, a student group that meets weekly to discuss ways to advocate for the environment, to give them expert tips on caring for some of the trees that surround the Wakefield school. 

Many of these trees are growing well, Hetzler noted, but at least one tree – a young, frail sugar maple on the edge of the school’s playground – is struggling to stay alive. 

The members of the Green Project have been concerned with the maple’s well-being for some time now. A few months ago, several of them noticed that other students were breaking off its branches and gouging its bark, leading to lasting damage. A few weeks earlier, they worked together to create a large handpainted wooden sign, encouraging others to treat the tree with respect, and hung it on a nearby fence. The sign reminds students that “Trees breathe too!” and implores them: “Please do not stomp, rip, or break me!!”  

“Well, it’s definitely in rough shape,” Hetzler confirmed, when the Green Project members led him to the maple, adding, “This is a real shame.”  

Besides sustaining damage to its exterior, Hetzler speculated the tree might not be getting enough nutrients from the soil. He showed the students how to test the pH of the soil, using a kit that he brought with him. 

“You know how the back of a cereal box tells you how much iron or riboflavin you’re getting in your breakfast? Well, trees need nutrients too. But soil with a high pH means that nutrients aren’t available to the tree,” Hetzler explained to the students. 

He continued to say that a high pH means the soil is alkaline, and it’s indicated by a blue or purple colour upon testing. 

“What colour is that?” he asked the students, holding up the results. “Purple!” they answered in unison. 

To counteract the soil’s high pH, Hetzler recommended adding a teaspoon of sulfur to the ground near the base of the tree. 

Despite the soil’s quality, after examining the maple’s spindly trunk and the stumps where its branches used to be, Hetzler told the students he saw enough regrowth to declare: “Although I can’t guarantee anything, I think this tree might make it.”

The students cheered.

Hetzler commended the Green Project for their effort to protect the young maple. He noted that by focussing on saving one tree, the students were in fact protecting surrounding trees, too. 

“It’s like the broken window theory,” he said, referring to the notion that signs of disorder, like a single broken window, can lead to the deterioration of a whole neighbourhood. “If kids see that this tree is busted, they will think that trees must be for busting.” 

He also praised the students for their advocacy on behalf of other trees growing around the school. This includes a microforest that the Green Project members helped protect by getting the school board to agree to turn off outdoor floodlights that were shining on the trees all night, which can damage their growth over time. 

“So many people look around and want to do things to improve our world, but they feel like they won’t have an impact … you’ve shown that it’s possible,” he told the students. 

Ilse Turnsen, who helps lead the Green Project along with her friend, Noelle Walsh, agreed. 

“Thorough, focussed advocacy can get results,” she said. She added that the Green Project “is all about learning, seeking help from the community, so that we may know more and do better.”

The Green Project members told the Low Down they want to be an example of how defending the environment starts with treating the plants and animals in our own backyards with the utmost respect. 

When asked what they would say to anyone who questioned why they were putting so much effort into protecting one tree, Grade 5 student Rosemary Millar-Bunch quickly replied, “You would never ask ‘Why are you trying to save the life of just one person?’ would you?” 

Grade 6 student Alyssa Carle nodded emphatically in agreement, adding, “Just like us, trees deserve to live.”

‘Just like us, trees deserve to live’ Read More »

Hamilton Gardens’ to break ground ‘shortly’

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , , , , , ,

By Trevor Greenway

It’s been nearly 15 years since developers laid out plans for a waterfront development along Wakefield’s iconic riverfront. Now, the 40-unit townhouse project known as Hamilton Gardens will finally break ground this spring. 

The municipality of La Pêche just approved a couple of minor variances to the project, which will see the buildings increase in size slightly. Developers are also switching up a colour scheme so that the homes blend “seamlessly” into the neighbouring environment. 

“When you look at the area there of Hamilton Gardens, it’s going to have the feeling it has always been there,” Devcore VP of development Daniel Landry told the Low Down in mid-May. “It’s not going to look like an anachronism to the existing urban fabric of the Wakefield sector,” he added.

The development will be built next to Cafe Earle on Wakefield’s main drag, overlooking the Gatineau River. 

In terms of changes, the minor variances approved by the municipality were indeed minor, as the surface area of the buildings in the development is increasing from 20 per cent to 23 per cent of the lot. Landry said there were issues with the design, as there wasn’t enough space for garbage trucks or emergency vehicles to turn around, and there would have been two dead ends in the development, which he said wouldn’t be efficient. So, they increased the size of buildings by three per cent globally and reduced the number of units from 45 to 40 to accommodate more space for vehicles to maneuver. Other changes included removing storm shutters on the windows and reducing setback requirements for three-family semi-detached buildings to 6.29 metres from the standard eight metres.

The homes’ cladding will consist of a mix of red brick, wood and high-density wood fibre like Maibec or other composite materials. They will have tin roofs, and every unit will be unique in colour: earth-tone reds, greens, yellows and greys. However, because the existing Cafe Earle – which is adjacent to the development – is already yellow, developers didn’t want clusters and “repeating colours,” so they changed the colour scheme’s order. 

“Especially for the ones in the front, because we don’t want two yellow houses and two red or two red and one yellow,” said Landry. “Cafe Earle is yellow, and so we wanted to have not the same colours repeating. So that’s why we’ve put one red beside Cafe Earle, one grayish-blueish building in the middle and one yellow going towards the church,” he said referring to the Good Shepherd Anglican church, which is near to the development. 

Landry boasted that the project exceeds La Pêche’s mandatory 25 per cent of greenspace, as Hamilton’s will feature closer to 45 per cent. The homes will be built in a colonial style with peaked roofs, large windows and oversized covered porches where residents can sit and interact with village life passing by. “Everything around it is going to look like part of the project because of the architecture,” added Landry. 

La Pêche Mayor Guillaume Lamoureux told the Low Down that the zoning for Hamilton Gardens was approved in 2013. However the changes are still subject to approval from the municipality’s Public Works department, its Environment department and the MRC’s Public Security sector. 

Landry said Devcore hopes to begin construction shortly. 

Hamilton Gardens’ to break ground ‘shortly’ Read More »

Health group worried about aging seniors in Hills

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , , , , , , ,

By Trevor Greenway
Local Journalism Initiative

A health watchdog group in the Hills is concerned about the region’s aging population, as the MRC des Collines is already short 139 long-term care beds, saying the problem is only going to get worse. 

Vigi Santé spokesperson Marcel Chartrand told the Low Down that the province, nor the region, has a comprehensive plan to house seniors. With nearly 25 per cent of the region’s population over the age of 65, he said the need for a senior’s housing plan is long overdue. 

“How to adequately respond to seniors who wish to stay in their homes, rather than be forced to move to a long-term care facility?” Chartrand questioned. “First, do municipalities know how many of their seniors need home care? Do they know who they are, where they live? No. We need a comprehensive survey to identify them and their needs.”

According to Statistics Canada’s latest census profile, there are just over 50,000 residents in the MRC des Collines region. Of that population, nearly 15 per cent of residents are over the age of 65, while an additional 10 per cent are over 70. And with just 181 beds available, that leaves over 12,000 seniors with no option to grow old in the places they call home. 

“Les Collines’ population is aging fast,” said Chartrand.  

According to The Institut du Québec, projections show that in the next 20 years, the population growth of those aged 25–54 years will only be 128,000 people, while those 70-plus, which are larger users of the health system, will grow by 553,000 people. 

Quebec’s new health department, Santé Québec, has been slashing health budgets across the province in an effort to cut $1.5 billion from its budget. 

“Meanwhile, our hospitals in Wakefield and Gatineau are housing seniors waiting for long-term care beds,” said Chartrand. He added that long-term care patients are using at least 90 beds at the Gatineau Hospital and eight beds at the Wakefield Hospital.

“What facilities are in place to stimulate them, provide social activities?” said Chartrand. “Seniors from Les Collines, in long-term facilities, are displaced in CHSLDs in Gatineau mostly away from their families.”

Chartrand said that in 2024, 25 per cent of all emergency room visits were from residents aged 70 and up, and the cases are becoming “more complex, requiring more time and diagnostic equipment not available in Wakefield.”

“The need for home-care workers keeps growing, putting pressure on family members who are not trained to take care of parents, who require physical, psychological, mental, medical and basic home improvements,” he said. 

Santé Quebec responded to the Low Down after press time. 

Health group worried about aging seniors in Hills Read More »

Don’t ‘pave paradise’ for Wakefield parking lot

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , , , , , ,

By Trevor Greenway
Local Journalism Initiative

Stanley Britton is hoping that La Pêche doesn’t “pave paradise” to put up a parking lot. 

The municipality has plans to expand the parking at the popular Gatineau River beach near the Wakefield General Store, but Wakefield resident Britton, a member of Wakefield’s Rail Heritage Advocacy Group, has a much more ambitious plan to revitalize the rail network throughout the village while protecting its rich history by revamping the old train turntable.  

“When we’re talking about rail heritage and turntable park, we’re not just talking about the park,” Britton told the Low Down during a sit-down interview at Cafe Earle in late February. “We’re talking about the entire riverfront.”

Britton’s plan, which should really be called “Stan’s Plan,” features an expanded riverside boardwalk stretching the entire Wakefield village, an artists stage at Roquebrune Park – known locally as Turntable Park – and a new steam train replica, serving as a playground for local kids. His vision also calls for a replica of the old Rockhurst Junction, which would serve as a waiting shelter for trail users. 

The municipality has been considering what to do with the park ever since the Wakefield Steam Train stopped chugging through the village  in 2011. 

A major storm washed away part of the rail bed in Chelsea, and the multi-million dollar fix was too much to absorb. The rail bed became overgrown with weeds, the rail cars were sold off in pieces and the locomotive was sold to the Dalton Ecological Park in Gatineau. 

Chelsea ripped up the rails on its portion of the rail line and built the Voie Verte for pedestrians and cyclists. Britton said he’s hoping La Pêche doesn’t make the same mistake. 

“There’s a whole argument with this push to connect the trail to Chelsea, flatten it and pave it,” said Britton, referring to the Wakefield Rails to Trails group, which, in the past has argued in favour of ripping up the rails and connecting Wakefield to the Voie Verte in Chelsea. “But you’re paving over our history, really.” In Stan’s plan, paving stones would be installed between the rails, like it is in Wakefield’s centre-village.

La Pêche has since solicited proposals from consultants to revitalize the park, but in those plans, much of the history of Wakefield’s waterfront would disappear. 

“The only thing remaining would have been the water tower, and much of the green space between the turntable and the Wakefield General Store, which already accommodates a lot of parking, would essentially be all parking,” said Britton about the previous proposals submitted to the municipality. 

Britton said it would be a shame if the train turntable was removed, as the rail heritage group believes it is one of the last remaining working turntables in the country. The former Canadian Northern Railway turntable in Dauphin, one of the last ones in Manitoba, will be dismantled this summer. 

“The key to a turntable park – and indeed to all of the rail heritage – is the turntable, because it really is a major structure,” added Britton. 

Britton has sourced out the cost for replacing the deck boards at turntable park as well as at the green bridge in Wakefield at $18,000. The replica steam train playground, however, will be closer to $300,000, but Britton said he’s confident in Wakefielders’ fundraising abilities. 

La Pêche Mayor Guillaume Lamoureux confirmed that there is a plan to improve parking at the village beach near the general store, update the public washrooms located nearby and “improve access to the river,” but he added that the municipality’s public infrastructure, park and greenspaces department will be hosting public consultations this summer to get the public’s input on how to improve and develop turntable park. He said that parking would be expanded, but wouldn’t encroach on the beach area. 

“I am really looking forward to sitting down with the community and seeing what people have in mind,” said Lamoureux. “The goal is to come up with a plan for investing in that park. Clearly, there are additional needs to completely redo the bathrooms, improve parking and improve access to the river.”

A date for the municipality’s public consultation has not been set. 

Don’t ‘pave paradise’ for Wakefield parking lot Read More »

Senior Wellness Initiative aids English-speaking seniors

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , , , , , , , , , ,

By Kendall Knowlton

Who knew aging in the Gatineau Hills could include dancing, health education and virtual stretching?

The English-Speaking Seniors’ Wellness Initiative has made these activities and many more a possibility for aging residents in the Gatineau Hills. 

According to Erica Botner, program manager for seniors at the Community Health and Social Services Network (CHSSN), the initiative started about 20 years ago.

The CHSSN is an organization that supports English-speaking communities. They are funded by Health Canada, the Public Health Agency of Canada, the Secrétariat à la jeunesse du Québec, the Secrétariat aux relations avec les Québécois d’expression anglaise, and Lucie and André Chagnon Foundation. 

There are 34 organizations doing activities such as cognitive workshops and other types of education at 125 locations across Quebec, according to Botner. She said that seniors often have trouble accessing health and social services in the province, because of Bill 96, the province’s overhaul of the Charter of the French Language, which restricts certain demographics from receiving services in their first language. 

“They have a harder time accessing health and social services as a language minority, so we do have these centres all across the province,” said Botner, referring to seniors. Connexions also has a satellite office in Wakefield. 

CHSSN’s statistics show that English-speaking seniors aged 55+ take up 28.2 per cent of Quebec’s English-speaking population. Census Canada reports that there were 83,130 seniors in the Outaouais region as of 2021 and 353,085 in Quebec.

Locally, the stats are similar. According to data from La Table de Dévelopment des Collines-de-L’Outaouais (TDSCO) in 2021, there were just 162 private and social housing units for seniors in the region and close to 6,400 residents over the age of 65. There are now 174 units after Farm Point’s Résidence du Petit Bois opened earlier this year with 12 additional units. 

The initiative includes many educational programs that assist seniors as they age like financial abuse workshops. There are activities every week. 

The Know Your Rights and Filing Complaints within the Health and Social Services System workshop will happen in Shawville on May 15.

There is Yoga for Healthy Living in Chelsea on May 21. There is Spectrum Club, which offers games and activities for kids on the spectrum and their families in Wakefield  on May 18 and multiple june events throughout the region. 

“It is giving information in English to seniors about anything health related that is necessary to help them age in place, like stuff about strokes, diabetes, healthy nutrition, physical activity, safe driving, like anything fraud prevention, all of that,” said Botner to the Low Down about what the initiative can do. 

Among the 120 activities for seniors aged 55+ each year, some new ones are popping up. 

The seniors silver lounge, a meeting for seniors, will begin on May 20. It will be at the main Connexions office in Aylmer, according to Diane Wheatley, Seniors Program Regional Coordinator at Connexions Resource Centre. 

“It’s a get together for English-speaking seniors so they can get information,” said Wheatley. It will help English-speaking seniors understand things happening in their community as well as give them the chance to ask questions. 

Having access to the information in a language that seniors can understand matters for reasons such as reading their medications, navigating systems and even figuring out when their next doctor appointment is, according to Botner. 

Wheatley also spoke about a decluttering activity where seniors get some help with going through their belongings and cleaning their spaces. She said the change from winter to spring can be hard for seniors because of the clean up. They might need help clearing things inside and outside, and the initiative can help them with cleaning their homes.

Other activities give seniors a chance to get out of the house and learn more about themselves. 

These include health education presentations, physical activities like gentle stretching for balance and mobility, dancing, yoga, octoband, walk and talks, creative workshops like arts and crafts, gardening, cooking, sewing, social activities including intergenerational activities and outreach strategies (like phone check ins, and providing information and referrals) to reduce barriers to participation and finding the most vulnerable seniors, according to Botner. 

Botner said the point of this initiative and its activities is to help seniors foster connection, stay healthy, give them a sense of meaning, age in their communities, and reduce social isolation. 

About 12 to 35 seniors attend each activity. 

Wheatley added that there are first aid education sessions for seniors, where they learn CPR and how to treat things such as choking. These sessions are taught by McGill University medical students. 

“Sometimes as a senior they feel like they aren’t listened to, those activities are just to help them break the isolation and be heard,” said Wheatley to the Low Down. “It is extremely rich in regards to that population, and it makes a difference in so many peoples lives.”

The initiative is designed to run until 2027. Botner said that they do not know what will happen after that. 
You can find Connexions’ schedule at https://centreconnexions.org/events-activities/.

Senior Wellness Initiative aids English-speaking seniors Read More »

Relay for Life nets $60K for Cancer research

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , , , , , , , , ,

By Trevor Greenway
Local Journalism Initiative

Teachers at Philemon Wright High School and Hadley Junior High had to deal with hundreds of “exhausted” students on Monday, May 12, who had been up all night on Friday, May 9.

But they weren’t partying. And they weren’t studying either. 

Instead, more than 280 students from both the high school and junior high walked all night at the school with their friends to raise money for cancer research, more than $59,000 worth of fundraising. 

Hadley and Philemon’s Relay for Life is an all-night cancer fundraiser, where students raise money, do endless laps around the school’s track, play games, eat snacks and stay up all night, from 7 p.m. until 7 a.m. Parents have to deal with tired teenagers Saturday morning – an exhaustion that persists with the students even to Monday morning, according to teachers. But for close to $60,000 in cancer funding, it’s all worth it. 

“It was incredible to see so many students come out this year,” said Hadley phys-ed teacher Katie Campbell, who has volunteered at the Relay for Life since it launched six years ago. “We started this event back in 2019 and had under 200 participants that year. So this has been the most participants we’ve ever had by far, which was a lot to take on. But it ended up being a really great event.” 

Campbell told the Low Down that when the Relay for Life committee was organizing this year’s event, they had an ambitious goal of raising $50,000 for cancer research, which would have been the most money the event had raised to date. She admitted that it was an ambitious goal, but by Monday, money was still being tallied, and the total was already over $55,000. 

“It’s absolutely insane,” said Campbell. “And I was like, ‘All right, that’s a lot of money, I don’t know if we’re gonna be able to do that.’ And then we hit $50,000 before our event even started on Friday night.”

“I was exhausted, I slept for 14 hours when I got home,” said Grade 9 student Belle Harrison, who was part of the Mall Walkers team – a gaggle of teenage girls who donned 90s-style tracksuits, ankle weights and “old lady glasses” for the event. The Edelweiss teen has done the relay every year since she arrived at Hadley in Grade 7 and said she has family who experienced cancer in the past and wants to do her part to help more people fight the disease. 

“I do it because I have family that has either survived cancer or died from cancer,” said Harrison. “It’s meaningful, and also fun, staying up all night, raising money.”

Grade 9 student Capri Dolan said that the Relay committee did a good job with building in fun activities, like the giant inflatable obstacle course that kept kids running up and down, literally all night and into the wee hours of the morning. The La Pêche teen said she was the unofficial obstacle course champ. 

“My great grandma had cancer,” said Dolan, answering why she takes part in Relay for Life every year. “And also for the people who will get cancer and who are going through it now – I want to fundraise money for them.”

Campbell said school spirit was especially strong this year, with many teams dressing up in their own theme – everything from gorilla costumes to princesses, including a pig. She said the event blends both schools together seamlessly and creates a shared experience for older senior students as well as freshmen. 

“I think it’s just really incredible to see our students come together as a community because it really connects them from Grade 7 all the way through to Grade 11,” said Campbell. “So you get to see these students interacting with the older students and the younger ones, all coming together for a bigger cause. Cancer affects everyone here in our building in one way or another, with one in two Canadians being diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime.”

Since its inception in 2019, Relay for Life at Philemon and Hadley has raised more than $170,000 for cancer research. 

Relay for Life nets $60K for Cancer research Read More »

Tornado-like storm wreaks havoc on Hills homes

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , , , , , ,

By Trevor Greenway

Paul Kodish said he heard what sounded like “an explosion” when a violent windstorm hit his Edelweiss home and sent a tree through his ceiling on the evening of April 29. 

“It was like a rocket,” said Kodish, pointing to a hole in his cedar ceiling.

Kodish was teaching a drum lesson on the evening of April 29 around 6 p.m., when he said “everything just went dark” and a violent windstorm hit without warning. Immediately, trees around his property began falling down – but not just falling – he said the trees were shooting toward the ground “like missiles.” 

One pierced his roof, another jammed more than four feet into the ground and damaged his retaining wall. His vehicle was slightly damaged, but more than that, he and his wife Natalia Kantor, who are new to the Hills, were left shaken. 

“Now, I’m doing okay,” said Kantor, a day after the violent storm, admitting that the day before she was rattled and scared as the storm rattled windows, sent debris into her home and brough instant darkness to their typically bright and sunny Edelweiss home. “I think we had a mini tornado because the tree tops went flying into our roof like bullets. We ran downstairs.”

Environment Canada is now investigating whether a tornado touched down in the area. Winds may have reached speeds of over 100 km/h during the storm’s peak, according to meteorologist Eric Tomlinson. 

Over in Masham, neighbours were also hit hard by the storm. Several residents lost portions of their roofs, others had severe damage to their car shelters and sheds. Trees were uprooted, powerlines were downed and hundreds were left without power for several days. 

Even this reporter’s home wasn’t spared, as evidenced by the solid wood picnic table in the backyard that was tossed eight feet into the air before landing in an above-ground pool. Deck stairs were cracked when a wheelbarrow was thrown into them. Emergency crews in La Pêche were dispatched to clear downed trees in multiple areas, and despite such a violent storm coming so quickly without warning, no injuries were reported. 

Tomlinson told the Low Down that, while it’s too early to tell whether or not a tornado touched down, Environment Canada believes it was a “straight line wind event,” or a “microburst,” which is a downdraft of air that has nowhere to go during a thunderstorm. Tomlinson said Environment Canada confirmed that a severe thunderstorm producing strong winds and hail moved through the area around 6:45 p.m.

“We did get some damage reports from that general area that do suggest some stronger gusts, the possibility of gusts up to 100 kilometres per hour with those thunderstorms was present,” said Tomlinson. He added that Western University’s The Northern Tornadoes Project is investigating the possible presence of a tornado. He said the area was under a tornado warning. “We’re talking more of a microburst for that particular storm,” he said. “With microbursts, you can get winds that resemble a weak tornado that could produce similar levels of damage. So, you could imagine just a lot of rain falling, a lot of air descending very rapidly and then having nowhere to go once it reaches the surface. And so that’s why you can actually get those stronger wind gusts. It won’t be quite as widespread, similar to a tornado in that sense, but definitely enough to cause significant damage for sure.”

Tomlinson advised residents to heed severe thunderstorm warnings and plan accordingly to prepare for extreme weather events. With climate change producing more frequent and more intense storms, he said residents should always have a plan. 

“Having a good idea of where you’re going to be in the evening and the afternoon, just to have a plan in mind as to where you can take shelter, that would be the first advice I would give,” said Tomlinson.  “Obviously, indoors is best. You want to get into an interior area of the building. Stay away from windows, specifically, if the risk that day is for thunderstorms and strong gusts of wind and get to a basement, if possible.” He said if you’re trapped outside, you can take shelter in your car if it’s nearby. If you’re out hiking in the woods, Tomlinson suggests lying down on the ground or finding a “small tree” to take shelter under, as larger trees are more likely to be hit by lightning. 

Tornado-like storm wreaks havoc on Hills homes Read More »

Liberal’s Chatel cruises to victory

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , , , , , , , , , , ,

By Trevor Greenway

Liberal incumbent Sophie Chatel was all smiles at Chelsea Pub, as she won a second term in the Pontiac-Kitigan Zibi riding and as her party formed a fourth consecutive government during Monday’s federal election on April 28. 

“I’m truly touched by the trust that you’ve given me to represent such a beautiful community,” said Chatel during her victory speech around 11 p.m. to a raucous crowd. “But this victory belongs to every one of you – everyone who believes in the power of community, the power of hope and hard work.”

And by the numbers, it was a breeze for Chatel in the riding. According to Elections Canada, with 97 per cent of the polls counted in this riding, Chatel took 52 per cent of the vote, with Conservative Brian Nolan taking just 30 per cent. The Bloc’s Suzanne Proulx took third place, while the NDP’s Gilbert Whiteduck fell to fourth on a night when his party lost official party status in the House of Commons with their projected seven seats. 

But it was a night of red and white at the Chelsea Pub, as Chatel cruised through the doors to the theme song from ‘Rocky’. There were close to 40 or so supporters cheering and waving mini Canadian flags. 

The cautious optimism that Liberals carried with them throughout the night quickly gave way to pure celebration, as the Liberals took an early lead and maintained it. And when Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s riding came on screen to show that he was losing by a large margin, the room erupted in cheers. 

Chatel told the Low Down that she felt the most significant shift in the campaign came when former Liberal prime minister Justin Trudeau stepped down, paving the way for Mark Carney to become the new face of the Liberal party, and offering the best chance at facing the tariff threats from the U.S. President Donald Trump. She called the move a “game changer.”

“Mark Carney is an amazing individual, but he has the experience, the vision, the plan, to face perhaps the biggest economic crisis that Canada has ever lived through since the Great Depression,” said Chatel. “And to face Donald Trump and also the AI revolution and the transition to a clean economy.”

Locally, Chatel spoke of the “opportunity” in the riding to remove interprovincial trade barriers, increase support for farmers and small business owners, and to support affordable housing in the region. On that note, she said the Liberals would support axing GST for new home purchases. 

Chatel also spoke about the schism that Canada had seen over the past few years with the pandemic, language and politics, but she said that she is done feeding into “divisive Canada.”

“There’s no time for division,” she said. “It’s time to unite. No matter who you voted for this election, it’s time to unite and build. It’s time to speak with one voice.”

Chatel also said she would stand up for English rights in Quebec and stated her support for a Liberal intervention at the Supreme Court of Canada over Bill 96 should Quebec’s controversial language law make it to Canada’s highest court. 

But Chatel voted for C-13, an Act to amend the Official Languages Act, and defended her stance, arguing that C-13 actually strengthens French outside of Quebec while supporting anglophones in Quebec. 

“C-13 to me is legislation to protect the French minority outside of Quebec, which is really at risk,” said Chatel. “It’s good legislation because it brought investment for our minority groups so that they have equal opportunities, especially for employment.”

As for her first order of business, Chatel said she is immediately dusting off her Gatineau Park protection bill and will work with Senator Rosa Galvez to push it through. 

“It’s a natural jewel,” said Chatel of Gatineau Park, which attracts more than two million visitors each year to the region. “It is an economic attraction. And when we talk about unlocking economic potential, there is a lot of eco tourism there, so we need to protect it.”

By press time, polls were still being counted, and it’s unclear if the Liberals will form a majority or minority government. 

Conservatives ‘proud’ of gains in riding

Brian Nolan’s Conservative campaign won a level of support for the Tories not seen in the riding in more than a decade. 

Though final counts are not quite complete, by press time Nolan had placed in second, with about 28 per cent of the vote in Pontiac-Kitigan Zibi – an eight-point increase from the 2021 election. 

After conceding the race just before midnight on April 28, Nolan told the Low Down he was proud of the campaign he ran and appreciative of the volunteers and supporters. 

“I was really present, and I tried to connect with people,” Nolan said in an interview after the results came out. He added that he thinks that’s why his campaign resonated with over 15,000 Hills voters.

At 9 p.m., Nolan saw a pathway to victory locally and nationally for the Conservatives. He predicted strong support for his campaign in the north and west portions of the riding. Standing outside his campaign office on Old Chelsea Road, waiting for results to come in, Nolan told the Low Down that he had been throughout the riding to polling stations on April 28, thanking supporters who were out casting their vote. He said he was happy with the campaign he ran, accumulating 9,000 kilometres on his truck and speaking with about 4,000 constituents in the month-long campaign.

At 9:30 p.m., when polls closed, the chatter and energy in the office increased as 18 people, including Nolan and his family, watched the TV for results. 

When Nolan’s name came on screen, there was a cheer and proclamation of, “We’re tied right now,” as the broadcast showed a 0-0 tie for all the candidates in the riding. 

Thirty-five minutes after Quebec polls closed, however, the broadcast called the election in favour of the Liberals, and the room sat motionless. Someone made a fake retching noise when Carney’s picture came on screen. 

Discussion of Pierre Poilievre in the room grew as the Liberals opened a wide lead, but criticisms of the party leader subsided, as results changed and it became clear that the Conservatives had made gains across the country but not enough to form government. 

Liberal candidate Sophie Chatel maintained a narrow lead over Nolan for a couple of hours, with Nolan keeping a close eye on the number of votes still to come. Just before midnight, however, Chatel’s lead had begun to widen, and Nolan conceded the election.

“It’s been a long day,” Nolan said at midnight. “Discouraged a little bit and disappointed.” 

Nolan told the Low Down that he had had a good feeling he had a chance, but said the residents had made their choice. 

“I think we did everything right,” he said, adding that he felt he “had the pulse” of the riding’s rural population in the north and west, but he said much of the riding was attracted to the message of Mark Carney. 

“I don’t think [voters] were supporting Sophie much because she hasn’t done much [for] the riding,” he said, criticizing her for focusing on the tourism industry. “People wanted to vote for Mr. Carney … Sophie was never selling herself, she was mostly selling Carney,” he added. 

Nolan wished the best for Chatel, and said he’ll be back at it again when the next election comes. He said he hopes the minority government will fall in two years so he can run again.

Pontiac-Kitigan Zibi NDP candidate falls to Liberals

NDP candidate Gilbert Whiteduck may have lost in Monday’s federal election, but the former Kitigan-Zibi chief and Algonquin from the Anishinabeg First Nation says he will continue to stand up for what he believes in.

“Tomorrow’s another day. Many of the issues in the riding are still going to be there. I’ll work on those that I have time to work on,” said Whiteduck to the Low Down. He said he will continue to advocate for environmental issues, the Gatineau River and many other issues in the riding.

Nationally and locally, the NDP came in 4th in the election, after the Bloc Quebecois. With so few seats, the NDP lost its official party status.

Whiteduck’s campaign team sat in campaign manager Toby Sanger’s house Monday night, in Wakefield, watching the election results coming in around 11 p.m. 

He got just five per cent of the vote – 2,921 by press time. 

Shortly after Whiteduck and his wife, Patricia, arrived closer to 10:45 p.m., the room erupted in applause, and he said a few words, including thanking his wife and the people gathered around the television. 

“I don’t think I could have done it without all of you,” he said to the group. It was Whiteduck’s first time running in an election. 

A couple of the people in the room mentioned to the Low Down that Whiteduck was the reason they wanted to be involved in the first place. 

“He has the integrity I long for in a politician,” said Ilse Turnsen, a member of his campaign team. She said she’s happy to vote for someone she believes in.  

Whiteduck ran a unique campaign throughout the Pontiac-Kitigan Zibi riding, with no political pamphlets being handed out to residents. Instead, Whiteduck said he created dialogue “circles”  where people gathered and spoke.

As a message to all voters, he thanked them for considering him, and said that “the importance of working together and working on common issues is really important.” 

Despite falling to fourth place, the room remained positive throughout the night. 

Whiteduck said he may run again, but he mentioned that a lot can happen in four years, so he is unsure if he will run again at this time. 

By press time, the riding counted 97 per cent of the vote. 

Liberal’s Chatel cruises to victory Read More »

Arborist found not guilty

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , , , , ,

By Trevor Greenway

Tommy Townsend has an ear-to-ear smile as he sits on the back of his work truck outside of the MRC des Collines courthouse in Chelsea. 

He’s smiling because a judge just threw out his case in which he was accused of wandering around the village of Wakefield with a knife two summers ago. 

“It feels good,” says Townsend, minutes after Justice Joanne Cousineau found him not guilty of a bylaw infraction April 10. “I’m glad someone had some common sense. I don’t feel the police had any common sense on that day, personally, and I don’t think the prosecutor had too much either, but the judge did…I was not wandering around. I was in my vehicle, as she stated. It’s good to get some closure.”

Townsend was arrested at gunpoint in front of his two children by MRC des Collines officers on Aug. 18, 2023, after a witness called police and reported that a man wielding a knife was wandering around the village. 

During the trial, the Wakefield single dad told the judge that he had just returned from a quick job as an arborist and had his two daughters in the car, as they were going to buy shoes at Giant Tiger. He was suddenly pulled over by police, who drew their guns and ordered Townsend onto the ground in front of Kaffe 1870. 

He was later released and was not charged criminally. Weeks later, police fined him for a bylaw infraction for carrying a knife without a reasonable excuse. 

That was the crux of the trial, as Cousineau needed to determine whether or not Townsend had a reasonable excuse to carry a knife. In her decision, she said that the police, and Crown prosecutor Olivier Gosselin failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Townsend was “wandering around.”

In August 2023 Townsend told the Low Down that he was in Wakefield searching for a missing Low man, Simeon Wapachee, and was dressed in a safety vest as he showed passersby Wapachee’s photo. He had several knives sheathed to his belt. This was not mentioned in court. 

“When I have two contradictory versions, I don’t need to see who spoke the truth. I wasn’t there,” said Cousineau. “[The Crown] has a burden of proving every element of the infraction beyond reasonable doubt.”

She continued: “Nobody in that file came and testified saying that they saw you wandering around with a knife. You were in your vehicle. That’s not public property,” she said to Townsend during her decision. “It’s maybe not the best move to be driving around with a knife on you when you’re with your daughters, but who am I to judge on that? You were arrested, and the police say they saw you in your vehicle. Now, do I believe your version? Not so much, but the long and the short of it is, the police did not see you wandering around, and that is the infraction in this bylaw.”

Townsend submitted photos of his work truck to prove he was an arborist. 

“If you’re an arborist, you have an excuse,” she said. “The part of you having [a knife] on you is a little disturbing. The long and short of it is that you were in your vehicle; you were not wandering around on the street. If the people saw you, they should have come and testified, which they did not.”

Townsend said he is happy to get “closure,” but he hesitated when asked if he felt justice was served. 

“I feel this whole thing was unjustified to begin with,” he said, adding that the traumatic event still affects his daughters. At the time of the arrest, his daughters were six and 11.

He said his youngest has nightmares about gun violence, and his oldest is now afraid of police officers.

“The most tragic part of this unnecessary event is that two small children have no faith or trust in police officers anymore.”

Arborist found not guilty Read More »

 Rest easy, trees

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , , , , ,

By Madeline Kerr

Local Journalism Initiative

Students at Wakefield Elementary are on a mission to save the planet, and recently, they’ve scored a major win for the environment.   

On Jan. 27, school principal Julie Greig shared some exciting news with members of The Green Project, a group of students in Grades 4, 5, and 6 who meet weekly to discuss ways to help the environment: The Green Project’s efforts to get one of the school’s outdoor lights turned off at night had been successful. The Low Down was on hand during the announcement and heard the loud roar of the students’ cheers as they heard the news. 

The group’s campaign to get an outdoor light turned off at the school started last year after students were studying the growth of the micro-forest of young, indigenous treesthey had planted next to the building in 2019. Rosemary Millar-Bunch was a Grade 1 student at the time and took part in planting some of the trees with the rest of her class. A few years later, Rosie, as she’s known to her friends, became worried about those trees after she realized that a bright flood light was always shining directly on them at night, meaning that the trees never got to experience darkness. She had learned from her grandmother, Noelle Walsh, that trees need darkness at night the same way humans do: it helps regulate their growth cycles by allowing them to regenerate a key compound known as phytochrome. According to the Astronomical Society of Canada, without darkness, a tree can fail to thrive.  

Rosie decided to do something about it. Last year, when she was in Grade 4, she wrote to her principal explaining her concern and requesting that the light be turned off at night. She was initially told that, for security reasons, it wouldn’t be possible. But Rosie remained determined. This fall, Rosie approached the other members of The Green Project about her concerns and showed them another letter she had drafted, this time citing research she had done online. The rest of the group helped her refine the letter, and everyone signed it. The letter was delivered to principal Greig, adorned with a total of 13 student signatures.

Principal Greig took the letter to the Western Quebec School Board, which agreed that the light could either be redirected away from the trees or turned off entirely. 

In a unanimous vote, the students decided the light should be turned off entirely at night to protect the trees. 

“I am so very proud of the initiative of this group of students,” Greig told the Low Down. “They saw a problem with constant light over the micro-forest, did their research, [and] wrote a professional letter…They have learned how to be advocates for the environment.”

“This is a sign that we can act and do something,” Rosie told the Low Down. “It’s possible that we, young people, can make a real change.” 

The Green Project members now have their sights set on more advocacy work. They want to educate other students about caring for trees on the school property and they also want to put out a wider call to the community to “step up,” as one student put it. 

“Wakefield is a small community, and we are all good friends,” Grade 6 student Alyssa Carle told the Low Down. 

“We have all got to figure out how to work together to make it a better place. The Green Project gives me hope.” The students are also working with Wakefield artist cj fleury to decorate a chair that will be installed in the La Pêche municipal chambers to represent the youth voice on issues relating to the environment. 

La Pêche mayor Guillaume Lamoureux, who visited The Green Project during their weekly meeting on Feb. 3, proposed the idea of the chair based on a similar installation known as the “Chair of the Generations” inside Gatineau City Hall. 

 Rest easy, trees Read More »

Wakefield community centre: not-for-profit or co-op?

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , , ,

By Trevor Greenway
Local Journalism Initiative

There could be a move afoot to disband the Centre Wakefield-La Pêche (CWLP) cooperative and merge it into a not-for-profit organization. 

But before that happens, the centre needs to finalize its agreement with the municipality to take over ownership of the building. That agreement should be finalized by the summer. 

But in the meantime, Wakefielders Bob Gibson and Karen Bays of the Membership Involvement Group (MING) at the CWLP have been tasked with studying the cooperative model and have recommended to the Wakefield community centre board that it moves forward with disbanding the current model.

Their argument is that the Wakefield community centre should not be managed under a cooperative model, as it doesn’t properly serve the community in which it operates. 

“It may be the only [community centre] in Canada, if not North America, that uses a coop model,” Bays recently told the Low Down, referring to the Wakefield community centre. Bays has since stepped away from MING and the centre to allow them to focus on the building transfer, but she still believes that once the transfer is complete, the board should consider moving away from the cooperative model. 

“You have to be a member to participate,” said Bays. “Basically, you’re supposed to give as much as you get in a coop. But we have a centre where people want to come to events, but they don’t want to run the centre.”

Bays and Gibson presented their findings during the Wakefield Recreation Association last November, however they aren’t sure where things are at because of the building transfer. 

“We’re not here to promote anything or to argue about co-ops at all at this point,” said Gibson during the November meeting.  “Based on research reported, we recommend that the centre’s board begin the process of moving out of the co-op model and into one of a non-profit or not-for-profit organization.”

A non-profit’s purpose is to serve the public good, while a not-for-profit’s purpose is to serve its members and their interests. The two models also have differences related to tax and profits. 

Gibson’s comments fueled immediate tension in the meeting, which is unsurprising given that members have been at odds over how the CWLP has been run and managed since the end of the pandemic. The centre has been embroiled in controversy ever since, with public firings, unstable governance and infighting between past and current board members. 

This tension has also centred around the CWLP membership’s vote this year to begin negotiating a building transfer to the municipality of La Pêche after it became clear that maintaining the physical building was too much for the cooperative to manage. That deal, which is currently being negotiated, will see the municipality own the building, with the CWLP using the centre rent-free to manage programs, staffing, and other internal matters. The municipality will essentially be the landlord of the building and will take care of repairs, snow removal and maintenance, while the board will continue to run the centre and its programming. 

It’s unclear how things would change under a non-profit or not-for-profit model, but former CWLP board member Carly Woods was adamant at the November meeting that the idea is only that – an idea. 

“I think around the table, we can all agree, probably – that the co-op model doesn’t necessarily work for the centre,” said Woods. “The seed has only been planted, and it’s not going anywhere yet, and we’re not watering it the slightest.”

Former CWLP president Irene Richardson told the crowd there’s no reason to disband the co-op because the centre already operates under a not-for-profit model. The CWLP partnered with Outaouais Philanthropy to provide tax receipts to donors. However, the CWLP isn’t its own registered charity. 

“We are not-for-profit. That means we get all the tax breaks that are out there,” said Richardson. “I think it’s a great model; we report to our members. Does it work? Well, we have to make it work, and it wouldn’t matter what we called it; it’s the people that have to make it work,” said Richardson.

She said another changeup at the centre would be costly and time-consuming and wouldn’t change anything operationally. 

Wakefield community centre: not-for-profit or co-op? Read More »

No replacements yet for four Wakefield docs

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , , , ,

by Trevor Greenway

Local Journalism Initiative

Wakefield is set to lose its fourth doctor in the last two years when Dr. Jacques Ménard takes his well-deserved retirement this summer. 

And with no replacements found yet for Dr. Satenstein, Dr. Amani Ben Moussa, Dr. Folkerson and now Ménard, Hills medical advocacy groups are concerned that the region’s doctor shortage is about to get even worse. 

“It’s very concerning, and there’s a lot of doctors and specialists that have left the region, and we have to look at why they’re leaving,” said SOS Outaouais executive-director Jean Pigeon. “And, unfortunately, it’s due to exactly what we’ve been addressing: the fact that there’s a lack of funding, and there’s a lack of human resources that is putting tremendous pressure on a very difficult workplace.”

Regional healthcare advocacy group SOS Outaouais has been banging the same drum for over a year now – that the Outaouais region is grossly underfunded when compared to other regions in Quebec. According to the Observatoire de développement de l’Outaouais, the region is underfunded by an estimated $200 million per year. 

Pigeon admitted that doctor salaries in Quebec are on par with those of Ontario, and added that the region isn’t losing doctors because of low salaries but more because of working environments: long overtime shifts, a lack of medical technicians and a lack of medical technology that help doctors properly diagnose patients. 

“It comes down to: Do they have the right environment to work in?” said Pigeon. “Do they have enough staff to support them? Because doctors don’t work alone. They work in teams, so they need those teams to be available. If you just look at the region’s hospitals, there are so many positions that are still not filled, and doctors can’t diagnose blindly – they need to have medical imagery.”

Pigeon said his organization is also concerned about how the new Santé Québec health department has rolled out, as 31 per cent of Quebecers said they feel their health services have diminished under the new department, according to a recent public opinion poll. 

Santé Québec CEO Genevieve Biron also just fired her Number Two, Frédéric Abergel, after he reportedly advocated for giving local establishments more autonomy. Pigeon said his organization has been trying to meet with Biron for over a month but have yet to hear a response. 

“Ms. Biron wants to ‘measure public perception’? We offer her a clear statement: the Outaouais population has no confidence in Santé Québec,” wrote Pigeon in a news release last week. 

Biron declined an interview with the Low Down, as did CISSS de l’Outaouais (CISSSO) CEO Marc Bilodeau. Bilodeau is currently trying to cut $90 million from the region’s health budget, as Biron is slashing $150 billion from the province’s health ministry. 

CISSSO told the Low Down that those cuts would be made public in a couple of weeks. 

Lack of technology hampering recruitment 

If you ask local health watchdog group Vigi Santé why it’s so difficult to recruit doctors to Wakefield, he won’t bring up salary or vacation time or bonuses, but he will talk about a lack of technology at both Wakefield medical clinics and the village hospital that he feels is swaying young doctors from setting up their practices here. 

“The hospital is not favourable to a young doctor wanting to practise there because we have no technology,” said Vigi Sante spokesperson Marcel Chartrand. “And young doctors coming out of school, they get trained with new technology, and then they’re going to come here, and they’ll do maybe a week at the Wakefield Hospital and then say, ‘What is happening here? There’s nothing. There’s no diagnostic equipment that I could call innovative that I could use to properly assess my patients other than radiology.’ So they’re saying, ‘Well, not very interesting.’ So they look elsewhere.”

Chartrand said it “happens every day” when a doctor at the Wakefield Hospital has to send a patient to Hull or Gatineau to get a specialized diagnostic scan to properly assess them. 

There are currently 78,000 residents in the Outaouais without a family doctor and nearly 7,500 in the des Collines region. 

No replacements yet for four Wakefield docs Read More »

Hills residents fight for affordable housing

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , , , , ,

By Trevor Greenway

Local Journalism Initiative

It was made very clear last week that La Pêche residents care about affordable housing and low-income families. 

When one resident suggested at a Feb. 20 zoning meeting that low-income families should be pushed outside the village cores in both Wakefield and Masham, residents stood up to argue the opposite – asserting how artists, families, elders and single people make the area diverse, rich and unique. 

“What’s the scope of this? What’s the trigger of this? Who is asking to have affordable houses here?” asked a resident during the second pre-consultation on the municipality’s urban plan (PU). “In Lac-des-Loups, compared to the village, the further you go, it’s going to be a bit cheaper because the lots are cheaper, so what is the scope to have affordable housing in a limited space, as Wakefield, where you are struggling with parking, but now you are thinking about bringing almost blocks. Why not elsewhere, outside the city,” asked the resident, referring to block housing, like container villages. 

“Well, because there is none,” added Wakefield resident and business owner John Batten, sitting a few seats over.

La Pêche urbanism director Jalloul Salah, who hosted the meeting, said he has heard from residents that Wakefield is becoming more expensive, making it harder for younger couples, single families, artists, service workers and elders to stay in the village. 

“People say that Wakefield is getting a bit expensive, and they want to continue living here,” he told the crowd. “So, what you are saying is gentrification, so let’s push people out.”

The resident, who did not share his name, said that people move to Wakefield for “its status” and suggested that village cores remain that way. 

But La Pêche residents Rink de Lange and his partner, Leanne Olson, disagreed. 

“I think it’s a surprise that you are even asking the question,” said de Lange. “If you don’t have housing for people with low income, then nobody will be able to live in Wakefield anymore, and we will lose our quaint village of Wakefield. It should be in every municipality’s goal to supply housing for people who are not that rich.”

Olson further described how Wakefield has become a “gig economy” full of artists, musicians and struggling families working multiple jobs to make ends meet. 

“People have four different jobs, they work all over the place; and they are the artists, they are the musicians, they are the people that add life to this village; and if we don’t support them, then a lot of wealthier people move in, and they all move out, and we’ve lost the heart of the village,” she said. “And if we don’t sustain that and encourage that and make sure they can stay because they can have affordable housing, then we lose a large part of the community.”

Wakefield councillor Claude Giroux praised the municipality’s partnership with Cohabitat Wakefield. This local non-profit housing cooperative just secured 2.5 acres of land through a donation from La Pêche for its 41-unit cooperative housing complex that will be built just off Maclaren street at the north end of the village. 

The cost of housing has become a big issue in the Des Collines, with the region’s social development roundtable Table de développement social des Collines-de-l’Outaouais (TDSCO) stating that in 2021, close to 3,000 residents in the MRC des Collines were spending more than 30 per cent of their income on housing. The 30 per cent income-to-housing ratio is the threshold the Canadian Housing and Mortgage Company (CMHC) uses to consider a home as “affordable.” 

Some residents suggested that the old Wakefield Elementary School on Caves Road should be converted into affordable housing units. However, the property is privately owned by Toronto resident Eric Mah. Mah once tried to turn the building into a language school but lacked the funds. The building has become an eyesore and a dangerous hangout for local teens, who consistently break into it to host parties, explore and start fires. 

Coun. Giroux told the crowd that the municipality is now considering expropriating the property. However, that process has not officially begun yet.  

Other items discussed at the pre-consultation included: La Pêche’s plan to preserve and maintain heritage buildings throughout Wakefield, plans to preserve the village’s rail heritage at Turntable Park and the addition of segregated bike lanes that could take riders from Masham to Wakefield along Hwy 366. 

The latter seemed to spark some chatter among the dozen or so attendees, with de Lange questioning why La Pêche didn’t integrate bike lanes two summers ago when it redid the paving along Hwy 366. 

La Pêche staffers told the crowd that the municipality is developing a trail network that will connect riders along the highway to Masham. However, it wasn’t clear when those paths would be completed. 

The purpose of the meeting was to gather input from the community that will be integrated into the PU before it is adopted. This was the fourth PU meeting after staffers held similar meetings in Masham and Lac-des-Loups earlier this year. The PU is being renewed to align with the MRC des Collines’ master plan adopted last year. If you missed the meeting but want to have your voice heard, email opinion@villelapeche.qc.ca. The next round of consultations have not yet been announced.

Hills residents fight for affordable housing Read More »

No timeline for Black Sheep Inn return

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , ,

By Trevor Greenway

Local Journalism Initiative

There is no imminent opening date set for the Black Sheep Inn, according to current co-owner Paul Symes. 

Symes told the Low Down Feb. 24 that, while he wants nothing more than to see the Wakefield music venue back up and running, the deal to transfer ownership of the building and the business is highly complicated and will take some time. 

“It felt that we were closer in November than we are now,” said Symes. “But it might right itself, and it might get going again, but it’s not like anything is imminent either. I don’t want to pretend that.”

Symes explained that the deal includes two aspects: the business sale, which involves the selling of shares, and a mortgage of the building. Symes said “both are incredibly complicated and still need a lot of work.”

The Low Down published a front-page article in December of last year that the Sheep was returning with a late January opening date. However, the deal between Symes and Jennifer Nesbitt, who owns the other half of the business and the building, is still being finalized. 

Extensive renovations have taken place since August, and the space is all but ready to host events. Once an agreement has been signed, the venue is expected to reopen.

Prior to the pandemic, The Black Sheep Inn had been a premier destination for local, national and international performers. It was shuttered during the pandemic and has so far remained closed. 

No timeline for Black Sheep Inn return Read More »

La Pêche residents browse the municipality’s urban maps during a public consultation on future growth.

No Farm Point planned for La Peche anytime soon…

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , , , , ,

By Trevor Greenway

Higher density, wetland protection, commercial hubs and the possibility of converting the old railway in Wakefield into a multipurpose pedestrian trail – these are just a few of the things that urban planners in La Pêche are looking at as they plan for the next decade-plus of growth in the Hills. 

The municipality held its urban planning consultations Feb. 6 in Wakefield, where La Pêche Mayor Guillaume Lamoureux and urbanism director Jalloul Salah ran residents through a number of initiatives the municipality is looking at implementing to align with the MRC des Collines’ masterplan. 

Among other things, one of the biggest changes La Pêche could see is increased density in the municipality’s two urban perimeters – Masham and Wakefield – where the current maximum is 30 units per hectare, which must be serviced by a sewer system. However La Pêche is looking at increasing that maximum to 45 units per hectare, but Lamoureux explained that developments of that size would require both sewer and water services. 

“​​Such densities are not legally permitted in every zone of the urban perimeters,” said Lamoureux, explaining that, “If a developer comes forward with a project in a zone where high density is permitted, studies are then conducted to determine the site’s constraints, which may be lower than what is legally permitted.” 

Wakefield doesn’t currently have water services and has only a limited sewer system in Wakefield’s village core. Lamoureux explained that development approvals will be based on studies that determine whether the current infrastructure, including the area’s aqueduct, can handle the increased density. 

Part of the urban planning review process, according to Lamoureux, is to monitor urban expansion as more and more residents move into the Hills. However, despite La Pêche’s growth, Lamoureux said his council has no plans to expand or add to the municipality’s two urban perimeters in Wakefield and Masham. That means La Pêche residents won’t wake up anytime soon, according to Lamoureux, to find out there is a new urban perimeter in Edelweiss or Lac des Loups, as happened in Chelsea with regard to Farm Point.

“There is no plan or need to increase their current size. It could happen during a future review of the MRC masterplan if a need to do so was demonstrated, in the distant future, maybe,” Lamoureux told the Low Down, but added, “There is no talk of adding other urban perimeters and no reason to do so.”

According to Lamoureux, the municipality must review its urban plan (PU) to ensure that it aligns with the MRC des Collines’ regional masterplan, which was adopted last year. The MRC’s masterplan outlines things like zoning regulations, environmental setbacks and development rules. 

Among zoning changes, La Pêche’s urban plan is also an exercise in “cohesive” village hubs in both Masham and Wakefield through the promotion of “attractive commercial and industrial clusters.” In Wakefield, the idea is to make the heart of the village a dynamic shopping and visitor’s space by enticing more small and unique businesses to set up there. The urban planning document even talks about developing a promotional plan to promote natural and organic products from the village. 

Lamoureux told the Low Down that studies are already underway to convert the old railway tracks in Wakefield into a multi-use pathway, similar to what Chelsea did with its popular Voie Verte trail along the Gatineau River. 

“These studies are underway, and this project has been discussed in recent years,” said Lamoureux. “We have secured funding for the studies needed to connect both Chelsea and Low. We are including it in the PU because it’s an ongoing project.”

A big portion of the urban planning document focused on environmental protections, namely around protecting wetlands, local water sources and the Wakefield spring. 

According to La Pêche biologist Dominique Lavoie, the municipality will add bacteriological protection of 46 metres around the spring, as well as virological protection of 116 metres. 

“Groundwater migration time calculations show that beyond these setbacks, pathogenic elements should no longer be active by the time they reach the source’s collection point,” she wrote in an email to the Low Down. “As for the immediate 30-metres protection area, it’s defined by provincial regulations but takes into account the built environment. Ultimately, these setbacks will be taken into consideration for any decision-making regarding areas surrounding the spring.”

La Pêche is also adding extra protection around wetlands, shorelines and ecological corridors. The municipality is adding an additional 15-metre setback on shorelines in eco corridors and lakes, a 500-metre protection on blue heron nesting sites and additional protections around wetlands. 

“Unless authorized by the provincial level, no destruction of wetlands may be authorized, with the exception of work related to public utilities or public safety,” the document reads. 

La Pêche will now begin its adoption process of this new urban plan and by-laws that will go along with it. Lamoureux said that, based on the 60 or so residents who attended the meeting, he and staff will be holding several more meetings to update constituents on the process. 

No Farm Point planned for La Peche anytime soon… Read More »

La Peche municipal sign

La Pêche urban plan needs your voice

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , , , ,

By Trevor Greenway
Local Journalism Initiative

La Pêche is starting to develop its new urban plan across the municipality and is looking for citizens’ input on how they want their towns, villages and countryside to look and feel. 

La Pêche Mayor Guillaume Lamoureux said that the municipality’s current urban plan from 2003 is well out of date and he and his council are starting to tour the municipality’s various sectors to gather input from residents on how they want to see La Pêche grow. 

Lamoureux said that because the MRC des Collines regional government passed a new master plan, municipalities must revise their urban plans to ensure they align with regional priorities. Lamoureux is hoping to build a smart growth plan for the municipality while still preserving La Pêche’s “unique local character.”

“As you may know, our current [urban plan] is over 20 years old,” said Lamoureux in a statement. “Many changes have occurred since then, and it no longer meets provincial requirements.”

The Wakefield urban planning meeting will take place Feb. 6 at the Wakefield community centre at 6:30 p.m. Residents can consult the urban planning draft document online here: www.villelapeche.qc.ca/citizens/practical-information/regulations. 

La Pêche urban plan needs your voice Read More »

Cohabitat Wakefield takes giant leap toward housing project

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , ,

By Trevor Greenway

One major barrier that the volunteers at Cohabitat Wakefield repeatedly encountered when trying to build their 41-unit cooperative housing project in the village was the lack of land. 

The lack of land left the group spinning its tires. They couldn’t apply for grants, conduct environmental, geotechnical, or hydrology studies, or present a feasibility study to show how crucial a cooperative housing model is in Wakefield, which lacks rental properties and has skyrocketing housing prices. 

But the project got traction after the municipality of La Pêche stepped up and donated 2.5 acres of prime land just behind the Wakefield Fire Hall and former car wash. 

“We were excited like you wouldn’t believe,” said Cohabitat Wakefield president Louise Chatelain, standing with co-volunteer Francine Costa in front of the land that will soon be the home of Cohabitat Wakefield. The land is rocky and heavily forested, and it will take much work to clear it and make it buildable, but the group is determined.  

 “We have a feasibility study that just got out in January this year,” added Chatelain. “The goal of having a feasibility study was to first of all demonstrate that affordable housing was absolutely an issue. It is an issue across Canada, but there’s no rental here at all.”

She isn’t wrong. According to the Association Provinciale Des Constructeurs D’Habitation Du Québec (APCHQ), in 2023, there was a shortfall of 15,000 rental units in Quebec. That number has likely risen over the past two years, especially with the Quebec rental board setting the 2025 rent increase to 5.9 per cent, the highest it has been in three decades. 

Locally, the stats are even more dire. A 2021 report by La Table de développement social des Collines-de-l’Outaouais (TDSCO) shows a significant divide between homeowners and those who rent in the region, where 31.6 per cent of renters in the MRC des Collines spend more than 30 per cent of their income on housing, while just 13 per cent of those who own their homes spend as much on their homes. Of the 835 residents surveyed, most identified a lack of housing diversity, a lack of affordable housing and housing conditions as the top three issues facing the region. The report also found that more than 3,000 residents, or 15 per cent of the MRC des Collines population, are spending more than 30 per cent of their income on housing – the 30 per cent benchmark set by the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) as “affordable.”

“It’s a universal need and when you realize it’s not being met by so many people – think about older folks that have been here forever, and they are alone in a big house – they are forced to move out; they can’t stay here anymore, and they really lose that connection to where they grew up and where they raised their family,” added Costa. “The question that we all ask ourselves as we age is, ‘Where am I going to end up? What do I want to do with this part of my life?’ And you know, a lot of the co-founders are already in their, I would say, 60s.”

The group will now use this feasibility study to approach “the big funders” in the hopes of getting the entire project 100 per cent funded through CMHC’s Co-op Housing Development Program, which received a $1.5 billion boost from the 2022 and 2023 Fall Economic Statements. If successful, the project could receive top-to-bottom funding from the federal government and, if all goes according to plan, be built within the next two years. 

While the housing project may be a drop in the bucket in the global housing crisis, the projected 41 units built in Wakefield will make a difference locally. The shared space will boast private dwellings for multigenerational families—single moms and dads, elderly folks, young families, and everyone in between. The project will also include shared recreational and kitchen spaces to encourage neighbourly connections among residents.

“Of course, we need our own space, but we also need a place to connect with people,” said Chatelaine. She added that the exterior space will be landscaped with lit pathways and common areas to increase the frequency of “spontaneous encounters.” 

“Often when you leave your house, you don’t see your neighbours; you just come out of your driveway there, and that’s it,” added Chatelaine. “But by having these pathways, we will connect with each other to have spontaneous encounters.”

Mayor Guillaume Lamoureux said that his council is fully behind Cohabitat and added that the group has received nearly $30,000 in grants from the municipality’s green fund. 

“It’s important because it’s one of the ways the housing shortage can be addressed in La Pêche,” said Lamoureux. “Council welcomes any opportunities to work with organizations like Cohabitat Wakefield or the Office de l’habitation de l’Outaouais.”

Cohabitat Wakefield takes giant leap toward housing project Read More »

John Ward

Ladysmith writer to launch Indigenous disability studies book at Wakefield Library

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , , ,

By Zenith Wolfe

Ladysmith resident John Ward is hoping to change the narrative around Indigenous disability studies with his new book, launching at Wakefield Library this weekend.

The 350-page ‘Indigenous Disability Studies’ is a compilation of essays that explore how Indigenous elders, government workers, teachers, and students understand and navigate disability. The launch event for the book, whose chapters represent 38 Indigenous peoples from 20 countries, will be hosted at 3 p.m. on Feb. 1.

Ward is a federal HR Advisor, a University of Sydney professor, and the book’s editor. He says most research on Indigenous disabilities comes from Canada, the U.S., Australia and New Zealand. This encouraged him to expand out into central and southern America, Asia, Africa, and Oceania to include as diverse a range of stories as possible.

“I wanted this global perspective to have an impact so that when the readers would look at it, they would be able to link things in their own ways and through their own perspectives,” he says.

The research for this book started in 2016 with Ward’s PhD in Education at the University of Ottawa. Ward, a self-described “mixed settler” of Algonquin ancestry with ADHD and dyslexia, decided to dedicate his PhD studies to how Indigenous Elders understand learning disabilities.

Three of the Elders he interviewed for his PhD would go on to write chapters for ‘Indigenous Disability Studies’. Ward says his book will contribute to an emerging field that can help Indigenous peoples process the traumas of Canadian education systems and prevent future abuse.

“I was abused by my principal to the point that I can never walk by that school today. I’ve heard other kids who have stories far worse than I ever had. Even the Elders had residential school experiences that were traumatizing,” Ward says. “In the area of Indigenous disability healthcare, a lot of people lack services and specialized equipment.”

The writing process was also a form of reconciliation for some writers, Ward says, because publishers have habitually dismissed them.

“You can’t write people off. You have to understand them,” he says. “Many of these people who are first time writers, it helped them to connect with readers. This was a form of healing.”

Ward says some writers take a “two-eyed seeing” approach to disability. Many Indigenous peoples hesitate to identify as disabled because Western labels uphold colonial systems of oppression, he says. This approach allows Indigenous contributors like Mohawk Elder Tom Dearhouse to instead incorporate traditional teachings to address the limits of labels.

According to Ward, Dearhouse writes about how many Indigenous people consider children with Down syndrome blessings who bring families together with their happy, empathetic attitudes.

“From [Mohawk] oral history, every child that was born was a gift from the creator,” Ward says. “The spirit went into the body knowing fully what challenges would happen later on, so who are we to speak against the creator?”

Three of the book’s writers will attend the launch event. Elder Annie Smith St-Georges will discuss her chapter on how Indigenous children with learning differences are taught. Kevin Morgan will talk about the colonial implications of the label “blind,” and Lexi (Giizhigokwe) Nahwegiizhic will explore the relationship between neurodiversity and the Seven Grandfather Teachings.

Ladysmith writer to launch Indigenous disability studies book at Wakefield Library Read More »

Logan Vaillant

Executive director of Wakefield palliative care home resigns

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , , , ,

By Zenith Wolfe

When Logan Vaillant’s mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2022, Vaillant had less than a month to visit her before she passed.

He describes Marie-Anna Plouffe as the liveliest person he’s ever met; a woman who loved the outdoors, and who always did her best to help those around her. Vaillant has only good things to say about how Hôpital de Hull staff treated them, but he says restricted visitation hours and the small room made it harder to stay by her side. Shared bathrooms provided little privacy, there was no accessible kitchen and she was barely able to go outside.

If he had known about Wakefield’s palliative care home Maison des Collines, he says he would have admitted his mother there in her final weeks. 

“We receive people with prognostics of three months or less. They get in and say, ‘Well, I should have been here before,’ because they’re so comfortable, and family just gets to be with them,” he says.

Vaillant says that it was his mother’s death and philosophy on life that encouraged him to become the Maison’s executive director in October 2023. 

For the last 15 months, he’s kept a photo of his mother on his desk. But he’ll soon take that photo with him when he assumes a new role elsewhere: executive director of the aid society Bureau régional d’action sida (BRAS) Outaouais, working with people nearing homelessness or struggling with addiction, and survivors of abuse.

“Leaving is a very, very difficult decision, and I’m not leaving because of anything relating to the organization,” he says. “I’m following something that’s kind of a dream for me. But I’m a phone call away, so if the Maison needs some kind of information, I’ll always make myself available.”

During his time with Maison des Collines, Vaillant has helped bring more public awareness to the five-year-old care home, which has led to an increase in their volunteer team to around 60 people; up from 50 when he joined the team. He adds that they anticipate taking on 10 more volunteers by the end of January. 

Vaillant says he also improved their fundraising. In 2024, their golf tournament fundraiser brought in around $63,500, almost triple the revenue from 2023. Other campaigns improved to a smaller degree, he notes. 

They’re still not exceeding targets for the year, but Vaillant says they’re on the way to sustainability. The homes’ 2024 holiday campaign surpassed its goal of $50,000, as donors gifted more than $83,000 in December and January following the Low Down’s Dec. 18, 2024 feature article on its financial struggles. 

“We thank Dr. David Gold, who is our campaign chair this year, as well as everyone who’s donated so generously,” added Vaillant. “While $83,620 is an incredible testament of generosity from the community, we want to remind folks that we need over $500,000 per year to maintain our services. So, while the holiday campaign is an incredible success, we still have a ways to reach our yearly target.”

After he steps down from his post on Jan. 17, Vaillant says the Maison’s board will manage the executive director’s responsibilities and work on opening the application process to replace him. He says people interested in the position can contact board member Caryl Green.

Executive director of Wakefield palliative care home resigns Read More »

Edelweiss fire kills woman days before Christmas

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , , , ,

by Trevor Greenway

MRC des Collines Police are still investigating a fatal house fire that claimed the life of a 63-year-old woman in Edelweiss over the Christmas holidays. 

Police got a call for a fire at a home on Beech Rd. in Edelweiss just after 7 a.m. on December 23, 2024. According to MRC des Collines Police spokesperson Martin Fournel, the woman’s son made the call. 

“He got out safely, but not his mom,” Fournel told the Low Down. 

The woman was found on the second floor of the home unresponsive. Fire trucks and other first responders’ vehicles were lined up along the road all morning. At one point, a neighbour said they saw a plume of smoke or perhaps water vapour rising from the rear of the home. 

The woman was transported to Wakefield Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Police continue to investigate, however Fournel said the fire was likely accidental. Police aren’t sure yet where the fire started or what caused the blaze. 

Police said they will not release the victim’s name.

Edelweiss fire kills woman days before Christmas Read More »

Wakefield snowboarder wins first Cup of the year

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , , , ,

by Trevor Greenway

Griffin Mason is starting the year on top – the very top of the snowboard cross circuit in North America – after he earned gold and silver at the first two NorAm Cup races of the season in B.C. Jan. 4 to 5. 

The 20-year-old Wakefield snowboarder has already qualified for the Quebec FIS Snowboard Cross World Cup this upcoming March, a berth he didn’t earn until well into the season last year. 

“It was awesome,” Mason told the Low Down after returning from Sun Peaks Resort in B.C. with two medals around his neck – one gold, one silver. “I’ve been looking for a win and podium spot for a while now racing in the NorAm races, and it was awesome to get it done.”

It’s the first time Mason has landed on the podium in a NorAm race and he said he’s hoping to keep the streak alive throughout the season. And with Olympic gold medalist Jaycee Jay Anderson’s new, innovative board strapped to his boots, he said he thinks he now has the best shot at doing just that. 

“I’ve been working with Jaycee for a while now designing border cross race boards, and this year I went a little bit longer,” said Griffin, explaining that his snowboard went from 169 centimetres long to 175 centimetres – the extra six providing that additional speed he needed to zip past his competition. “[The boards] are solid. They carry a lot of speed through the berms. I brought both boards to test them at Sun Peaks, and the longer boards are faster. That definitely helped.” 

Snowboard cross is a fast-paced sport in which four to six racers head down a narrow, winding track at the same time, with the first to cross the finish line named the winner. 

Mason praised Anderson’s work, crediting the six-time Olympians’ attention to detail that can turn a 10th place finish into a podium spot, with every millisecond counting. 

“Normally the races are pretty close, like the first few spots are within a second,” said Mason. “My boards were going really fast in the time qualifications, that’s for sure.”

Mason said his recent NorAm races – especially the one he won – are extra special this year, as a knee injury sidelined him for several races last season.

“It was the first one where I was back feeling 100 per cent,” added Mason with excitement. 

Mason’s mom, Carly Woods, couldn’t be in B.C. to see her son earn the biggest win of his career but was able to watch the race via video, and said she and her husband, Tom Mason, were “on cloud freaking nine.”

“Tom and I are both literally,” she paused. “I don’t know how else to describe it. I was able to watch him finish and win like I was there. My kids said I shook the house from jumping and screaming so loud.”

Woods said seeing her son reach the pinnacle of his snowboard career is extra special, given how hard the young snowboarder has worked over the years. He has been dedicated to hours of weekly training with his Mont Ste-Marie snowboard team and earned a spot on the Quebec provincial snowboard team. 

And snowboard racing isn’t cheap. Woods said a race typically costs a family around $3,000, but Griffin has been selling hoodies and running local fundraisers to help his career, like the recent spaghetti dinner at the legion last December, which raised just over $3,000 – money that directly funded his trip to B.C. this January.

Griffin’s next NorAm Race is in Colorado in early February, and the family will be launching another fundraiser in the coming days, likely a raffle for some ski and snowboarding gear. Mason does have a number of local sponsors, but consistently needs financial support to keep his season going every month. Supporters can donate to Griffin online at www.griffinmason.com 

“I’m kind of always looking for more sponsors,” added Griffin. “It’s been an expensive enough sport, and the more races I can get to, the better I will get. There is lots of travelling and staying in Airbnbs and tuning boards and all that,” he explained.

Wakefield snowboarder wins first Cup of the year Read More »

Wakefield Emergency Fund delivers help for those in need

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , , ,

By Shauna McGinn

The holiday season can make many folks feel stretched thin, juggling the financial demands of bills and necessities with gifts and extras. That’s where the Wakefield Emergency Fund (WCEF) comes in.

For more than 25 years, it has provided over $30,000 annually in relief to locals in need, acting as a safety net for tough times. 

“Families start to feel the financial crunch as soon as school starts in September with added expenses, and then the additional costs that winter brings,” board member Andrée Grand-Maître wrote to the Low Down in an email.

Knowing this, the WCEF plans for their winter season initiatives as soon as the fall hits, with their snowsuit campaign starting as early as October. This year, they outfitted 26 local kids with warm winter gear. 

“We work directly with local schools to identify families in need,” Grand-Maître said. “We have always been able to provide for every child.” 

They also recently wrapped up their annual Toy Mountain campaign (for which the Low Down is a partner), providing gifts to nearly 100 children in need. Still, she noted that donations are down this year for some programs. 

“It’s a reality of our current times, when more and more families struggle to make ends meet,” she wrote. While she said the WCEF feels confident all needs will be met, there is always room for extra help. 

Right now, the Christmas Hamper program is underway in partnership with the Wakefield General Store. The Fund is aiming to provide at least 20 hampers, and could use support in terms of volunteers, food or financial donations. Grand-Maître noted that the WCEF supports local food banks and school breakfast programs that have also felt financial strain this year, so donations there would be an important boost.

She also highlighted the points transfer program currently underway at the Wakefield General Store. Until the end of December, “Folks can transfer their points to the WCEF account. Donations help provide much needed supplies and fresh goods to local families in need throughout the year.” 

Grand-Maître said the community’s year-round support makes this work possible and “enables the WCEF to be effective in its quick response as the need arises.” 

As their mission statement reads, the fund is “by the community and belongs to the community.”

Wakefield Emergency Fund delivers help for those in need Read More »

Dying with dignity in the Hills

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , , ,

By Trevor Greenway
Local Journalism Initiative

You wouldn’t expect people facing inevitable death to be happy, but when you walk the halls of Wakefield’s palliative care home, that’s what you generally find. 

The employees at La Maison des Collines – compassionate nurses, volunteers and pain management doctors – do everything they can to make life as comfortable as possible for the six residents who stay there. More than 400 residents have spent “the last moments of their lives” at the home, surrounded by friends, family, volunteers, nurses and doctors who help them through the dying process. 

Chelsea resident Carrie Wallace’s mother, Mary Colleen Colligan, died Nov. 7 after a long battle with cancer and spent her final six weeks at La Maison. Wallace told the Low Down that it was “incredible” to see her mom’s fears and worries melt away when she arrived at the palliative care home. 

“My mom spent her last six weeks at La Maison, and honestly, it was incredible to see how much joy and grace she displayed during that time,” said Wallace. “The worries and fears of being sick at home just seemed to fade away, and she blossomed into a funny, confident and deeply grateful version of herself. The transformation was amazing. The thing that is really remarkable is that, despite the stress of a terminal diagnosis, she was genuinely at her happiest during her time there.”

While Wallace called the six weeks her mother stayed at La Maison “incredibly magical,” she also said they were the most “painful and difficult six weeks of my life.”

“Losing my mother was and continues to be shockingly devastating,” said Wallace. “I can’t begin to imagine what it would’ve been like without La Maison.”

Wallace said the home took much of the worry away from her family – the fear of not being able to help if her mom needed medical intervention, the fear that she could be in chronic pain or the fear of dying. But Wallace said, ever since her mom was moved to La Maison des Collines, her spark returned, and the two could bond again.

“It gave us quality time that we never would have had. And it just created this space for something really deep – just deep connections. It wasn’t even philosophical; it just became this very gentle kind of real place where we could be together moment to moment,” said Wallace. She added that the staff and volunteers make La Maison des Collines “off the charts of amazing.”

In her eulogy, Wallace spoke of how Dr. David Ian Gold brought her mom’s smile back – a smile that would remain until her final breath. 

“While he couldn’t cure her, he did save her life,” wrote Wallace. “His attentive care brought her immediate relief, and, from that moment on, she smiled constantly and never really stopped.”

Wallace’s story is but one tale of a transformation, but staff at the home talk about this daily; how many patients come in feeling anxious or fearful, only to find love, support and acceptance once they settle in. 

“Our mission is comfort and dignity, so we take care of the patient from A to Z,” said Executive-director Logan Vaillant. “Anything they need, so when family and friends come to visit, all they have to do is spend time together. And on good days, it smells like bacon,” he joked.

Every room has a view, its own television and private washroom. 

For employees, it can be a bittersweet job, as many nurses and volunteers make real connections with the residents – all while knowing that death is imminent. For nurse Julie Demers, she said the heartbreak and loving moments are all worth it.

“There is so much that I can give in helping in their final days that, when they finally leave, all of that richness that has helped them is very rewarding,” she said. She added, however, “There are some cases that are more difficult.”

The Low Down toured the home in early November with board members Caryl Green and Michael Geisterfer, who are campaigning this month to raise more money for the home. La Maison des Collines’ operating budget is $1.3 million, and just over half of that – around 55 per cent – is covered by provincial and municipal grants. The rest – close to $500,000 each year – is needed to keep the facility up and running. 

Fundraisers like the annual golf tournament and the Wall of Hearts donations keep the organization afloat, but Green told the Low Down that it needs more baseline funding – recurrent donations – to keep operating at the level it has been. 

“We need to expand our reach because many of our patients are now coming from Aylmer or Gatineau, and our funding really only comes from the des Collines region,” said Green. “So we will be expanding our ask to the City of Gatineau and into the Pontiac MRC.”

Green said board members are also encouraging donors to think about other ways of donating to the home, like putting money from wills or estate sales towards the future of Wakefield’s palliative care home.  It costs La Maison des Collines $600 per patient per day to operate its facility or $150,000 on average per year per bed, and it receives $110,000 from the province. Green said Quebec’s palliative care association, Alliance des Soins Palliatifs du Québec, is lobbying for an annual increase per bed and is currently in negotiations. 

Visit www.lamaisondescollines.org to donate, support or sign up for volunteering.

Dying with dignity in the Hills Read More »

Wakefield’s Hamilton Gardens back after 13-year hiatus

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , , ,

By Trevor Greenway

Local Journalism Initiative

It’s been 13 years since Wakefielders first got up in arms over the design of Hamilton Gardens’ three-storey condo design. 

After more than a decade of back-and-forth proposals and a controversial move by Devcore president Jean Pierre Poulin to block parking for locals on Riverside Drive after opposition to his original 2011 plan, the development is back on track. 

The new Hamilton Gardens features a total of 40 units, mixed within duplexes, triplexes and townhomes, which will offer two-to-three bedroom homes for locals in a community setting. 

“The development has a real community look and feel that’s well integrated into the village and respects its surroundings,” said Devcore project manager Daniel Landry. 

The designs are a far cry from the original towering condos that would have changed the feel of the village. These homes will be built in a traditional style, with peaked roofs, large dormer windows and big covered porches where residents can sit and interact with village life. 

The development will also include a local park for residents, common courtyard, and walking trails that aim to encourage residents to transform their neighbourhood into a walkable community. 

“We are creating spaces for people to meet and to walk. The place where it’s located, it’s so easy to just leave your car at home. If you want to go to the community centre or the post office, you don’t have to take your car,” added Landry. “And with the river, it’s so nice, even in the winter. It’s like cottage life inside of a village.”

Landry said the design approach is based on a “missing middle” design – developments that contain a higher density than a single-family house but a lower density than a mid-rise building. 

The homes in the front of the development are lower-density, two-unit buildings that look like regular Wakefield-style homes, while three-bedroom townhouses will take up the centre of the development. Three triplexes of six units each will appear at the back and west side of the lot, however Landry said the configuration could still change slightly. 

Each home will also come with a detached basement for active residents looking to store bikes, tires or other belongings, and they won’t have to travel through their homes to get there. Basement access will be separate from the interiors. 

“Let’s say you have a paddleboard, your skis, your bikes… you go directly in the basement,” added Landry. “Residents can create what we call, sometimes, like a mud room down there.”

Landry said the designs are based similarly on 1950s-style homes that had large porches at the front. The large front porches in the design will be slightly elevated to give residents a peek into what’s happening in the village, but also some much needed privacy. 

“It gives the appropriate height – people sitting there will be able to interact with people walking, but they’re higher, so people won’t see into the house,” said Landry. “But when you’re in your living room, you’ll be able to see what’s going on out front.”

The homes will be clad in a mix of red brick, wood and high density wood fibre like Maibec or other composite materials. They will have tin roofs, and every unit will be its own unique colour; earth tone reds, greens, yellows and greys. 

“What I like is that they all have different colours, so it’s easy to say, if you’re a kid, ‘I live in the yellow house there,’ or ‘I live in the green one.’”

Devcore hasn’t fully finished the specs and couldn’t say what the square footage of each unit will be or what the footprint of the buildings will be.

Landry said there are a few things still to be approved by the municipality, but Devcore hopes to break ground on this project next spring. Prices for the homes have not been finalized, and Landry said Devcore plans to host a public presentation on the development next spring. 

Wakefield’s Hamilton Gardens back after 13-year hiatus Read More »

Doctor shortage impact felt locally

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , , ,

By Trevor Greenway
Local Journalism Initiative

Bruce Langer is 75 years old. 

He’s suffered two heart attacks and does not have a family doctor in Quebec. 

“Dr. Sarah Olive at the University of Ottawa medical clinic was my doctor for over 20 years, so she had a lot of history with me,” said Langer, sitting in a garden in front of the St. Stephen’s Church in Chelsea. “In that 20-year span, I’ve had two heart attacks and two stent procedures. And so she was my family doctor and connected me to a lot of Ontario specialists…for follow up.”

Langer was told three years ago that the clinic would no longer be taking patients from across the river, unless they were university alumni or current students. With no family doctor, Langer now relies on the health ministry’s Primary Care Access Point, or GAP, and while he said he doesn’t have issues booking an appointment, he’s completely lost his patient-to-doctor relationship. 

No follow-ups with the same doctor and nobody following his medical history. Every time he goes to see a new doctor, he said he has to retell his entire medical story. 

“You definitely don’t get any of the kind of follow-up that you would with a consistent doctor or family doctor care,” said Langer. “They’re so overwhelmed with not being able to see you on a regular basis because there’s not enough doctors that they can’t maintain that consistency that you would normally have with the family doctor.”

According to the CISSS de l’Outaouais (CISSSO), there are currently 75,326 people in the Outaouais without a family doctor and 7,073 in the MRC des Collines region. 

That number is set to rise by several hundred next year as Wakefield MD Dr. Jacques Ménard announced last week that he will be retiring from the Wakefield Family Medical Clinic next June. 

Ménard will be the third Wakefield doctor to leave the clinic in the past two years, as the clinic lost both Dr. Folkerson and Dr. Sattenstein this past summer. The two village doctors left behind close to 1,500 local patients. 

To help ease this crunch, the Regional Department of General Medicine (DRMG) has created a new “gateway” for the GAP and keeps more than 62,000 open appointments per year for “orphan patients requiring a medical visit.”

Wakefield didn’t lose techs

The Outaouais was facing a major crisis this summer after several imaging technicians left the Hull and Gatineau hospitals for Ontario, where they could earn $30,000 more in salary. To combat this, the CISSSO added bonuses for medical techs to stay in the region. 

While the first round of funding was not equal among rural hospitals, the ministry eventually increased the bonuses to $22,000 for those working in Shawville, Maniwaki and Wakefield. CISSSO spokesperson Patricia Rhéaume told the Low Down that the Wakefield Hospital did not lose any medical technicians. 

“The three technician positions are filled at Wakefield [hospital]. 

No movement of this staff to other hospitals in the territory is currently planned,” said Rhéaume, adding that the health authority took a number of measures to avoid a major crisis this summer – one that Gatineau MD Dr. Peter Bonneville warned would end in more deaths. 

“In those sectors with greater challenges, for instance the operating room and the imaging department, action plans were applied to ensure continuity of care and avoid interruption in services,” added Rhéaume. “We are continuously working on ensuring the right patient is at the right place at the right time. Examples of this are the efforts made to re-orient patients presenting to the [emergency department] not needing emergency care and daily reevaluation of alternatives to hospitalizations for patients in need of care.”

Quebec patients ‘uninsured’

More and more Ontario clinics are saying no to Quebec patients – or doubling the rates for their out-of-province patients. Wakefield resident Andrea Rowe told the Low Down that her Ottawa doctor recently sent a letter stating that she – and other Quebec patients – are considered “uninsured.” The letter came with a list of updated fees that Rowe said are double what she used to pay. 

“They don’t consider us covered at all, even though we’re covered by Quebec,” said Rowe. 

She said she used to pay $50 for an appointment and Quebec would pay $40 of it. But now, with the fee increase – $102 for a short appointment or $232 for a long appointment – Rowe said she worries that she will still only get the $40 reimbursed and going to see her doctor of over 15 years will cost her greatly. 

“It’s such a big increase; it’s huge,” she said. “So, it’s gonna be over $60 that I have to pay just for a 10-minute visit.”

Other fees from the Ontario clinic include $30 for a referral note, $25 for a sick note and $225 for a driver’s medical examination and form. 

Doctor shortage impact felt locally Read More »

Scroll to Top