EQUITY Clippings: April 4 - July 11

Continued from page fourThe Australian Museum website confirms this informa-

tion. Here we learn, “Like the Platypus, the Short-beakedEchidna is an egg-laying mammal or monotreme and laysone egg at a time. The eggs hatch after about 10 days andthe young emerge blind and hairless. Clinging to hairsinside the mother’s pouch, the young echidna suckles fortwo or three months. Once it develops spines and becomestoo prickly, the mother removes it from her pouch andbuilds a burrow for it. It continues to suckle for the next sixmonths.”

Down Under DreamingThis is the last of my columns written and filed from

Australia. As my Australian family and friends prepare forwinter Down Under, all of us Pontiacers are looking forwardto spring and summer. I hope you’ve enjoyed these stories…I look forward to returning to Oz in a couple of years.

Katharine Fletcher is a freelance writer, columnist andauthor. Contact her at [email protected]

I bought a long distance card to save on phone bills. Therate was great. I was happy, but my happiness did not last.

I might have left the card in my wallet too long. I’m notsure, but for whatever reason, when I tried to scratch thepin, it would not scratch. With much effort I was able touncover nine of the 10 numbers. The tenth was complete-ly obliterated which rendered the card useless. My greatsaving ended up as a loss.

Losses of any kind are not fun. They do not feel good.Dwelled on, they can produce anger and eventually bitter-

ness, and every loss, big or small has the potential to turnor trouble us.

If I turn my thoughts away from the pain and ask goodquestions such as what and how can I learn from this, Iwill see the situation a new way. Sometimes a solution isjust a thought away. Sometimes it takes more but lettinggo of anger frees up lots of space to think.

Thinking good thoughts is wise and wisdom is like astorehouse of gold. When I choose wisdom I gain riches Iwill never lose. Submitted by Esther Colpitts

SPIRITUAL GROWTH ESTHER COLPITTS

Come on andthink green!

According to Jessica Kelly of Table jeunesse du Pontiac,not a single application has been received for funding of theGreen Fund, the environmental initiative fund establishedby the organization two years ago.

Very few questions followed her presentation to thePontiac MRC Council at its annual general meeting March28, although Kelly said she does make various recommen-dations to the mayors of Pontiac municipalities.

It’s important to examine what municipalities can do tobe even more sustainable, or how their locals can be moreenvironmentally supportive in a community context.

It’s hard to imagine that not a single person or groupwould be interested in collecting up to $200 in funding fromthe Green Fund, whether for a garbage cleanup or a localproject for the purpose of saving the environment.

A couple hundred dollars may not seem like a lot – cer-tainly a step down from the $500 offered by the Table in theLocal Youth Initiative Fund that helped Pontiac High Schoolfund its greenhouse project not long ago – but it’s stillenough to buy more than 1,000 industrial outdoor garbagebags that could be used to clean up a community.

According to Kelly, the high school’s greenhouse hadbeen abandoned for years but recently the school decided toreopen it.

Some may argue that environmental sustainability is amyth and that there is no such thing as environmentaldegradation, that such terms are exercised simply for polit-ical gain when such figures see fit.

Whoever may argue this should not be involved in poli-tics, but instead brought to realize that there are largerissues at stake than our political motivations. These are theissues we deal with that decide the future of our brothers,sisters, children and grandchildren.

HAMISH THEINTERN HAMISH [email protected]

ENVIRONMENTAL FORUM

The elusive and long awaited spring has finally arrived.It’s time to get outdoors and breathe in the wonderful aro-mas of this new season.

Because let’s be honest, is there anything better thanthe fresh smell of spring?

We’re surrounded by new life and new beginnings andit’s hard not to feel energized. It’s light when we wake upand still light when we get home and we’re tired of hiber-nating.

Take this newfound energy and make the most of it by

getting your bike out of the garage, resume the walkingroutine that you abandoned and get back in touch withnature.

However, being active during the spring doesn’t meanjust walking and biking. Be creative. Yard work with allthat raking and clean up can be strenuous. So can wash-ing the outside of your windows.

Spring is a fantastic season for bird watching as the res-ident birds become more active and the migratory birdsare returning home. So pick up a book on the local birdpopulation to reference and on your next walk or bike, beon the lookout — or you can set up a bird feeder in yourown backyard and bring the birds to you.

There is no excuse for not getting active this spring.Exercise outdoors is free, eco-friendly and the fresh airand vitamin D that you soak up will be invigorating.

Spring into actionHEALTH TIPSCHELSEA.KEARNS [email protected]

The pin number

Submitted by Don McColgan

The Quyon Ferry, Summer 1955 near Fiztroy Harbour Angus McLean with a hat on.

The distribution houses for British Home Children hadto provide documentation to the Canadian governmentbefore they received any payment for children settled inCanadian households. The early correspondence betweenthe Knowlton Sheltering Home and the Department of theInterior just lists the date and the number of children inthe party sponsored by the organization.

Later correspondence provides the children’s names ineach party.

By 1912 when my grandmother came to Canada, theSheltering Home provided a medical certificate and a formlisting all the immigrant children on board the ship. Amedical personnel signed the Official Form of MedicalCertificate to be used in connection with the Immigrationof Children to Canada under Regulations of theDepartment of the Interior that he/she had examined the34 children listed below by name and found them to be ingood health, free from disease, and bodily defects and werementally and physically fit to come to Canada.

The second document was List of Immigrant Childrenon Board. This form was signed by the agent Lilian Birt forthe Liverpool Sheltering Home having a distribution homeat Knowlton, QC. Miss Birt signed that there were 34 chil-dren on the SS Corsican leaving on April 5, 1912 fromLiverpool. The children “having been inmates of work-house, are brought out under the authority of the local

Government Board for the purposes of settling in Canadaand that they have passed a satisfactory medical inspec-tion at the port of departure.” The form listed the name ofeach child, date of birth, and workhouse from which thechild came. Annie Bond, born 1904, came from theKensington Union. A Canadian immigration agent certifiedthat the 34 children were of desirable class and placed onboard the SS Corsican in charge of Miss Birt.

The latter form verified the information on Annie Bond’sfile, that I received from Dr. Barnardo’s Aftercare thatAnnie Bond had been under the Kensington Chelsea Unionschool system.

My grandmother celebrated her birthday April 4, but onthe immigration form she was one of two children withonly the year of birth provided. Five children had only themonth and year of birth listed while the remaining chil-dren had an actual date of birth given.

The Library and Archives Canada database on theBritish Home Children who immigrated to Canada underthe Board of Guardians indicated that the three Bond sis-ters had come via the Liverpool Sheltering Home with theirdestination being Mrs. Birt’s Home in Knowlton. Fromeach girl’s file, one learns that these children spent at mosttwo to three months at the Liverpool Sheltering Homebefore being sent to Canada.

The records of the Kensington Chelsea Board ofGuardians for the most part are housed in archives inLondon, England. Apparently, most of these records from1900 had been destroyed during the Second World War. Iwill keep searching any and all Poor Law records that I canfind for the Kensington Chelsea union hoping to find moreinformation on the family of my grandmother.

GENEALOGY GLEANINGSGLORIA F. [email protected]

Documentation for the immigrant children parties

On March 20, the Charestgovernment presented abudget that still has univer-sity students protesting inhuge numbers about newtuition increases and mostcitizens confused about gov-ernment plans to spendmegabillions on Northerndevelopment; on March 27,Ontario’s McGuinty govern-ment presented a budgetwithout tax increases butwith cuts in virtually everycategory other than educa-tion and health, aspromised.

The federal Government ofCanada budget landed onMarch 29 with a barely dis-cernable thud, despite its500-odd pages of mixedmessaging. This budget hadbeen eagerly anticipated byTrue Blue conservative vot-ers, the ones who just knewwe’d finally get a realStephen Harper budget oncehe’d obtained a parliamen-

tary majority, anticipated tobe the defining document ofthe federal conservative poli-ty, the light that would illu-minate the future directionof Canada for Canadiansthrough its well-consideredpolicies and frugal Big Cbudgetary stewardship oftaxpayers’ hard-earned dol-lars. On that basis alone, theearly opinion is that thebudget barely earned a pass-ing grade.

It doesn’t seem all thatlong ago when the NDP wasunderstood to be the Party ofwhat was termed the politi-cal Left. That was taken tomean, generally, a Party thatpromoted values of humandignity, achievable throughgood-paying employment,generous health care and aneducation system open toall. The major NDP achieve-ment to date is considered tobe Canada’s universal healthcare legacy.

Liberals, for their part,espoused the values of equalopportunities for all in everyarea of life, improved envi-ronmental standards andstrong support for immi-grants’ and womens’ rightsissues. Liberals, when inpower, declared Canada’sindependence from Britain,gave us the red Maple Leafflag and the Bill of Rightsdeclaration.

The core values of anyConservative Party weremost often defined as lowertaxes, smaller governmentand freedom from restraintsand restrictions on tradea n d c o m m e r c e .Conservatives are remem-bered for giving us the NorthAmerican Free Trade Deal.

Initial response to thisfirst Stephen HarperGovernment majority budgethas been mostly verbal headscratching, as in, where isthere any “defining”

Conservative vision in thisdocument?

There is a considerableamount of vague generalitylanguage in the budget, butvery little program or policydetail, and financial infor-mation that will be forth-coming over future monthsand years is decidedly anti-conservative in its lack ofparticulars regarding timelydetail for most current costsand future expenditures.Some things are notable bytheir absence (the F-35Stealth bomber, the environ-ment) and others by theirinclusion (selling off foreignembassies, killing thepenny); all in all, very blandoverall with a few notableexceptions, and decidedlysmall-C conservative in tone.

Some of the mass mediapersonalities and punditsare suggesting that, at firstblush, the recent HarperGovernment budget appears

to indicate that the extreme-right of the Conservativevoter base is being aban-doned in favour of that“mushy middle ground” onceso successfully inhabited bythose hated Liberals. Such amove could indeed seriouslyalienate their core support-ers, those devout conserva-tive evangelicals who wereonce willing to follow them tothe wall and beyond. It isalso accepted that theHarper Government couldnot survive for very longwithout their full support.

Of course, one should alsokeep in mind that by movingfrom the Liberals early in hispolitical career to the bosomof the Conservative Partythrough first joining theReform Party, then theAlliance Party throughwhich he formed a coalitionwith Peter McKay’sProgressive ConservativeParty and renamed it the

Conservative Party ofCanada. At the very least, ahistory like that does sug-gest a pretty strong ambitionto climb to the top post bywhatever means available; atworst, it may suggest a per-sonality predominantlyinterested in grabbingpower, then hanging onto itby any tactic.

We'll have to wait to seehow these sorts of politicalpredictions will play out overthe course of the next fewyears.

David Harper of Brysontaught politics at CambrianCollege in Sudbury in the1970s and worked on JackLayton's campaign's duringthe 1980s. He has had a lifelong interest in politics fromhis days as a youngConservative and later as ayoung Liberal when heattended Carleton Universityin the 60s.

POLITICALLY SPEAKING DAVID HARPER

Trio of significant political events occured in the final days of March

Page 5Wednesday, April 4, 2012The voice of the Pontiac since 1883

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HAMISH MCKILLOPEquity ReporterSHAWVILLE March 29, 2012

Steve Elmy, founder andowner-operator of RackStacker, Inc. gave a seminaron deer food plotting at M&RFeeds in Shawville lastWednesday to a crowd ofmostly hunters, according to

the animal feed company.Tim Hortons coffee and

doughnuts were brought inand provided to all whoattended, feeding the audi-ence while Elmy talkedabout deer food.

About five years ago,Elmy, or “The Rack StackerGuy” who grew up just west

of Thunder Bay, neverthought his specializedproduct line of vitamin andmineral supplements forplants would gain such trac-tion in rural communities.

“Deer are creatures ofhabit. If there’s food andcover in a location, they needto obviously be in that area,”

said Elmy, noting that inSouthern Ontario aroundthe Belleville area, the log-ging operations can cause“lower growing cover andhabitat development” thatdeers tend to migrate to.”

Another use for RackStacker’s products, saidElmy, is to draw deer awayfrom cash crops that can bedamaged by the animals.

Designed for white-taileddeer, the nutritional productsElmy started formulatingwith the help of M&R Feedswere rich enough in nutri-tions that deer feeding onthem grew healthy and wouldactually change their migra-tory patterns depending onhow the product was used.

By 2007, his productswere being sold by morethan 80 dealers, at whichpoint Elmy said, “I justabout freaked.”

Hunters use the feed todraw game out to food plots,but also grow young fawnsand deer antlers to optimallength to be better trophies,according to M&R workerAngie Splane.

“It exploded,” said Elmy ofhis business opportunitythat presented itself fiveyears ago. He had no idea

his products would be inWalmart and Canadian Tirestores coast to coast. “Ithought it would be a small,South-Eastern Ontario busi-ness. Turned out to be a lotmore than that,” he said.

It’s important for people tobe educated on the right tech-niques for feeding deer, sinceso many are trying to do it,according to Dan Proulx, whohas been the manager ofM&R Feeds for seven years,and for the past two years inShawville as of April 5.

Laurie Hobbs, a mainte-nance worker at the WesternQuebec School Board whohas an interest in hunting,said there are certain tech-niques Elmy pointed outthat should not be ignored,such as not feeding deercorn in the winter because itis dry and the water supplyis diminished.

Rack Stacker was a fig-ment of Elmy’s imaginationwhen 13 years ago he beganlearning more about thespecifics of animal nutritionand digestion.

“I’ve gone from studyingbirds to dogs to cats to wildgame, so it’s right across theboard but I started when Iwas 17,” said Elmy.

The buck stops here when feeding your deer

Hamish McKillop, THE EQUITY

Founder and operator Steve Elmy of Rack Stacker, Inc. gives a seminar oneffective deer management and food plotting techniques.

Quyon getting a new aqueduct pipelineHAMISH MCKILLOPEquity ReporterQUYON March 13, 2012

The municipality ofPontiac expressed interestin its last council meetingheld Mar. 13 to tender doc-uments for the preparationof plans to fix some ofQuyon’s water pipelines.

Pontiac Mayor EddieMcCann said, “There’s anexisting water line that …

services the northern partof the village, and we’regoing to hopefully drill anew line under the riverto connect on both sidesto save future breaks inthe line from the water orice in the spring.”

It has been determined bythe council that engineeringcompany “exp” will be con-tracted to generate the plansused for building the

pipeline by the companythat will be contracted to dothe actual work.

According to their web-site, exp provides “profes-sional, technical and strate-gic advistory services to theworld’s built and naturalenvironments….”

The pipeline’s expectedcompletion will be “hopefullyby the summer,” saidMcCann.

Atom CC Lions claim the Outaouais Regional Championship

COMPILED BYANDREA CRANFIELDEquity ReporterPONTIAC April 4, 2012

Atom CC (Submitted byAngie Belsher-Ireland)

The Pontiac Lions AtomCC team played their thirdand final game of the finalsseries against the Coyotesdes Collines on March 27.

The Lions defeated desCollines 6-1 to claim theOutaouais RegionalChampionship! Mack Ellison

started off the Lions scoringon a pass from Roy Dugganand Charles Romain.

Roy Duggan scored theLions' second goal of the firstperiod, assisted by MackEllison. Tanner Groleauscored the third Lions' goalwith assists going to TroyRomain and Jacob Arial.Troy Romain then netted theLions' next two goals in thesecond period.

The first one was assistedby Evan Atkinson and Mack

Ellison while the second onewas assisted by MackEllison and Jacob Arial. DesCollines managed to squeaka lone goal past the Lions'net minder, Kaelen Ireland,early in the third period.

The Lions' answered backwith another goal before theend of the game. TroyRomain scored his hat trickgoal on a pass from JakePilon and Mack Ellison.

A sea of hats were thrownon the ice in celebration! As

the final buzzer sounded theLions' fans roared withexcitement. Dodge Cup herewe come! Congratulationsboys on a fantastic year. Youcertainly deserved the win!

Peewee CC (Submitted byNatalie Chenier)

Peewee CC take home thefinalist banner!

The team gave it a great runall year, and made it to thefinals in the playoffs butcouldn't take home the gold...Final round was against les

Loups des Collines. The first game ended up

into a shoot out after a 10minute O.T. period. The finalscore was a loss of 3-2.

Ryan Nugent got the twogoals, assisted by BradleyStrand on the first, andChevy Larocque and CassidyPeck on the second. CedrikDurocher played amazing innets.

The second game was a 4-3 loss. Connor Romain gotthe first goal assisted by

Peck, Strand got the secondassisted by Austin Dugganand Nugent got the thirdassisted by Peck andDuggan. Nic Brown playedawsome in nets.

The final game ended up inanother shoot out game. Almosta replay of the first game with a3-2 loss. Larocque got the firstassisted by Nugent and Duggan,and Romain got the secondassisted by Patrick St-Cyr andPeck. Durocher was again greatbetween the pipes.

Submitted by Angie Ireland

The Atom CC team posing with their Regional Championship banner and trophy. Pictured from left to right (back row) is the coaching staff: Wade Ellison,Jacques Pilon, Jeff Ireland and Rick Atkinson. Standing in the third row is: Tanner Groleau, Charles Romain, Zak Béchamp and Ben Barr. Kneeling are:Mack Ellison, Jacob Arial, Jake Pilon, Jaden Stewart, Troy Romain, Evan Atkinson, Roy Duggan and Jayden Nadeau. Lying in front is Kaelen Ireland.

Bridge inspection to be carried out

Shawville Fair goes green

Submitted by Charleen Moore

The Shawville Fair isn’t until September, but thatdidn’t stop members of the fair’s board of direc-tors from entering a float in the annual St. Patrick’sDay parade, held in Douglas, Ont. The parade tookplace on March 16 and included over 60 floats,with about 2,500 spectators in attendance.According to Shawville Fair Board DirectorCharleen Moore, the parade was “so much fun”and they hope to participate again next year.Pictured in the float from left to right are Buttercup(Scott Laporte), Sara Knox, Holly Campbell, MissShawville Fair Hayley Campbell and CharleenMoore.

CAMPBELL’S BAY March 31, 2012

The Quebec Ministry ofTransportation informs thepopulation that survey workwill be done on the bridge,spanning the StevensonCreek, on Hwy. 148 in themunicipality of Campbell'sBay.

These operations will takeplace on April 3 and 4 from 8a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

During these times, theroad will be closed and traf-

fic will be circulated usingtraffc lights.

The maximum speed limitpermitted on the site is 70km/h.

The schedule may varydepending on weather condi-tions.

Construction will be com-pleted by the firm CIMA andGatineau.

The Quebec Ministry ofTransportation (MTQ) isreminding road users that itis important to adapt appro-

priately to the road condi-tions.

Before each trip, learnmore about possible trafficinterruptions by visitingwww.quebec511.gouv.qc.cato better plan your depar-tures.

The Department ofTransportation also asksyou to stay alert at the wheeland respect the postedspeed in work zones, sincethe fines are now doubled forspeeding. Have a good trip!


Clinique médicale de ShawvilleShawville Medical Clinic

269, rue Principale, C.P. 700, Shawville, QC J0X 2Y0Tél: 819-647-2924 • Fax: 819-647-2845

Recherchons secrétaire médicale bilingue pourbureau de médecins, 28 heures/semaine. Doit pos-séder de bonnes aptitudes de travail, dactylographie,connaissances des ordinateurs et travailler certainessoirées. Devez fournir un résumé avec deux lettres deréférences, télécopieur c.v. ou le laisser au bureau.

Seeking bilingual medical secretary for doctors’ clin-ic, 28 hours/week. Must have typing skills, comput-er knowledge and ready to work some evenings.Must submit resume with two letters of reference byfax or leave at the office.

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITYWe have an opening for a full-time

Controller/Human Resources AdministratorThe successful candidate will:1) have a minimum of 3 years’ relevant experience2) have sound knowledge of Simply Accounting and basic

accounting principles3) have office management experience4) be able to work effectively in both English and FrenchStart date: April 30, 2012

Please forward your resume tous by mail or by email [email protected] nolater than April 11, 2012.Only those applicants selected for aninterview will be contacted.P.O. Box 646Shawville, QC J0X 2Y0

O/A 3477835 CANADA INC.RBQ #8114-9460-53

Job PostingCognitive Therapist

Objectives: The therapist is responsible for meeting with clients/patientsreferred by GMF physicians on a consistent short term basis (up to20 sessions) to address various mental health issues throughpsycho-education and the use of specific cognitive therapytechniques and protocols. The therapist is to assist clients/patientsin creating awareness of deleterious patterns of thinking, then toaddress these cognitive obstacles and to reach identified positiveeffective goals. Qualifications: Bilingual, Masters level degree in psychology, social work orcounselling combined with direct clinical experience of workingwith client/patients. Ability to work independently withclients/patients, as well as, in conjunction with a broadermultidisciplinary team. Must have training in cognitive therapyand/or cognitive behaviour therapy, short term direct cognitive-based therapy and experience in using these methods within thelast five years.Salary: Contractual, to negotiatePlease send resume before April 20th at 3:00 PM to GMF duPontiac, PO Box 249, Shawville, Qc J0X 2Y0 to the attention of:Dr Martin Benfey.

www.theequity.ca Volume 129, Issue No. 15 The voice of the Pontiac since 1883 Wednesday, April 11, 2012 1 dollar

Mathieu’s got milk

If you dig a little deeper into thefederal budget, past talks of thepenny becoming extinct and acco-lades from British Prime MinisterDavid Cameron, some Canadians

may bedisquietedwith whatthey find.

At least MP Mathieu Ravignat is. In a press release on his website,

Pontiac’s representative in the Houseof Commons called the budget abetrayal of “Quebec and the rest ofCanada.”

On Wednesday afternoon, follow-ing Question Period, the MP was a lit-tle more tepid in his criticisms of thebudget that was presented toCanadians on March 29. However, hewas still disquieted by what he found(or didn’t find) within the 498 pagedocument.

Among the people Ravignat sayshe is upset to see left behind by thebudget are those who work inforestry and the public services. “Ithink it’s a tricky budget, what Imean by that is that you have to digdeeper to find some of the hiddencuts that are there. But clearly, forevery $9 that are cut only $1 isinvested in job creation and that wor-

ries us a lot,” says Ravignat.Ravignat was particularly upset by

the lack of investment in Quebec andthe forestry industry.

“They cut $28 to $29 million out ofEconomic Development Canada toregions in Quebec. So they’vereduced the amount of money thatcan go to developing projects inregions like ours and that’s very wor-risome,” says Ravignat.

“It would seem that it’s a directtarget to Quebec,” he says.

While $105 million will be directedtowards innovation and commercial-ization in the forestry sector,Ravignat says the funds werepromised before the budget wasannounced.

“That $105 million had alreadybeen announced so it’s not newmoney and so clearly the forestrysector — particularly in Quebec — isin crisis and there’s nothing in thebudget to stabilize the sector andensure that jobs are kept in that areaand that’s of particular concern,” hesays.

Another area that has raisedalarms for the MP are cuts to thepublic services, which could costsome people their jobs and otherCanadians services. Among the

departments to receive cuts areAboriginal Affairs and NorthernDevelopment, Agriculture and Agri-Food, Canada Revenue Agency,Health, HumanResources andSkills Develop-ment, NationalD e f e n s eSpending andPublic Safety.Please see NDPpage two

Ravignat on the budget andMulclair’s rise to leader of NDP

Rafting company Horizon X, based in Calumet Island, was oneof the winners in the eco and adventure tourism category at the26th annual Grand Prix du Tourisme de l'Outaouais awards onApril 4 at the Hilton Lac Leamy Hotel.

“They were the only onesfrom Pontiac who won,” saidAnne Chardon, a media rela-tions coordinator at

Tourisme Outaouais, the company who organizes the competition. Isabelle Gagnon and her husband Martin Bertrand who own

Horizon X were nominated for a Grand Prix du Tourisme award acouple years ago, but this is the first time they've won.

After 250 companies based in the Outaouais region applied, thelist was whittled down to 23 finalists in the tourism and humanresources categories. There were 12 winners altogether.

Chutes Coulonge, the Bryson House and Escapade Eskimowere also finalists in the tourism category. Individuals were alsoawarded for their efforts in the tourism industry in the humanresources category.

Former Pontiac MP Lawrence Cannon was named tourism per-sonality of the year.

The regional edition of the Quebec Tourism Awards choosescompanies that show achievements in the tourism industry, pro-viding the winners with recognition and visibility to tourists.

“Just putting (the award) on the website, the visitor will go toHorizon X and see that they won a prize from Tourisme Outaouaisand visitors are more trusting when they see those prizes,” saidChardon. “For me, when I buy some wine if I see a prize, I don’tknow what the prize is all about but I will trust the bottle of winebecause they won a prize. So this is the same with all the touris-tic companies.”

Please see AWARDS page two

Horizon X winstourism award

Pontiac MRC is still seeking answers from telecomgiant Bell Aliant as to why, for as long as some canrecall, residents have been without a redundant systemto back up 9-1-1 access in case the lines fail.

In its Oct. 15, 2008 issue, THE EQUITY reported a flur-ry of 15 fires inPontiac spanningtwo months, or oneevery four days on

average, in the second half of that year. One of those fires tore through a Luskville barn on

Oct. 8 of that year at the intersection of Hwy. 148 andChemin de la Montagne. That blaze was classified byPontiac Fire Department firefighter Michelle Dubois asbeing a “full fire,” hot enough that it burned through thephone lines, causing a nine-and-a-half-hour phone out-age all night for residents across all of MRC Pontiac andat least parts of MRC des Collines.

According to experts, at least the whole Pontiac coun-ty could experience a repeat performance again at anytime, leaving at least 18 municipalities without 9-1-1.

Pontiac Mayor Eddie McCann, who said the munici-pality of Pontiac was also affected by the Luskville barnfire at Hwy. 148 and Chemin de la Montagne, stated thatwhile there are mulitple providers of high speed Internetin the region, Bell is the sole provider of the landlinetelephone network in McCann’s region and that thismonopoly could pose a danger when no backup landlinesystem is in place.

“This is an example of where these companies need tobuild into their service – and therefore into their pricing– the basic service, and this has to be one of the condi-tions, or should be one of the conditions, that’s the min-imum service provided and to be able to guarantee it tothat point,” said McCann.

“There’s no doubt these guys ... are all profit driven,bottom-line-driven, but these are the minimum servicesthat people should have for sure,” said McCann.

Mario Allen, who has been the Fire Chief at PontiacFire Dept. for a year spending eight years as captain,said “the fire department…we can still be dispatched –we work through other [radio] ways – but for some peo-ple at their own place trying to get some help, for themto try to reach 9-1-1, they will have a hard time if theydon’t have a cell phone. So, they’re the ones who arestuck for a few hours until the lines get back together.”

Allen said the cause of the Luskville fire remains“undetermined.”

Donald Gagnon, mayor of Chichester, said the lack ofa redundant phone system has been prevalent longenough that, “they didn’t have a backup for probablysince they put the system in.” Gagnon also said whenthe phone lines went down on Oct. 8, the ShawvilleHospital was also without the ability to dial in or out.

A scheduled presentation from Bell Aliant representa-tive Richard Leblond at MRC Pontiac’s March 27 mayor’smeeting sparked its own flurry among some councilmembers still wondering if residents in an emergencysituation following a phone line failure would have torun down the road to a fire station for help.

For the past three-and-a-half years, the council hasbeen trying to get Bell Aliant to build in a redundancysystem into the telecom giant’s fibre optic lines alongHwy. 148 that feeds the 18 municipalities in Pontiac.

One of the meeting’s defining moments may have beenRaymond Durocher, mayor of Fort-Coulonge, turningleft slightly to address Leblond sitting directly next tohim, who reported to the council that after four years,Pontiac residents still without a 9-1-1 backup systemwould be best off with one despite the potential high costthat was estimated at $750,000, according to Leblond atthe council meeting.

“If I wrote to my boss or his boss, they’re not going tohave that. It’s three quarters of a million dollars, with nonew customers at the end,” Leblond told the council ofmayors.

“Twice – twice in a row, similar problems, and [BellAliant] is hard to contact. Yes, we’ve been patient, butnot any more,” said Durocher.

Frustrated by the snail’s pace at which Bell has pro-gressed with the file, Durocher said that at the end ofthe day, building in a backup phone system “won’t be anMRC responsibility. It will be a Bell Aliant responsibili-ty."

Leblond could not be reached for comment, but PaulLacoursière, Director of Corporate Affairs in Québec andOntario for Télébec, said it is not uncommon for Bell tonot provide a double entry point (backup system) to allmunicipalities.

Please see 911 page two

A tickingtime bomb

ANDREA CRANFIELDEquity EditorCALUMET ISLAND April 4, 2012

JULIELEE STITTEquity ReporterPONTIAC Apr. 4, 2012

Pontiac New Democrat MPMathieu Ravignat (assistantdeputy critic for InternationalTrade) strongly defends the effi-ciency of the Supply Managementsystem, pointing out its benefitsfor the country’s and his riding’sdairy producers.

Ravignat met in Shawville withlocal dairy producers to discussthis issue.

Please see MILK page two

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Hittingthe mats

Julielee Stitt, THE EQUITY

InstructorsGeorge Lafleur

and Steve Lawndemonstrate anew technique

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See story inside.


Numerous signs such asthese advertising 9-1-1services can be found inthe municipality ofCampbell’s Bay, and arealso scattered up anddown Hwy. 148 nearBryson. Pontiac MRC iscurrently looking into asolution for a years oldproblem that could prevent9-1-1 access to the entirecounty if phone lines everwent down.

Continued from page oneLast year, there were no

Grand Prix du tourisme del'Outaouais awards,because Chardon said staffwanted to take a year and

revamp the contest,although there was still asmaller scale awards cere-mony.

Some of the changesmade were having a pre-

selection of winners,increasing the importance ofsustainable development ineach category and preparingthe files with a more conciseprocess.

The regional winners ofthis year's contest will moveonto the provincial competi-tion that will be held on May28 in Sherbrooke.

Applicants must fill outan extensive file in order toapply. A jury then goes overeach file and selects the win-ners.

“It’s a little bit of work sothis is why maybe not all ofthe companies do thisbecause it takes time butwhat you can win when youfill out those files can beinteresting for your compa-ny,” said Chardon.

Gagnon said, “We didhave to submit a very thor-ough file. There’s a formthat you have to fill out andit’s a document that wasmany pages long. There’squestions that you had toanswer and this year thefocus was really on innova-tion.”

She believes that HorizonX won the award because ofthe efforts made to stayinnovative, be as environ-mentally friendly as possibleand offer a fun and uniqueexperience to tourists.

Horizon X integrated fullmoon white water raftinginto their activities, whichGagnon believes helped gainthem recognition.

“The full moon rafting isthe main innovation and itgets us a lot of media atten-tion and a lot of interest butit’s a really, really amazingexperience and that’s whatpeople are looking for,” saidGagnon.

She added, “This year’saward was really gearedtowards innovation andbecause of the fact that ...we’re the only company inCanada that offers full moonrafting, it’s very innovativeplus the sustainable devel-opment so we do a lot ofgreen innovations as well tolimit our traces (on the envi-ronment)” she said.

The company uses realcutlery instead of paperplates and plastic utensils.They also offer an incentivefor people who choose tocarpool by offering them freephotos.

“That’s another innova-tion, we’re the only onesthat do that. It (started) a

few years ago,” said Gagnon.“Innovations product

wise, we’re also the onlyones that offer the happyhour rafting so rather thanyour typical early morningand then you are done in theafternoon adventure, westart around 5 p.m. and itgoes until about 9 p.m. It'sreally happy hour.”

Gagnon and Bertrandattended the gala this year,and Gagnon said it was verynice. The theme was 'theninth art in the spotlight'and Gagnon said there wasa cartoon feel. The invita-tions came in the form of acomic strip and the drinktickets were replicas of theBazooka Joe gum.

“It was beautiful, it wasreally well set up and theyhad a very cool concept thisyear,” said Gagnon. “It was anice ceremony and it was avery nice affair.”

The awards came in theform of paintings based onthe promotional photos thecompanies had sent in priorto the awards ceremony.

“I’ve never seen a trophyas personal as this and asvaluable ... It’s beautiful, it’sa great idea for an award.There’s a little plaque belowit that says that we won thetourism awards for thisyear's edition,” said Gagnon.

She reports that HorizonX had a fantastic 2011 sea-son and the company isstarting to gear up for 2012.Rafting trips are alreadybeing booked for the sum-mer season, which is start-ing a bit early this yearbecause of the warm weath-er.

This is Horizon X's thir-teenth season in business,and Gagnon said it's greatfor such a small company toreceive the recognition theyhave.

“Even just to be able torecognize the fact that for asmall business to be in oper-ation for over 12 years isquite an achievement initself,” she said.

“I’m very proud, my hus-band’s been working reallyhard for the past 13 yearsand it’s nice to see it haspaid off and he’s getting therecognition that he deservesbecause he really does workreally, really hard,” saidGagnon about the award.

AWARDS: Horizon X rafting company wins big

Submitted by Anne Chardon

Pictured are the winners of the Grand Prix du tourisme de l’Outaouais awards at the gala on April 4.

Submitted by Martin Bertrand

This is the award that Isabelle Gagnon and Martin Bertrand won at theawards ceremony for their rafting company, Horizon X.

MILK: Dairy producers becoming worriedContinued from page one

“Pontiac producers areconcerned to see theConservative governmentinterested in various freetrade agreements, such asthe trans-Pacific partner-

ship,” he said. “These agree-ments could jeopardize thesupply management system,which has already more thanproved its worth. Abolishingthis system would be devas-tating for producers.”

Mathieu Ravignat added:“The government shouldshow its commitment to ourSupply Management systemby removing it from negotia-tion treaty in the future freetrade agreements.”

Unlike our neighbours tothe south, the dairy andpoultry sectors do not receiveheavy handouts from thegovernment. In fact,Canadian tax payers do notsubsidize these industries at

all and this is thanks to ourSupply Management system.

Conservative InternationalTrade Minister, Ed Fast,recently stated that Canadawished to join in discussionson the Trans-Pacific partner-

ship, a new free trade groupfor the Asia-Pacific zone.However, the Conservativesconfirmed the opposite just afew months ago, whichmakes dairy producers fearthe worst about the govern-

911: Pontiac must wait for a backup systemContinued from page one

Lacoursière said he wouldlook into the matter, but alsothat implementing suchdouble redundancies couldcost millions of dollars.

“It’s not up to the telecom-munications companies tomanage the emergency plansin the municipalities, but it’sup to the municipalitiesthemselves to have theiremergency plan,”Lacoursière said.

According to RémiBertrand, Executive Director

of Pontiac MRC, instead ofbeing fed in a loop configura-tion, the lines are not fedfrom both directions alongHwy. 148, so a single breachcould at any time knock outall incoming and outgoingland lines – including 9-1-1access – just as it did thatfall evening in late 2008 fornearly 10 hours.

“If you get a heart attackor your house burns downor you’re getting robbed, youwant to be able to get emer-gency services,” said

Bertrand.Bertrand represents the

interests of Connexion FibrePicanoc, which also ownsfibre optic lines as part of aco-enterprise between MRCPontiac and MRC de La-Vallée-de-la-Gatineau, aswell as the Western QuebecSchool Board, andCommission scolaire desHauts-Bois-de-l’Outaouais.

“I think the infrastructureis there. It’s just all we needthat’s holding us [back] is avery independent telecom-

munications companyaccepting to do business withsmaller telecommunicationscompanies,” said Bertrand,suggesting it would be con-ceivable for Bell to work clos-er with these other smallercompanies to combineresources to establish a morefail-safe 9-1-1 system.

Lacoursière said he wouldhave to consult with BellAliant’s engineering team todetermine the network con-figuration, and whethersuch a partnership would be

compatible.“Just because they’re a

monopoly doesn’t mean thatthey’re not responsible toprovide solid, basic ser-vices,” said McCann.

Whether it is the munici-pality that is responsible forits residents’ welfare, or thetelecom company responsi-ble for the integrity of itsinfrastructure, residentsacross Pontiac will have nochoice but to wait.

They will have to waitwithout a 9-1-1 backup sys-

tem at least until Bell Aliantreturns to the council with areport on the matter, whichDurocher estimates could beat least another couple ofmonths.

Until that happens, fornow the numerous “9-1-1Emergency” signs along Hwy148 near Bryson andCampbell’s Bay will serve asa reminder of an emergencysystem that could fail theentire region, if the rightsequence of events were toagain unfold.

Continued from page one“What this whole budget

tells us, in my opinion, isthat the government is will-ing to put services, importantservices related to health andthe environment in jeopardyfor Canadians,” saidRavignat.

As for the end of thepenny-era that was

announced in the budget,which will make such expres-sions as “a penny for yourthoughts” obsolete, Ravignatcalled it a “distraction.”

“I think Canadians arewilling to hear the bad newsstory, if there is one, and Ithink this government has tomake clear where they’regoing to cut and what impact

these cuts are going to haveon services.”

A budget topic that hasreceived as much focus as thepenny are the planned changesto Old Age Security (OAS). Thesystem will undergo changes in2023, increasing the age of eli-gibility from 65 to 67 and is setto affect Canadians under theage of 54.

It’s a topic which hasraised the question amongCanadians: why aren’t MP’spensions being adjusted?

Ravignat says, “I thinkthat’s a legitimate question. Ifwe’re expecting citizens to dotheir part in this budget thenit is only natural for us to doour part.

“We at least have to review

it and that’s been put on holdand I think that’s unfortu-nate,” he says.

Mulclair Win The NDP weren’t an unsta-

ble party when they had aninterim leader, following thedeath of Jack Layton.However, having an officialleader has strengthened theteam, says Ravignat.

“Its provided greatermomentum going forward,especially with someone asexperienced as Mr. Mulcair;someone who has a visionboth for our party and forCanada,” he says.

The MP backed ThomasMulclair in his bid to be partyleader and says his win has“focused” the party.

NDP: MP supports Thomas Mulclair as party leader

Page 2 Wednesday, April 11, 2012 www.theequity.ca

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Grants to help build an “intergenerational park”HAMISH MCKILLOPEquity ReporterSHAWVILLE April 11, 2012

Numerous grants aremaking it possible for theArmstrong Heritage Farm tokeep up its grounds, as dis-cussed at the annual gener-al meeting at the PontiacArchives on March 28.

The improvements to theArmstrong Heritage Farm

will be “good for recreationfor our seniors, plus theentire village and area itself,”said Rita Beimer, whorecorded the meeting min-utes.

One of the priorities is tocreate a “family-friendlypark” for various age groupsand the board of directorshas applied for a number ofgrants to fund their initia-

tives, according to GwenArmstrong, Treasurer of thegroup.

Armstrong said the grouphopes to soon host moreevents, despite having onlyone jamboree during thesummer for the moment.

The Family PolicyCommittee, through theMunicipality of Shawvillefunded an “Intergenerational

Park Development,” accord-ing to a written statementfrom President HelenRoutliffe. The same commit-tee helped with various otherremodeling improvements tothe farm that was oncedonated to the group byHarold Thomas Armstrong.

The individuals who pro-vided the music at the sixthannual Jamboree held last

July will be leasing the prop-erty for a “nominal fee,”wrote Routliffe, who added“we wish them every suc-cess.”

The CLD also providedfunding, said Routliffe, tohelp fund a new bathroomand picnic tables.

Routliffe wrote that theArmstrong Heritage Farmhas numerous improvement

plans such as hosting a BBQand holding volleyball andhorseshoe tournament. Shesaid a covered gazebo will bebuilt “as soon as the groundcan be prepared.”

Funding was granted tothe group last year from theRural Pact for a new volley-ball court, and funding wasalso secured for otherimprovements to the home.

Municipality of Fort Coulonge turning 125HAMISH MCKILLOPEquity ReporterFORT COULONGE April 11,2012

Fort Coulonge will cele-brate its 125th anniversaryof the founding of themunicipality and MayorRaymond Durocher hasvowed to not let it pass bywithout the whole of Pontiachearing about it.

Although the officialanniversary will not be untilDec. 15, 2013, the councilreasoned that they not onlywant to celebrate one day,but they want to celebrate awhole year of events leadingup to the December 2013date, kicking it off thisDecember.

At a small municipalcouncil meeting held at theTown Hall in Fort Coulongeat 7 p.m. on April 11, mem-bers of the council discussedsome very preliminary ideason how to celebrate its 125

years of existence.The founding of the

municipality is only cele-brated every 25 years.Whatever the plans turnout to be, Durocher said “Idon’t want the people tothink it’s a celebration forthe council. It’s a communi-ty celebration…It’s theirparty. It’s not our party, it’stheir party.”

The council said invita-tions will be sent out to a yetunknown number of localorganizations inviting themon board to help be part ofevents throughout the yearof celebration, to help show-case the municipality’s his-tory.

Events are only in theconceptual stage at themoment, but Durocher saidthe first day could includefireworks, a parade, thelaunching of Fort Coulonge’sofficial flag, or a communityget-together.


Left to right: Martine Durocher, Director General and Secretary-Treasurer,Fort Coulonge Mayor Raymond Durocher, and Councillor Lise Romain, sit indiscussions at a counci meeting in the early planning stages for the 125thanniversary of the founding of the municipality coming up in 2013. Theywould like all of Fort Coulonge to be a part of a year of celebrations betweenDecember 2012 and December 2013.

Facebook and retweet it, but be sure to sell itHAMISH MCKILLOPEquity ReporterCAMPBELL’S BAY April 4, 2012

SADC Pontiac held anearly morning businessbreakfast on April 4, featur-ing guest speaker CarolannBarton of The Social MediaCompany from Shawville,who provided valuable tipsto small business owners onhow to make the most oftheir online identities.

Huddled around a confer-ence table fixated on aPowerPoint demonstration,attendees learned varioustechniques on how to opti-mize their online socialmedia workflow, to promoteand hopefully drive traffic totheir businesses.

“Nowadays, social mediaallows the small businessowner to create a communi-ty, if you will, around theirbusiness so they can invitepeople to learn more, to fol-low them, to be part of theirbusiness community,” saidBarton.

A large concentration was

placed on Facebook. In addi-tion to personal profiles,Facebook allows for the cre-ation of pages that Bartonsaid can serve as goodlaunching points for busi-ness owners to get a basic,yet attractive website up andrunning with little experi-ence beforehand.

Twitter is a social networksite with an even higher rateof information flowingthrough, often used by jour-nalists to “live blog” eventson location.

Barton demonstrated theuse of QR (quick response)codes, which are advancedbarcodes that can be gener-ated for free through variouswebsites.

These codes can be pro-grammed to store a websiteURL, to compose a newemail message, or display aYouTube video, simply byholding up a smartphone’scamera and scanning it witha QR code scanner mobileapp, many of which are freeto download.

“We’re going to be able to

use our Facebook page asjust another way to reach outto our listeners,” said GaetanForgues of CHIP 101.7 FM,who said he would be linkingmore between CHIP’s websiteand Facebook.

Rhonda Perry, a financialanalyst at the SADC,

acknowledges that somebusiness owners mayrequire support to get onboard with social media, andthe SADC is here to help.

“Yes, there is a learningcurve, and some peopleadapt quickly to the technol-ogy, and some people need a

bit more information and wehave to walk them throughit, and this was a perfectexample this morning,”Perry said.

“Creating your own profileis quite simple to some peo-ple, and to other people theyneed…one on one,” she said.

Speaking of the inclusionof business owners in theseminar, Perry said “It’s anetworking opportunity, sowe always think it’s impor-tant that they meet eachother, work together andlearn about each other’sbusiness,” said Perry.

Perry said that with therapid evolution of socialmedia, even business own-ers who already utilize socialnetworking can expand theirskill sets. One such busi-ness owner is Ray Bretzloff,owner of Ladysmith-basedcompany Pure LifeAdventures.

“I got specifics out of it,”said Bretzloff of the cus-tomizable options onFacebook that he did notknow about before.

Montreal poets perform in Vinton tipi


Social Media consultant Carolann Barton, founderof The Social Media Company, sits before anattentive audience at the SADC’s business break-fast April 4. She answered questions and generat-ed a number of “a-ha” moments as attendeeslearned how to effectively use Facebook, Twitter,and QR codes as part of various online businessstrategies to reach out to their customer base.

ADRIENNE TAYLOREquity ReporterVinton Apr. 14, 2012

Two poets from Montrealwere in Vinton on Saturdayto perform at the showunder the tipi, an event puton by Monique Deiber.

The association for emerg-ing stage artists of Pontiacwere extremely happy tohave another show underthe tipi.

There were two presenta-tions at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Reservations were madein advance to have a spot inthe tipi for the free show.

Deiber was very pleasedwith the turnout at theevent.

“It’s a very intimiate set-ting,” said Deiber, “artistsget to perform in front of 20people.”

Deiber finds the artists via

YouTube and Facebook toperform at her events.

“Social networking is aperfect tool to use,” saidDeiber.

Deiber likes to find artistswho haven’t performedmuch in front of a crowd.

“I love letting people getup and perform for the firsttime,” said Deiber, “it’s agreat place to start.”

Artists Cézure and Vézirfrom Montreal came to per-form a new show that theyprepared specifically for thePontiac crowd.

Deiber plans on gettinganother tipi so that she canput on larger shows.

“We would love tofundraise for another tipi,”said Deiber.

Deiber has obtained asmaller tipi that is portableso she can bring it to differ-

ent fairs and events duringthe summer.

“We will have a show atVillage en Fête this Junewith artists from Montrealand Fort Coulonge under thesmall tipi,” said Deiber.

Deiber is a big fan of thearts and loves watching per-formers dance, sing andrecite poetry.

“I am such a fan of thearts,” said Deiber.

This year, the associationplans to have many moreshows under the tipi.

“The association wouldlike to bring culture to thepopulation and to give freeaccess to culture for peoplewho would certainly neverhave another way to accessit,” said Deiber.

The association plans tohave more events in theupcoming summer months.

Adrienne Taylor, THE EQUITY

Vézir performs her poetry routine for theenthusiastic group at the tipi on Saturdayafternoon.

Shoulder-to-shoulder crowd at the Stone SchoolGallery for the Pontiac Artists’ AssociationADRIENNE TAYLOREquity ReporterPortage-du-Fort April 14, 2012

In an effort to support thePontiac Artists Associationand it’s various undertak-ings, a fundraising party andsilent auction was held atthe Stone School onSaturday night.

The turnout was excep-tional for the fundraisingparty.

Cars lined Mill Street andfilled the parking lot at theStone School.

Val Vezeau a member ofthe Pontiac ArtistsAssociation was extremelysatisfied with the turnout.

“It’s shoulder-to-shoulderupstairs,” said Vezeau, “defi-nitely a successful event forus.”

The ticket price includedcoffee, tea and dessertsalong with musicial enter-tainment.

Musicial entertainmentwas provided by the Ottawaband ‘Hurry Up and Wait’with additional guests,Phillip Holmes, Erica Vezeauand Kate Morgan.

Featured artwork filledthe walls of the Stone School

for the silent auction.Bristol local Lyndal Neelin

was impressed with thecommunity support.

“There is such an amazingturnout,” said Neelin, “it’s sowonderful.”

Bill Smith also enjoyedthe event as he watchedHolmes perform his rendi-tion of the song “Hallelujah”on the stage.

“Getting to hear Phillipsing is a treat in itself,” saidSmith.

Smith commented on thesize of the crowd as hewatched the performance.

“This is a brilliant culturalevent for the Pontiac.”

After Holmes performedhe took the time to lookaround and appreciate thelocal artwork on the walls.

“It’s such an artistic com-munity,” said Holmes, “ I’mso glad that everyone is sup-porting the arts in thePontiac.”

The event was a majorsuccess as Mathieu Ravignatand Charlotte L’Écuyermade an appearance at theevent.

“I didn’t even know whereto park my vehicle,” saidL’Écuyer, “the streets arefull.”


Phillip Holmes performs “Hallelujah” for the shoulder-to-shoulder crowd atthe Stone School for the Pontiac Artists Association on Saturday night.


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A Heartfelt THANK YOUOne realizes how fortunate they are to live insuch a great community when devastation hits.Our family realized this early on Sunday morningFebruary 5th when we lost our home to adevastating fire. Quickly, our neighbours and friends came to ourrescue by helping us in so many ways (emotionally,physically, financially and materialistically).

For that we are so grateful and would like to say THANK YOU from the bottomof our hearts to those who have contributed in every way imaginable to help ourfamily heal and rebuild.

Your contributions have helped us pay for medical bills,room and board whilein Montreal, gas for the many trips to Montreal and to Gatineau and much more.

Thanks to Murdock Windows and Doors, for offering the windows at adiscounted rate.

A special Thank You to the following people:- Rona (Bobby, Brad and Grace Dale) in Otter Lake for their huge donation in

lumber. - Mr. & Ms. Michel Dubois for letting us live in their cottage while we rebuild.- Phil Denaud band, the Otter Lake Fire department, Sonya Rivington and all

of the people who helped organize and contributed to the Fund Raising eventheld on March 10th.

- Skaliwag & Friends for their hard work on the CD entitled ‘’From the Ashes’’which was released on March 31st.

We will never forget how fortunate we are to be surrounded by people likeyou, people who have and continue to help us through this difficult time.

The St-Pierre family

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The Shawville Hospital’s Pontiac Medical ResourceCentre is hosting its first international student intern,

which could open the doorsto cooperative placementswith foreign schools andstudents seeking more

breadth in rural family medicine.Ayako Murata, 35, a former law student from Japan,

is studying for a medical degree at Teikyo University, oneof Tokyo’s 19 medical schools, and is currently interningat the hospital and residing at the Medical ResourceCentre.

The home base of the Canadian Institute of RuralHealth based in Shawville provides Murata with theopportunity to hone her skills and learn more about ruralfamily health in more isolated environments. She hasassisted in emergency surgeries and two weeks ago sheassisted in a childbirth.

Murata felt compelled to pursue family medicine afterseeing how her sister’s medical training was too special-ized to provide the right kind of treatment for her grand-mother.

“I find that there should be some place in Japan that Ican get some training as well, but I wanted to know whatthe difference [was] between Japanese isolated areas andCanadian ones,” she said.

The centre has a number of recently renovated apart-ments for medical interns, who usually come from eitherMcGill University or the University of Ottawa.

The centre typically has about four residents or stu-dents placed at the hospital at any given time. This yearthe hospital is pleased to accommodate an internationalstudent seeking practical experience in rural family med-icine that is outside of her own area of study in Japan.

Murata has been studying at Teikyo University for fiveyears, and has one year remaining in her studies. Shesaid she currently has three months to fill with intern-

ships. She has been in Shawville

for two weeks shadowingDoctors John Wootton andLuis Pinelo and, prior tothat, spent two weeks atThomas Jefferson University

in Philidelphia, which pro-vided insight into urban

medicine from an Americanperspective, in contrast

to the rural medicineshe is practising in

Shawville.

Please see STUDENTpage two

www.theequity.ca Volume 129, Issue No. 16 The voice of the Pontiac since 1883 Wednesday, April 18, 2012 1 dollar

Construction, demolition and renovation waste maysoon be shipped to the Pontiac Industrial Regional Park

(PIRP), if Centre de Tri Pontiacopens this year, as the compa-ny behind the project suggestsit will.

Amor Construction is currently on site at PIRP, locatedjust off Hwy. 301 in Litchfield, working to receive autho-rization from the Ministry of Sustainable Development,Environment and Parks (MDDEP) to operate the site.

The Outaouais-based company was launched in 1990by three brothers, Jude, Roch and Eric Gauvrea and islicensed in both Ontario and Quebec.

According to the company, the new Pontiac site, set toopen later this year, could create between five to 10 jobsfor locals.

It is the first waste disposal site to be started by theconstruction company. Centre de Tri Pontiac (or PontiacSorting Centre) plans to accept waste from contractors aswell as citizens and municipalities.

According to Sonia Lopez Moran from SLMCommunications, which speaks on behalf of the compa-ny, the site will “treat, recycle and recover dry construc-tion, renovation and demolition,” materials. Items that arecollected by Centre de Tri Pontiac will then be sorted andor conditioned for recycling.

While operations have yet to commence, on Fridaymorning several workers were at the Litchfield site. Theycouldn’t comment on when exactly the centre would open.

Centre de Tri Pontiacto open this year

Tranport Thom Ltée. will continue to offer transporta-tion from Allumettes Island to Ottawa, Ont. five days a

week, thanks in part to a grantfrom the provincial govern-ment.The chartered bus makes the

venture to Ottawa carrying between 15 to 20 passengers,filling less than half of the bus’ seating. “We’ve beenoperating at a loss for many years,” says Anthony Thom,the owner of the company.

The bus has been commuting from Allumettes Islandto downtown Ottawa for at least 10 years, says theowner, but the service may soon become obsolete if morepeople don’t start to ride instead of drive.

“We might have to stop it in the future because wecan’t keep it on. That’s it,” says Thom. However, the com-pany does receive grant money from a provincial fund toassist regional mass transit, which is then administeredto the company by MRC Pontiac. This year the companyis set to receive $40,000 as part of a three-year fundingagreement.

Please see JEOPARDY page two

Low ridershipjeopardizesservice


Shawville/Clarendon Fire Chief Lee Laframboise stands behind the destoyed home of Pauline Pitt.Thehouse at 59 Calumet Road ignited from a grease fire April 10, sparing nothing. Laframboise said it’sthe first full-structure fire the town of Shawville has seen in over a year.

Student studiesrural medicine

A mother and her son were the victims of Shawville’s first“structure fire” in over a year, according to

Shawville/Clarendon FireChief Lee Laframboise. Theblaze broke out the evening ofApril 10, tore through their

east-end home and left them with nothing but the clotheson their back.

Twenty-five out of 27 Shawville/Clarendon firefighters,including one dispatch, assisted by a few from the FortCoulonge station, responded to the fire at the residencelocated at 59 Calumet Road at approximately 5:40 p.m.,where residents Pauline Pitt and her 7-year-old son Jake

Larocque narrowly escaped with their lives. The two were sent to Shawville Hospital where Pitt was

kept overnight for carbon monoxide poisoning and minorburns to her hands and lips. Jake stayed at his uncleRandy Pitt’s home for the night, and was reunited with hismother when she was released at 9:30 a.m. the followingmorning.

Jake said at the time the incident occurred he was in hisroom playing a toy piano he got for Christmas when heheard his mother shout his name. When he turned, henoticed a shadow-like shape: smoke entering through anopening in the doorway.

Please see FIRE page two

HAMISH MCKILLOPEquity ReporterSHAWVILLE April 10, 2012

Keep your eyes on the stove


JULIELEE STITTEquity ReporterPONTIAC April 18, 2012


A Municipality of Pontiac council meeting was heldlast Tuesday, the purpose of which was to examine anumber of “strategic objectives” for 2016 proposed by themunicipal council.

Some of the listed priorities were to build the Sault-des-Chats Park and com-plete it by 2016, create 100jobs in the municipality ofPontiac, and grow the

municipality to 8,000 permanent residents.In addition to the municipality’s objectives to restore

Pontiac’s identity, create jobs, and stimulate the econo-my, a number of other issues were brought to the table.

One of those issues involved Pontiac resident BillTwolan. According to Pontiac Mayor Eddie McCann,Twolan had a request turned down to operate a businesson his property.

Twolan was also prohibited from parking a backhoe onhis land.

When it was proposed at the meeting that this restric-tion be lifted, McCann immediately vetoed the decision.

The mayor has up to 48 hours to enact a veto.McCann said that because he was recently in Cuba for

a week, he did not have the opportunity to be part of thediscussions re-examining the Twolan file. He said thathad he not vetoed the proposal, the council would havegone against its previous motions on the file last year.

According to Twolan, having a backhoe on his landhas caused the Commission de Protection du TerritoireAgricole Quebec (CPTAQ), the provincial body that over-sees the maintenance of agricultural land, to harass himsince spring of last year, and that he has a “drawer full”of documentation from the CPTAQ.

Twolan repeatedly said if he continues to have difficul-ty with CPTAQ because he has commercial equipment onhis property, he will block Hwy. 148 in protest.

The other item hot on the agenda at the April 10 meet-ing was the controversial “nui-sance” bylaw that has beendebated and re-tabled for sixyears.

McCann said the outstandingreason for the bylaw continuesto be its function of cleaning upthe municipality, anexplanation thatdoesn’t fly forsome residentsof the munici-pality.Please see ISSUES pagetwo

Volatileissues

Learning LatinAmerican culturethrough music


Students at Onslow Elementary in Quyon were visited by Andean Colours, a group of musicians whoperform Latin American music. On Friday youth were able to perform on a siku, a traditional Andeaninstrument. See page two for the full story.

HAMISH MCKILLOPEquity ReporterPONTIAC April 10, 2012


Japanese medical student Ayako Murata.Hamish McKillop, THE EQUITY

Pontiac Mayor Eddie McCann.

Continued from page oneDr. Bernard Gélinas, M.D., who has

practised medicine since 1970 and nowworks part-time for Health Coop desCollines in Cantley, Que., was one ofthe principle organizers of this interna-tional placement for Murata. Heworked with Murata’s instructor at herschool, Machiko Inoue, to bringMurata to Shawville to intern.

He said that there is no family med-icine curriculum included in Japanesemedical training unless a specializedcourse is taken after completing adegree. Family medicine has been anactive practice in Canada since theearly 1980s, according to Gélinas, butin Japan it is less than ten years old.

Gélinas said that to immerse intofamily medicine, after graduating as ageneral physician, you have to enroll ina special school program offered by theJapanese Consumer CooperativeUnion, but there are limitations.

“They train their own people intofamily medicine, but it’s outside of uni-versity. It’s not yet inside of a universi-ty program,” said Gélinas.

According to Murata, family medi-

cine should be integrated into the cur-riculum in general medicine.

“There are so many primary carephysicians in Japan, by specialist. Butthings are changing recently,” saidMurata. “There is a big [debate] inJapan that we should have familyphysicians as a system or not.

“It’s controversial because we havefree access to specialists in Japan, sowe don’t really have to make anappointment before going to the hospi-tals. It’s kind of controversial to make asystem to see a family physician beforegoing to see specialists,” she said.

According to Gélinas, mostCanadian family physicians spend upto 25 per cent of their time, or approx-imately one half day every week, inhospitals. In Québec, he said, thatnumber jumps to 70 per cent.

Gélinas said that because of theirsplit duties, some doctors only havethe opportunity to visit their localoffices one day a week because themajority of their time is spent in thehospital.

“This has cut off access to familypractice offices, the local proximity

access to medical care. Because of allsorts of government rules and regula-tions and decisions that have beentaken up over the last 30 years, theyhave made the system impossible forpeople as well as physicians,” saidGélinas.

Joanne Romain, coordinator of thePontiac Group de Médecine Familiale,said “I think if we can double up rela-tions with other countries… It’s quitesomething to get attention from Japanfor a small town like Shawville. Thedoctors are just doing what they usual-ly do, but at least now they get recog-nized for the excellent work that they’redoing. It’s special.”

Romain helps to manage all of themedical offices, government grants andoversees the Medical Resource Centre’saccommodation of student placements.

The consensus was that medicaltraining should better emphasize ruralfamily medicine and that specialistsshould be satellite resources for familyphysicians, instead of family physi-cians compromising their time by beingcalled on for their expertise in hospi-tals.

STUDENT: Studying rural family medicine

Continued from page one

Local MNA Charlotte L'Écuyer says the provincialfunding is important.

“We are entitled to the transit services,” says the localpolitician, adding, “We need that type of service in thePontiac because there’s quite a (few) people who areworking in the city and it’s a way of traveling that’s moresecure and probably less tiresome.”

However, with so many empty seats on the bus,L'Écuyer wonders if enough is being done to promote theservice.

“Maybe we need more publicity,” she questions.L'Écuyer also suggests that with gas prices reaching

astronomical levels, taking the bus might be a good alter-native to driving.

JEOPARDY: Lack ofpassengers has busservice in doubt again

Continued from page oneTyler Lamont of Quyon, who attended the meeting, told

the council that the bylaw represents an “emotional rapeand physical pillage” of residents whose livelihood hesays the bylaw puts in jeopardy. He claims to haveknown municipal bylaw officers to go onto residents’ landand confiscate their belongings.

McCann denies any such breach of privacy takesplace, and said “I think we’ve been fair and proper on howwe’ve acted.…There have been so many properties in themunicipality that were in an improper manner. There[were] junk cars, broken cars, building materials… just ageneral mess,” said McCann.

Referring to the municipality’s support of the bylaw,James Eggleton of Luskville, who was also at the councilmeeting, said the nuisance bylaw means “a dynamic ofthe city infiltrating the corners of Luskville and has…cor-rupted people’s minds of how they can go about shep-herding their citizens and how they think we should beas human beings, or how our fence should be a certainway.”

ISSUE: Pontiaccouncil addressvolatile issues


Tyler Lamont of Quyon, and James Eggleton ofLuskville, attentively listen to the counciladdress members of the public.

Contiued from page one

“I saw [what] looked like a shadow onmy wall, and then my door went ‘bang’and then it hit my dresser and smokewas coming in, and I tried to shut thedoor. My mom grabbed me and I hadenough time to get right out of thehouse,” said Jake.

Although she said she could barelysee anything, Pitt said that, from whather son later told her, when she res-cued him from his room he was layingon the floor, covering his face with hishands, initiating the Stop-Drop-and-Roll manoeuvre he learned in school.

The two were forced to pass througha wall of flames as they tried to exit theback of their home, at which time Pittwas hurt, but was able to protect herson from any injuries.

Jake reportedly ran next door to aneighbour, who then called for help.

Flames were emanating from the sec-ond-floor windows and “the east end ofthe building was all in flame” when fire-fighters arrived on scene, according toLaframboise. The Fort Coulonge fire-fighters were present to investigate thecause and circumstances, for whichthey are qualified to examine.

Pitt said, “honestly, I’m just in shockstill, and I’m just trying to take one day

at a time, basically. I don’t know whereI’m going, I don’t know what I’m doing.I’ve lost everything. My shoes were off. Ilost everything, except the clothes onmy back, basically.”

The interior of the small singledwelling was fully consumed, and wasnot under control until approximately6:15 p.m., according to Laframboise.

The fire was not fully extinguisheduntil 8:50 p.m.

“We get calls, but a house fire likethis, it’s been a while since we had onein town,” said Shawville/Clarendonfirefighter Vaughan Bastien, who hasbeen with the station for eight years,and said an actual house-gutting has-n’t hit Shawville for at least a few years.

Laframboise, who has been the FireChief at Shawville/Clarendon stationfor almost 13 years and has been fight-ing fires for more than 20 years, said“she was lucky to get the kid out.”

Shawville firefighters are not yet fullycertified to probe “determinant causes”of fires but will soon be taking a coursethat will bring them in line with otherqualified municipalities.

Pitt said that it was her smoke detec-tor that alerted her to the fire, whichshe said was caused by an ignition ofoil left unattended on the stove whileshe was on the phone to her mother.

Québec Hydro, who is required dur-ing such calls to sever the hydro con-nection to prevent electrical hazard,was called immediately but took overan hour to arrive on location.

The Fire Safety Cover Plan willrequire every house in Shawville to bechecked for smoke detectors over thenext five years, and Laframboise saidthey will be checking 20 per cent ofhomes every year until then.

As they are currently homeless, Pittsaid she and her son are staying at hermother’s home for a few weeks until itcan be determined where they will go.

Jake and his uncle returned to thehome the next day, but the only sal-vageable belongings were a few miscel-laneous items left unscathed in the car-port.

Even as the fire was being extin-guished, the second-grader was calmenough to express concern for the con-dition of his Nintendo, ultimatelydestroyed in the fire.

According to Mr. Pitt, the family thatlost everything will be glad to have eachother and the community to help themrebuild, which will not happenovernight.

“I’m thankful to be alive, that’s all.My son’s safe, and I’m safe. I’m happyfor that,” said Pitt.

FIRE: Keep your eyes on the stove


What remains fromthe April 11 fire inShawville where 24out of 27Shawville/Clarenonfire fighters, and atleast three from FortCoulonge forinvestigativepurposes, arrived onscene of the fire.

JULIELEE STITTEquity ReporterQUYON April 13, 2012

Music is a form of expression unique to every culturethat people have been using throughout history to com-municate feelings and stories with one another.

On Friday afternoon, students at Onslow ElementarySchool in Quyon learned about Latin American culturefrom a member of Andean Colours, an Ottawa, Ont.based group that introduces youth to “modern and tra-ditional” Latin American music and heritage.

According to group member Luis Abanto, “We are pre-senting Latin American countries through music. We’reteaching students about geography, language and cul-tural studies, it’s not just about music; it’s about learn-ing about different cultures,” he said.

Andean Colours had visited the school approximatelytwo weeks earlier and performed for students, withAbanto returning last week to participate in 30 minuteworkshops with each grade.

“I think education about other cultures should startas soon as possible with kids to teach them that they’renot alone on the earth and that there’s a lot of differentliving conditions,” said the musician.

Onslow Elementary teacher Cathy Nugent says thegroup was invited to perform at the school as part ofMulticultural Arts for Schools and Communities (MASC),a government funded program that aims to promotemusic and culture in schools and among seniors.

Nugent says students were fascinated by AndeanColours and the variety of instruments they introduced,including the siku.

A siku is a traditional Andean panpipe and each stu-dent had the opportunity to play the instrument andperform the tune to Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star in har-mony.

“They were really into listening and wanting to play,”said Nugent about the level of interest students demon-strated. “I liked the sound of it,” said grade five studentLillian Proulx, who was joined by friends and classmatesRipley Levesque, Jacob Philippe and Hayley Alexander.

“It’s a new instrument and it’s a fun experience,” saidPhilippe.

Abanto says the group has travelled to several schoolsand while students always love to play the instruments,the goal of the group isn’t necessarily to foster musicaltalent.

“We don’t try to produce musicians, it’s about bring-ing development and it’s a way to learn,” he said.

Musical groupteaches culture


In the 1996 film Jerry McGuire, TomCruise famously said, “Show me themoney.” But he probably would havebeen a little surprised if someone hand-ed him one of the new $100 or $50 poly-mer bills that are being circulated inCanada.

The Bank of Canada has been unveil-ing the new bills since last year andmost recently started circulating the$50. According to Bank of CanadaAnalyst Josianne Roy, larger bills arebeing released first in an effort to crack-down on counterfeiting.

“Although counterfeiting is at rela-tively low levels, the $100 note has beentargeted by counterfeiters in recent

years,” she says. “The other reason is in addition to the

lower volume of $100 notes in circula-tion, this will help businesses familiar-ize themselves with the new polymernotes and the new material,” she says.

The Bank of Canada is offering freetraining sessions to retailers to informthem about new security features onthe bill.

While the currency will last longerand offer more security features, itsintroduction has put some automaticteller machines (ATMs) out of commis-sion for a short period.

“We worked with financial institu-tions and some changes had to be madeto ATMs but that has all been resolvedand ATMs will be ready, some dispensethe new 50s and all the ATMs will be

ready for the 20s,” says Roy.Roy said changes to ATMs were minor

and no machines had to be completelyreplaced.

“It was sometimes just the software ofthe computer inside the machine,” saysRoy, identifying why automatic tellershad to be modified for the new bills.

Dawn Dolan, senior customer serviceagent at the National Bank on MainStreet in Shawville, says that while theATM at the bank, which dispenses only$20 bills, hasn’t been affected by theswitchover to polymer bills, she expectssome changes will have to be made tothe system before the new green-coloured currency is released.

The new $20 bill is set to make anappearance later this year, followed bythe $5 and $10 bills in 2013.

Bank of Canada is seeing red


Left to right: Dr. Bernard Gélinas, M.D., of Coop des Collines in Cantley, Japanese student AyakoMurata, and Joanne Romain, coordinator of the Pontiac Group de Médecine Familiale.


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ADRIENNE TAYLOREquity ReporterCLARENDON April 14, 2012

A new dairy barn inClarendon owned by Terryand Matt MacDougallattracted a crowd to the newstate-of-the-art structureSaturday.

The company Hörmannsupplied all of the woodbeams, insulated panels andlight ridge for the barn.

The materials are all pre-engineered in a factory andmade ready for a quickbuild.

Robert Young, director ofsolar energy at Hörmannmade an appearance at theevent.

“Most of the materialsactually come fromGermany,” said Young.

The barn took two weeksto build with only four work-ers putting it together.

“It’s a fast and efficientway to build a new dairybarn,” said Young, “and theend result is amazing.”

The environnement of the

barn makes better overallliving for the cows.

“There is a lot of sunlightand open space in thisbarn,” said Young, “it makesthe cows feel like they areoutside.”

Young stated that thebarn’s layout facilitatesinsemination and increasesthe success rate.

Matt and Terry Mac-Dougall have 90 to 95 cowsin their new barn currently,65 of which are milking.

Matt MacDougall wasextremely pleased with howthe new dairy barn turnedout.

MacDougall came back tothe farm in 2005, to workalongside his father and the

pair made plans to make thebarn larger and more effi-cient.

“It took five years to getthis plan up and running,”said MacDougall.

The MacDougall’s have afull partnership on the barn.

“We’ve noticed a huge dif-ference already with thecows overall attitude,” saidMacDougall, “this is tremen-dously better.”

Many people came to viewthe new barn and were offereddoughnuts, coffee and tea.

JULIELEE STITTEquity ReporterSHAWVILLE April 13, 2012

Jerry Brain and GabriellaSztasko lost everything theyowned to a fire that ram-paged through their homeon March 7. Just over amonth later, living in a trail-er on his property in Bristol,Brain is calling himself a“blessed man.”

On Friday night, Brainand Sztasko were surround-ed by family and friends atthe Shawville Lions’ Hall at abenefit party held in theirhonour.

As Brain progressed fromone group of friends to thenext, laughing and jokingabout his newly cropped do(he preferred to wear his hair

in a long style prior to thefire) he paused breifly toexplain why, despite losingeverything, he believed hewas the luckiest man in thehall that night.

“God said to me, ‘you maylose your material joy butyou’ve got more friends thanyou know what to do withand the people are comingtogether not only for you butto show the community howmuch we have.’”

Brain’s home caught fireon a March night, originat-ing in a closet. The flamesquickly spread throughoutthe house.

His girlfriend, Sztasko,was awake and looking forher work boots, when sheopened the closet door and

discovered the blaze. “She woke me up and we

tried to put it out but oncethe oxygen got it, it justignited it,” he says.

Brain describes what hap-pened.

“I put my trousers on andby the time I got to the doorI had burned my head andhands. By the time I got outI was kind of in shock and Ididn’t think of any of thematerialistic things, I justthought, ‘get help,’” recallsBrain. He then went to hisneighbour’s home but it wastoo late for the Bristol FireDepartment to save thehouse.

The neighbours that Braincalled on that night wereDan and Rhonda Tremblaywho have lived next door for10 years. It was theTremblay family who decid-ed to host the fundraiserFriday night for their friend.

“Jerry is a neighbour andhe’s a good friend and heneeds help. He needs thesupport of everyone who cangive a little,” says Tremblay,who describes his friend as a“real good guy.”

The Tremblay’s quicklywent around, collecting doorprizes and donations fromarea businesses. Accordingto Tremblay, everyone waswilling to give to the cause.Aside from donated auctionitems, several area musi-cians donated their time onFriday evening to perform,local DJ Brad Summerfieldalso loaned his services andfood was donated. “We got a

really big donation fromBryson Farms,” saidTremblay noting thatSztasko works for theClarendon based business.

Mike Hodgins attendedthe event to support hisfriend. “I’ve known Jerry for25 years,” says Hodgins,noting that the pair used totruck-pull together at theShawville Fair.

Hodgins works atCanadian Tire in Shawvilleand says the company wasable to make a donation toBrain as part of the

Canadian Tire JumpstartCommunity Crisis Program.

“Whatever the communityraises (Canadian Tire) willgive a maximum of $2,000.”

Hodgins, who has beenthrough a fire in the past,says he understands person-ally how important it is tohave community supportduring a crisis.

“I had a fire two years agoJerry’s offer was there tohelp in whatever way hecould and I know what it’slike, I can tell you what itfeels like and it’s nice to have

that support,” he said. As for how Brain felt

about the night, he said “Ithink it’s just an awesomething for me in my situationand it just proves to me thatI do have beautiful friendsand people around me. Thepeople who aren’t here andcouldn’t make it—I’d like tothank them too and the firedepartment and the com-munity for the love theyhave given me. I am thank-ful for all that and I’mthankful for having my lifetoday.”

Brand new state of the art barn in Clarendon

Community insures Bristol residentswho lost their home in a fire


DJ Brad Summerfield DJ Slide a.k.a Ali Lewis volunteered their time toentertain the crowd Friday night.


Pictured are Gabriella Sztasko, Jerry Brain, TessaTremblay, Nick Redman, Rhonda Tremblay andDan Tremblay.


Many people showed up to the MacDougall farmto view the brand new dairy barn built byHörmann. Adrienne Taylor, THE EQUITY

The new Hörmann built dairy barn wasshowcased by owners Matt and Terry MacDougallon Saturday.

9-1-1 backup system “hugecapital investment”: Bell


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Bell Aliant said that it isnot feasible to invest in 9-1-1 backup systems acrossthe Outaouais region incase the telephone lineswere to fail, despite thecompany acknowledgingits first priority in the caseof a telephone outage is torestore emergency ser-vices.

In a statement to THE

EQUITY last week, NormaHughes, manager of corpo-rate affairs, said that itwould be a huge capitalinvestment that would

benefit a “perfect world,”but that it is difficult forBell to justify mapping sys-tem redundancies throughits miles of “massive” 5.3million-customer networkthat spans six provinces.

Hughes said that as partof their “emergency operat-ing procedures,” Bell,which she described as“one of North America’slargest regional communi-cations providers,” notifieslocal emergency services incase of a phone outage.

At the end of the day,while it amounts to nearlya million dollars to guaran-tee 9-1-1 emergency access

may be a hard pill to swal-low, Hughes said that Bellis still in talks with MRCPontiac and is always opento discussions with othertelecommunications firmsto possibly combine infra-structure if possible.

Fort Coulonge MayorRaymond Durocheracknowledged at a councilmeeting at the Town HallApril 11 that, despite thehigh costs associated withinstalling backup 9-1-1systems, this is not the endof the road, and and thatMRC Pontiac will continueto work with Bell to cometo a solution.

Pontiac MNA Charlotte L'Écuyer will bereceiving the Liberal nomination, uncontestedthis Saturday at Rafters’ Hotel in Bryson. Thelocal politician has represented the ridingsince taking office in 2003 and was last re-elected in 2008.

According to Charlene Graham, the president of thePontiac Liberal Association, no one expressed an interest incompeting against L'Écuyer for the position, which theywould have been required to do before the April 18 dead-line.

The lack of opposition, says Graham, points towards thepublic’s belief that the MNA is successfully fulfilling her roleby representing the riding’s interests in Quebec City.

“I think people in the Pontiac are very satisfied withMadame L'Écuyer’s work. She has worked hard for Pontiacand a lot of files have been processed and are still being

processed and will likely come to fruition,should the Liberals get back in.”Graham says that while people can no longervie for the Liberal party nomination for the

upcoming provincial election, they can enter their name forthe next campaign.

“It’s always open and if somebody wants to throw theirname in the hat for next time, they could do so right now.There’s no timeline on that, it’s open to anyone at anytime.”

From her constituency office in Campbell’s Bay, L'Écuyernoted that this would be her last time on the ballot, addingthat the decision to run in her fourth election was difficult.“It’s not an easy decision. I wondered if I was still going togo and finally, when I looked at the files that we still haveto work on, I said, ‘Let’s try to finish that.’ I think my jobwill be done then,” she said.

Among the projects the MNA says she would like to seerealized before she retires from her political career areimprovements to Hwy. 148.

“That’s something that I won’t let go because we’re goinginto a bit of a crunch and it’s going to get more and morecostly to do the jobs that we have to do,” she said.

L'Écuyer noted that she personally questioned theMinister of Transportation Norman MacMillan aboutrepairs to the highway last week and was told that it was apriority, to which she responded “I’m not going to let it go.”

On Friday morning, L'Écuyer said she hadn’t heardwhether anyone was going to contest her bid for the Liberalparty nomination.

“I’m very candid about it, but I’m sure somebody wouldhave said, ‘You have an opponent,’” chuckled the MNA.

Quebecers are expected to go to the polls in 2013.

The voice of the Pontiac since 1883 Wednesday, April 25, 2012 1 dollar


Murielle Ovenden cools down one of her dogs following a race.

Pontiac MNA uncontested for Liberal Party

In an effort to promote the sport and foster interest amonglocals for dryland dog racing, Denis Rozon hosted a fun competi-

tion on Saturday at Timberland Toursin Bristol, attracting 24 competitors.

Rozon is the owner of the dog sled-ding and racing company, located on

Ragged Chute Road that will host the Bristol Dryland CanadianChampionship for the third consecutive year this November.

The weekend-long event planned for this fall attracted 76teams in its first year and 104 last year. Rozon says attendanceis set to swell yet again in 2012.

“We’re going to have more but I can’t tell you how many.”He did note that he would like to see more locals participating

in the sport not only as spectators but as competitors as well.“The aim of this is to get the local people interested because we

don’t have many local dog drivers,” said Rozon.The owner of Timberland Tours has plans to host the World

Dryland Championships in 2015.On Saturday, novice and experienced racers alike travelled

from as far as Maniwaki, Chicoutimi, Wakefield, Ottawa, Ont.and Pembroke, Ont. to take part in the race.

Among them was 12-year-old Raney Christink fromWestmeath, Ont. who was participating in his first race.

“It’s fun but my fingers are cold,” said Christink, noting the lowmercury level.

Please see DRYLAND page two

JULIELEE STITTEquity ReporterBRISTOL April 21, 2012

Local owner works to promote dryland racing


Trebio firebelieved to beself-igniting

Andrea Cranfield, THE EQUITY

It took about a dozen Campbell’s Bay firefighters approximately half an hour to put the fire out at Trebio on April19. Above, firefighters sprayed the bark piles to ensure the fire didn’t spread.

A fire broke out at Trebio pellet mill inLitchfield on April 19 at about 2 p.m. when alarge pile of bark caught on fire.

The fire spread to several other piles of barksitting in the yard at the mill.

Although the cause of the fire was unknownat the time,Campbell's BayFire ChiefKevin Kluke

said that it's believed that it was started bycombustion.

“When wood heats, it can cause combus-tion,” said Kluke.

When the firefighters arrived, the bark pileswere already on fire.

“There was a lot of smoke. This whole pilewas burning, so was this pile,” said Klukepointing to the recently soaked mounds ofburned bark.

“I don’t know what happened. It was alreadyon fire when we got here,” said the fire chiefadding that there would be an investigationinto the fire to determine the exact cause.

About 12 firefighters combated the flames,which were under control within about half anhour.

The Campbell’s Bay-Litchfield fire depart-ment have been called to the plant previously,but usually for fires that start in the actualmill, said Kluke.

The department had been called to extin-guish bark fires back when the company wasowned by Smurfit Stone. This was the firsttime they have put out a bark fire since Trebiotook over operations.

Yann Selin, the production manager atTrebio, said it's not uncommon for fires tostart in wood piles when there's dry weatherand high winds.

He said the fire was fairly minimal but fire-fighters were called to the scene to make surethe fire didn't spread to more bark piles.

“Most of the time we deal with it by our-selves,” said Selin.

“We’re going to keep watching it and puttingwater on it, it’s very easy to catch on fire whenit gets dry ... everything will be fine.”

An eight week-long summer job training programbeing offered by Heritage College, in partnership with

local tourism companies, willprovide enrolees with the“hard skills” required to workin the tourism industry.

It’s set to launch this Friday on the condition thatenough people sign up for the course.

The program, that is slotted to stretch from the end ofApril to mid-June, will offer individuals enrolled in thecourse the opportunity to learn basic skills like pad-dling, first aid, swift water rescue and high wire rescue.

All of which are skills that are required to work inadventure tourism.

In addition, students will be instructed by industryinsiders with the opportunity to be hired for the summerseason.

Among the local companies that are involved in form-ing the course curriculum are Horizon X, Pure LifeAdventures, Esprit Rafting and Chutes Coulonge.

The course is planned to segue into a full-time Natureand Adventure Tourism program being offered by thecollege this fall in Campbell’s Bay.

“The partners are looking for students who are inter-ested in taking the program this fall. They would like togive them a jumpstart on what they call hard skillstraining so that they can get certified summer employeesfor this particular year,” said Campbell’s Bay HeritageCollege Campus Coordinator Richard Armitage.

According to Armitage, the college is interested inhosting the program to underlie its commitment to thePontiac campus.

Please see TOURISM page three

Nature and AdventureTourism programfirst in province

www.theequity.ca Volume 129, Issue No. 17

Click to checkout the new site

“Browse us and bookmark us”


ANDREA CRANFIELDEquity EditorLITCHFIELD April 19, 2012

For the past six weeks, THE EQUITY has been workingon a top-secret project, one that has helped spread itswings and fly into the Twittersphere for all to see.

Around 5:30 p.m. last Friday, the newspaper launchedits new website to join itsrecent quartet of socialmedia pages that will betterhelp readers connect to the

paper online.“I’m very happy that we have more presence online,”

said THE EQUITY’s Editor Andrea Cranfield. “It reachesout to more people, it’s easier for people to access… we’rekeeping up with the times.”

“It’s certainly gotten us into the 21st century, and I’mpretty sure we’re going to get a lot of tips, comments, andpeople ‘liking’ us [on Facebook],” said Publisher HeatherAlberti Dickson, who hopes the online revamp will helpengage young readers.

Alberti Dickson also hopes website “teasers” will enticereaders to peruse more of the print or online versions.

“As long as you have an Internet connection and acomputer, anywhere in the world, you’re good to go,”

said Ann Taylor, manager of thePontiac Printshop.

Please see WEB page three

HAMISH McKILLOPEquity ReporterSHAWVILLE April 25, 2012


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Water will soften in Campbell’s Bay with new grantANDREA CRANFIELDEquity EditorCAMPBELL’S BAY April 13,2012

After about eight years oftrying to get a new watersystem, a new water tankwas finally put in place inCampbell’s Bay in November2009.

There are regular lab testsdone on the water to ensureit’s of good quality.

In 2010 and 2011, severaltests were done as part of astudy to test the hardness ofthe water and it was foundthat the water was too hard.

Previous to the installa-tion of the new water tank,water was being supplied tothe municipality from theOttawa River, but now thewater comes from an under-ground source.

The further away thewater comes from travelingunderground, the morehardness it can pick up.

Hard water means it has ahigh mineral content.

“Before the new watertank was installed, the waterwas being pumped from asmaller area, but now thatmore water is being used,there are longer pipesunderground, causing thehardness,” said Campbell’sBay Mayor Bill Stewart.

“In every undergroundwell there's hardness. Youtalk to the farmers and theyall tell you. Hardness issomething that's common indrilled wells. So we applied

for a grant to control thishardness.”

Council applied for agrant to get a water softener.After more than a year ofwaiting, it was announcedon April 13 by MNACharlotte L’Écuyer on behalfof the Minister of MunicipalAffairs, Regions and LandOccupancy territory,Laurent Lessard, thatCampbell’s Bay wouldreceive funding to get thesoftener.

The water softener is cost-ing $766,309 with $613,048coming from InfrastructureP r o g r a m - Q u e b e cMunicipalities (PIQM) (about80 per cent of the cost) and$153,261 coming from themunicipality and the gas tax(20 per cent).

“The whole village (wouldbenefit) … I think it’s a vil-lage of about 700 people,”said L’Écuyer.

The reading of normalwater should be 180 partsper million, said Stewart.The water in Campbell’s Baywas up to 240 parts per mil-lion.

“500 parts per million isextremely hard and we'rearound 240, 247 which isnot overly hard but it'shard,” he said.

“It affects your clothes, itaffects the detergent youuse, it affects your hair, yourwash.”

Although the water is safeto drink, the hardnessaffects the appliances by

leaving marks and stains. L’Écuyer also said hard

water can wear out the pipesquicker than soft water.

“I think if your water is toohard, it’s hard on all thepipes and everything. It’slike when you put it in yourhouse, it’s a concentration ofmanganese that’s in yourwater, so it makes a veryharsh water so (the newwater softener) is to helpkeep the new system in goodshape,” she said.

The new water softenerwill control the excessiveamount of manganese in thewater, which causes thehardness.

There are two systemsthat are available for themunicipality, the ionexchange resin system thatuses salt and the membranesystem.

Campbell’s Bay wouldneed 36 membranes for themembrane system, whichStewart said are expensiveand would require a lot ofmaintenance.

The ion exchange resinsystem contains three hold-ing tanks that fill up withresin, with each unit holdinga certain amount of salt.

“After so many liters ofwater, these units backwashand they take all the hard-ness and calcium out of thewater and then they reuse itand it comes back into thesystem again,” he said.“Whenever one’s down forbackwash, the other two

kick in.”Not all of the water will be

put through the water soft-ener, said the mayor,because Campbell’s Bay’swater hardness percentageis not high enough to put itall through.

“It’s high but it’s not thathigh, but we're going to say‘OK we'll open the valvehalfway or we'll open it athird because you don't wantto take all the hardness outof the water,” said Stewart.“You need a percentage.”

The mayor said themunicipality is leaningtowards the ion exchangesystem.

“It's easier for us to oper-ate with less operationalcosts and maintenance wise,I think it's the best way,”said Stewart. “The study hasalready pointed in thatdirection that the salt sys-tem would be the best sys-tem for us to go … the mem-brane system is a good sys-tem but it's complicated andit's costly.”

The engineer will helpdecide which system is thebest choice for the munici-pality.

There were two placesbeing considered for the newwater softener, by the welland by the water tank.

If the water softener wereplaced near the well, a septicsystem holding tank wouldhave to be built for the brineor a pipe would have to bebuilt that ran to the river

“because we're allowed toput so many parts per mil-lion of this brine in the river,but it's a big cost for us, allthe piping and all that,” saidStewart.

It’s most likely going to beinstalled beside the tank.

“That's the most practicalway for us to get rid of thebrine (made of salt andwater),” said the mayor. “Thesewer system is right there… the way it works is about85 to 90 per cent, maybeeven higher that would goback into the system and bereused. Because there's

very, very little lost with thissystem. It's very, very effi-cient.”

The five per cent of waterthat gets lost will be dilutedand go into the sewer sys-tem.

Stewart hopes that thenew water softener systemwill be up and running in thefall. He estimates thatinstalling the new systemwill be about a six monthjob.

“It's a big project forCampbell's Bay … we werevery lucky to get the money,”said Stewart..

Firefighters’ new workflow could save livesHAMISH MCKILLOPEquity ReporterSHAWVILLE April 20, 2012

Fort Coulonge stepped upits game in fire safety lastThursday when 17 of itsfirefighters were honouredat the municipality’s GoldenAge Club for completing cer-tification in Non-UrbanOfficer and First Respondercourses.

“We have older people inthe community and we wantto make sure that they’rewell taken care of. Theresponse time is alreadygood with the ambulance,but we’re bettering that ser-vice,” said Fort CoulongeFire Chief Gaetan Fortin.

Micheline Fortin, anAdministrative Secretary forthe municipality, was alsorecognized for her 25 yearsof outstanding work for themunicipality, and received agold lady’s watch for hercontribution to the commu-nity.

“It’s touching. I’ve seen a

lot of stuff. I can evenremember when we had afire in ’83. The fire hallburned down and our officewas there. It all burned. So,we went through quite abit,” said Micheline.

Micheline, who was bornand raised in FortCoulonge, attendedLafortune Business Collegein Ottawa, before returningto work in her hometownwhere she now works.

Five firefighters earnedcertificates as Non-UrbanOfficers, and 12 were alsocertified as FirstResponders, which took 60hours spread across fourweekends for the firefightersto complete.

Daniel Ladouceur, whohas served as a Shawvilleparamedic for 13 years andan Otter Lake firefighter for20, instructed the FirstResponder course. He said,“the reason why it’s reallyimportant in small commu-nities like we have [is] we

only have a few ambu-lances, and a lot of time theambulances are far away.So, when an emergencyarrives sometimes theambulance will be 20, 30,40 minutes before theyarrive, and you can have aFirst Responder within sixminutes.”

The First Respondercourse was administered inthe Outaouais by theMinistry of Health, accord-ing to Ladouceur.

Ladouceur has also pro-vided tactical medical train-ing to the African military inBenin in 2008, and toUganda in 2011.

“It’s showing their devo-tion and involvement totheir local communities,”said local mayor RaymondDurocher.

“It’s important becauseit’s going to meet the newlaw that the governmentimplemented in Quebec,and we’re just following theguidelines for better securi-

ty for the communities,” hesaid.

Jocelyn Moisan, medicaldirector for the Outaouaisregion, said firefighters cansave lives by being betterqualified.

“Espeically to save time,we give the opportunity to[the firefighters] to have theability and the equipmentthey need to save time andto stablize a person whilesick or treat a victim of anaccident before ambulancesarrive,” said Moisan.

Durocher said that bring-ing the firefighters up to parwith regional bylaw for theFire Safety Act implies astandardization of regulartraining beyond volunteerfirefighting.

Chief Fortin received bothcertifications and said it’simportant for a chief toknow what his team is goingthrough during various sit-uations, so it’s important tobe fully qualified for thatreason alone.


Left to right, top to bottom: Raymond Durocher, Mayor of Fort Coulonge,Ted Day, Charles Trottier, FirstResponder Coordinator, Judith Daoust, Director of the organization of services, Mark Romain, FirstResponder, Jocelyne Moisan, Medical director of emergency medical services (Outaouais), MatthewRomain, First Responder, Daniel Ladouceur, First Responder Instructor, Gilles Dionne, FirstResponder and Non Urban Officer, Carl Paul, Non Urban Officer, Éric Alain, First Responder, ClaudeBéchamp, Éric Jolin, First Responder, François Desormaux, First Responder and Non Urban Officer,Michel Fortin, First Responder and Non Urban Officer, Gaetan Fortin, First Responder and Non UrbanOfficer, Marcel Laporte, First Responder, Johathan Soucie, First Responder, Gilles Malette, FirstResponder. Missing are First Responders Mario Lacroix, Cédric Caron, Rock Laroche and ScottLévesque.


Marcel Laporte stands by the fire station,confident that his new skills will help him out inthe field.

TOURISM:new programContinued from page one

“The college made a com-mitment by renovating thisbuilding and opening thisrural campus...we have twomajor industries in PontiacCounty and that’s agricul-ture and tourism. We’d liketo provide services to bothindustries if at all possible.”

If the program does pro-ceed, it would be one of thefirst adventure tourism pro-grams offered in theprovince, which course co-coordinator Ray Bretzloffsays would benefit theregion.

“It’s a huge brick in the

foundation of the area, espe-cially for tourism for a num-ber of reasons,” saidBretzloff.

“The adventure tourismindustry is huge in the worldand if we’re the only (collegeoffering the program) inQuebec then we get put onthe map and there will bemore people coming hereand there will be moreopportunities,” said the pro-gram co-coordinator.

In order for the program tolaunch a minimum of eightstudents are required. As ofThursday afternoon therewere six.

WEB: To better connect with readersContinued from page one

Taylor said, “I think, forus, what might be reallygreat is the people who werevery frustrated with CanadaPost delivery services thatlive outside of Pontiac coun-ty that don’t get it in a time-ly fashion, that it’s nowgoing to be available onlineand they can subscribeonline.

“I think potentially a lot ofpeople may come back onboard because they can getthe paper in a timely fash-

ion.”Four social media pages

came first, through thedeployment of Facebook,Twitter, YouTube, andGoogle+ pages to spur aninitial uptake.

The website was rebuilt byintern reporter HamishMcKillop, who will be gradu-ating from AlgonquinCollege’s journalism pro-gram in June.

The website is unchanged,and is stillwww.theequity.ca, so there

is no need for readers to re-bookmark the site.

Staff at THE EQUITY

expects the new web pres-ence overall will help thenewspaper better interactwith its reader base.

Taylor said the new web-site should help make thenewspaper “more current,”to help deliver more contentto hungry readers betweenweekly issues of the printedition.

Some say social mediavehicles such as Facebook

and Twitter can have a frag-menting effect on a website’sreader base, and boost“bounce rate,” or the rate atwhich visitors leave the web-site upon arrival without nav-igating elsewhere on the site.

“I think if you’re notdoing that, then you’refalling behind,” saidAlgonquin journalism grad-uate Dylan Copland, formerweb editor of the AlgonquinTimes college newspaper. Ifyou don’t get [news] up[online] then someone else

probably will.”Copland said social media

could supplement a weeklynewspaper’s content anddrive the momentum of itsreader base.

“Even with dailies, it’s up-to-the-minute news,” he saidin regards to the ultra-time-liness of Twitter feeds.

THE EQUITY will continueto produce its quality printproduct every week but thewebsite will now serve as alanding point for anyonewith Internet access who

wants to get a taste of whatthey will find in the morerecent or upcoming edition,and to connect with THE

EQUITY’s social media sites.More multimedia content

is also being planned forfuture issues.

In coming weeks, keepyour eyes peeled for QR(quick response) codes likethe one that is featured onpage one. They will guideyou to cool stuff online suchas videos, photos, columnsor editorials.


Micheline Fortin and Fort Coulonge MayorRaymond Durocher at the Golden Age Club inFort Coulonge April 20.


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Successful general annual meeting for Pinqouin snowmobile clubARIENNE TAYLOREquity ReporterFort-Coulonge April 18, 2012

The Pingouin snowmobileclub held its annual generalmeeting on Sunday in FortCoulonge.

There were several topicsof discussion at the meeting.

The adoption of the agen-da was moved by EarlMcKnight and seconded byWillard Kluke.

A wide variety of issueswere discussed.

At first, the resolution of2010 minutes, which wasmoved by McKnight and sec-onded by Philippe Pilon inorder to accept last year’sminutes.

Insurance coverage fornew bridges was also a livelytopic. This was in fact movedby Kluke and seconded byMcKnight.

There have been grantsfor three new bridges on theclubs liability insurance.

The club discussed theupcoming 2012-2013 sea-son and the things theycould do to improve theamount of pre-sale trailpasses that are purchased.

The club was disappoint-ed with the lack of pre-saletrail passes sold last seasonand are hoping to sell more

this year. There was a tremendious

drop in sales for trail passes.The club acknowledged

that poor weather conditionshurt the snowmobiling sea-son.

Future work projects were

discussed amongst thegroup.

The club is loooking to geta by-pass at Green LakeRoad as well as funding torepair the McGillivery creekbridge.

A trail at Cahill Line needs

to be fixed and a trail atJim’s Lake Road will beremoved from the club’sroute for safety purposes.

The club is interested inpurchasing machinery andnoted that they would like tobuy something new.

The club was extremelygrateful for the help providedby volunteers to help main-tain the trails.

The Pingouin snowmobileclub members are enthusi-astic about the upcomingsnowmobile season.

The Lions fight hard in Montreal tournament COMPILED BYANDREA CRANFIELDEquity ReporterPONTIAC April 25, 2012

Bantam CC (Submitted byDiana Desabrais)

On Thursday, April 19,the Bantam CC Lions trav-elled to participate in theDodge Cup Provincial tour-nament representing theOutaouais. The 14 top teamsin Quebec came together toface one another to battle forthe Provincial Cup. The com-petition was stiff and eachteam was out to win.

The Lions met theHurricanes de Mashteuiatshfrom Saguenay Lac St-Jeanin their first game. TheHurricanes capitalized onpenalties against the Lionsto take the lead and keep itfor the win. Final score was5-2. Goals went to MattCurley assisted by NickGraveline; and AlexisGauthier unassisted. AlexTremblay was in nets. Playerof the game went to MattCurley.

On Friday morning, theLions faced the Gouverneursde Terrebonne from theLaurentides-Lanaudiereregion.

The Lions trailed 2-0going into the third period,but the boys battled backstarting with a goal midwaythrough the third forBrayden Romain assisted byAlexis Gauthier and Julien

Lepine. Matt Curley with anassist from Nick Gravelinetied it up with 1 1/2 minutesleft in regulation time forcingthe game into a five minutesudden death overtime.

Unfortunately, because ofa game ejection, the Lionslost their fair play point sohad to play the entire fiveminutes short handed. Withless than two minutesremaining in the overtime,the Gouverneurs managedto score ending the gamewith a 3-2 defeat for theLions. Ayden Hodgins wasbetween the pipes. NickGraveline was named playerof the game.

Friday night the Lions metthe Condors from Richelieu.Both teams needed the winin order to advance. TheCondors took the lead in thesecond with two goals.Halfway through the second,the Lions, taking advantageof a powerplay, scored twoquick goals as a result ofblasts from the blue line.

Goals to tie the gamecame from StevenSchuiteboer and JaredMurray. Assists went to MattCurley (2), Murray, andGraveline. The Lions wereable to hold their grounduntil the Condors were ableto put it past Alex Tremblaywith less than 2 minutes leftin the game leading to adefeat for the Lions. Finalscore was 3-2.

The player of the gameaward went to StevenSchuiteboer.

The Lions had their tour-nament chances cut shortbut not for lack of trying.The boys fought hard untilthe end and proved theycould compete with the bestin the province.

The team would like tothank the parents and fansfor their support throughoutthe season.

We would also like tothank the following sponsorsfor the financial help in get-ting us to the tournament:Jason Hynes Construction;Haley Industries; PromutualLa Vallee Insurance;Municipality of Mansfield;Mathieu Ravignant, NDPrepresentative; MoutainviewTurf; Municipality ofPontiac; and M&R Feeds,Shawville.

Atom CC (Submitted byAngie Belsher-Ireland)

The Pontiac Lions AtomCC team travelled toMontreal this past weekendto participate in theProvincial Championships(aka 'Dodge Cup'). All gameswere played in Boisbriand,QC.

Their first game wasThursday evening againstRapides Lac St-Jean Nord.Kaelen Ireland was betweenthe pipes for the Lions. TheLions opened up the scoringwith a goal in the first period

by Charles Romain, assistedby Mac Ellison and EvanAtkinson.

Lac St-Jean Nord scoredtheir first goal in the secondperiod. The Lions' scoredtheir second goal shortlythereafter. Ben Barr nettedthe goal, assisted by RoyDuggan. With about tenminutes left in the game,Konnor Beck replacedKaelen Ireland in the Lions'net. The Lions' third goal ofthe game was scored byJayden Nadeau on a passfrom Roy Duggan and BenBarr.

Lac St-Jean Nord got theirsecond goal of the game latein the period. Final scorewas a 3-2 victory for theLions. Player of the game forthe Lions was CharlesRomain.

The Lions' second game ofthe tournament was againstFédération de l'Est on Fridaymorning. Kaelen Irelandstarted the game betweenthe pipes for the Lions. Thefirst period was scoreless.

Half way through the sec-ond period, Konnor Becktook over in the Lions netfollowing an injury to KaelenIreland. Fédération de l'Estscored their first goal of thegame late in the second peri-od. Having recovered, KaelenIreland was back in nets forthe Lions at the start of thethird period.

Down by a goal, the Lions'

came out roaring. RoyDuggan started off theirscoring with an unassistedgoal. Mac Ellison scored theLions' second goal on a passfrom Jake Pilon. Roy Duggansealed the Lions' victory withan unassisted empty netter.Final score 3-1. Player of thegame for the Lions was RoyDuggan.

Saturday afternoon, theLions faced off against theMaroons de Lachine. Thisteam finished first placeoverall in Quebec.

Kaelen Ireland was in netsfor the Lions. Lachine scoredthe first three goals of thegame; one per period. TheLions' got their first goal ofthe game half way throughthe third period. CharlesRomain netted the goal withan assist by Troy Romain.

With less than a minuteleft in the game, the goaliepulled and an extra attackeron the ice, the Lions foughtback hard. Zak Béchampnetted a top shelf goal on apass from Charles Romain.

Unfortunately, it wasn'tquite enough. The Lionswere eliminated from thetournament with a 3-2 lossto Lachine. The Lions playerof the game was ZakBéchamp. A final congratu-lations and Thank You to thePontiac Lions Atom CC play-ers and coaching staff for afantastic and memorableyear.

Water colours spill into Shawville art galleryHAMISH MCKILLOPEquity ReporterFORT COULONGE April 7,2012

Art Brûlant & IMPRES-SIONS art gallery was centrestage on April 7 for avernissage of the watercolour creations of Luskvilleartist Thérèse André.

André recently returnedhome from a vacation toSatellite Beach, Fla., whereshe painted 50 water colourand ink seascape illustra-tions in 80 days.

Eighteen of the pieceswere on display around thegallery owned and operatedby local artist RaymondSander-Regier.

André exhibited some ofher work in a “stockingstuffers” Christmas groupshow in December thatSander-Regier hosted.Impressed by her work, heapproached her andoffered her a single-personshow.

Sander-Regier said, “I likeabstract, I like realism. Thiswork is sort of in between,because it’s also very evoca-tive in an emotional sense. Ilike the way she has usedthe ink in the pen to bringout details in the watercolours.”

André, who has lived inLuskville for about 40 years,

was born in Belgium andcame to Canada at the age of21 years old. She was ateacher for 30 years, andoperated a bed and break-fast for 13 years.

Now a few years intoretirement, André describesherself as being “veryretired” for the past fewyears, and enjoys paintingevery day.

She said this was the firsttime she had her art dis-played in a gallery.

“When I was a child, itwas just water colour. I likewater colour because of itstranslucence,” said André.“When I paint, I am inanother world.”

She said the challengewith water colours, especial-ly for young artists, is itspermanent quality that,unlike other forms of paint-ings such as acrylic, cannotbe manipulated on the can-vas to cover up an error.

She said young artistsshould learn different tech-niques from different men-tors, because each painter isdifferent.

According to Thérèse, thequality of the end producthas a lot to do with the emo-tional balance of the artist.

“If I don’t feel good, I don’tpaint. When I am good, it’seasy,” said André.


Luskville artist Thérèse André stands before one of the 50 water colourpaintings she painted in three months while vacationing in Florida earlierthis year.


From left to right: Wayne Venne, Earl Lepine, Serge Chenier, Philip Pilon, Roland Godin, Leon Venne,JP Forget, Claude Lance and Yvon Romain held their general annual snowmobile meeting on Sundayafternoon.


NOTICE OF MEETING

1. Opening of the meeting by the President2. Reading and adoption of the notification of meeting3. Reading and adoption of the meeting procedures4. Reading and adoption of the agenda5. Adoption of the minutes of Annual General Meeting held on May 5, 20116. Presentation and adoption of the 2011 activities report7. Presentation and adoption of the 2011 financial statement and nominate auditor

for 20128. Modification to Regulation on the Centralisation of the sale of wood – to include

saw logs and biomass9. Modification Project of territorial limits of the joint plan of the Pontiac Forestry

Board10. Other motions11. Special guest12. Election of directors:

Districts :No 2: the townships of Bristol and Clarendon, as well as the village of

Shawville;No 4: the united townships of Leslie, Clapham and Huddersfield;No 6: the villages of Campbell’s Bay and Fort-Coulonge, the united townships

of Mansfield and Pontefract and Waltham & Bryson as well as thetownship of Upper Litchfield;

No 8: municipality of Cayamant.Note: Nomination form are available at the Office and must be returned, fullycompleted, ten (10) days before the day of the meeting

13. Varia14. Draw for door prizes (chain saw; etc.)15. Closure of the assembly

AGENDA

GENERAL ANNUAL MEETING OF THEJOINT PLAN OF THE

PONTIAC FOREST PRODUCTS PRODUCERS BOARD

To all woodlot owners covered by the joint plan of thePontiac Forest Products Producers Board

You are invited to participate in the 52nd general annual meeting of the joint planof the Pontiac Forest Products Producers Board that will be held on:

Date: Wednesday, May 16, 2012Time: 12:30 p.m. Registration

1:00 p.m. MeetingPlace: Recreation Hall, 2 Second Street, Campbell’s Bay, Quebec

The matters to be dealt with during this meeting are detailed in the agenda featuredbelow. Copies of the minutes are also available at the office or at the door of theannual meeting.

The proofs of ownership accepted are the following: Please take note that theproducers must identify themselves and possess a recent proof of ownership.

• Municipal tax bill• A notarised deed of ownership• Pre-registration certificate

All the producers of the joint plan of the Pontiac Forestry Board have the right to voteduring the assembly. The vote by proxy is reserved to the one person only. No onecan represent more than one person at once.

CLD DU PONTIACJob Offer

Economic and Entrepreneurship Development OfficerContract position (full time)

SUMMARY OF MANDATE: Coaching, support service for entrepreneurs, economic development and entrepreneurialcultureREQUIREMENTS:• 3 years experience in business plan preparation or in duties related to business management

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medium size businesses;• Demonstrated leadership abilities, self-reliant and self-motivated;• Bilingualism is essential.CONDITIONS: Full-time position on a renewable contractual basis starting June 4, 2012APPLICATION: before noon May 14, 2012

Selection Committee – Centre local de développement (CLD) du Pontiac602 Route 301 N. – Campbell’s Bay (Québec) J0X 1K0Telephone : 819-648-5689 ext. 121 – Fax : 819-648-2866E-mail : [email protected] More information? Visit: www.portailpontiac.qc.ca (Careers section)

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On April 10 I met a 7-year-old whose mother wasnowhere to be found because she was in hospital suffer-ing carbon monoxide poisoning for saving him from theirburning home.

While little Jake was unhurt, his mother sufferedminor burns, and the two of them were left with nothingbut the clothes on their back.

This is not the kind of thing a reporter takes lightly. Infact, some of us are at risk of this becoming routine. Butthere is nothing routine about what happened to the Pittfamily when their home was gutted from the inside outwithin two hours. Interviewing Jake that day on hisfront lawn before his smoldering house is not a day I willsoon forget.

Driving through Ottawa a few days later on my day off,I realized what I was missing while in the city: peace andquiet. This is a phenomenon that caught me by surprisewhen I arrived in Pontiac six weeks ago.

If a townhouse were destroyed in Ottawa, it wouldautomatically make headlines but in an urban setting,

passes by people’s attention almost as routine news.Such an event would not have the same impact as it

would in a small, rural town such as Shawville.The peacefulness of Shawville and other communities

throughout Pontiac are hit twice as hard when such atragedy takes hold.

Having made Shawville my home while I interned atTHE EQUITY, I fear that not only the city but I have takenadvantage of this incredible tranquility, as this qualitythat has become second nature every late night andcrack of dawn my days have come to a close and startedup again in Shawville.

The entire Outaouais region has been a fantastic placeto practice my reporting and the hospitality of theQuébec people has shaped me into the best journalist Ican be.

I have been afforded the amazing opportunities in myreporting, having met mayors, fire chiefs, teachers andstudents. I have met figure skating kids who performedas zombies on ice.

My internship here is drawing to a close, and I am setto briefly return to my classroom’s confines before grad-uating in June from Algonquin College’s journalism pro-gram.

For now I bid you my adieu, my friend Pontiac. I’ll see you again, hopefully sooner rather than later.

I was walking on Main Street today and noticed a strangesight. Coming out of the concrete was a clump of green.Farther on was another. I bent closer and yes it was a clus-ter of dandelions.

I smiled to myself at these hardy little wildflowers. Theyare for the most part unwanted, anywhere they pop up. Nowof all places they had managed to push out in a most unusu-al place, the sidewalk.

Now I admit that I do my best to run those little yellowsdown too. At times I even dig a shovel in and root them out,hoping to obliterate them completely and yet I’ve been hand-ed my share of dandelion bouquets and been thankful forthem. When a child picks a flower all you see is their love.Beauty is definitely in the eye of the beholder.

It causes me to think that a difference in taste is just that,a difference. What I think is lovely may be very plain to some-one else and vise versa.

These differences don’t have to cause us to disagree andyet often they do. No one wins when we argue. In fact Godtells us we should only say what is helpful for building oth-ers up. The key is to use words that encourage. Complainingdoes not produce anything worthwhile.

Try it. Practice saying only helpful words for a week. Well,maybe for starters, a day. You will be pleasantly surprised.

Submitted by Esther Colpitts.


HAMISH THEINTERN HAMISH [email protected]

The consumption of tea for its health proper-ties has been going on for thousands of years.Black, white, green or oolong, next to water, tea isthe most widely consumed beverage in the world.

All teas come from a plant known as CamelliaSinensis. The more processing the leaves of theplant undergo, the darker they will turn.

Green and white teas are steamed quickly,while black and oolong are dried and fermented(10 Health Benefits of Drinking Tea, Amy Bell,2009). Regardless of how the leaves areprocessed, the health benefits attributed to this

drink are immense. It is wise to drink up.Flavonoids and catechins are antioxidants thatare found in tea that can be credited for its bene-fits.

Health Benefits of Tea, published in 2011 byRobyn Kievit, a registered dietitian with EmersonCollege in Boston, outlines some of the benefits.Tea can actually reduce the risk of cardiovasculardisease and cancer (the flavonoids in tea can aidin the prevention of cellular damage) and it canalso boost your immune system.

Drinking tea has also been linked to enhancedcognition, improved memory and can aid in theprevention of Alzheimer’s disease. This can belinked to an antioxidant found in green tea calledEGCg, which decreases the production of a pro-tein called beta amyloid that can degrade nervecells in the brain.

Weight control is another great benefit of teaconsumption. Catechins in the tea can help withfat oxidation by activating the enzymes in thebody that metabolize stored fat.

Harvard Women’s Health Watch offers a coupleof tips to consuming this beverage and reaping allthe benefits. They suggest ingesting three cupsper day and allowing the tea to seep for three tofive minutes to bring out the catechins. They alsoadvise that it is more beneficial to drink it freshlybrewed – decaffeinated, bottled and instant vari-eties have less of these antioxidants. Taking intoaccount all these awesome advantages, I think wecould all use a little more tea time.

Chelsea Kearns is originally from Quyon andattended Pontiac High School, Heritage Collegeand graduated from the University of Ottawa witha General Bachelor Degree in Social Sciences.

Tea timeHEALTH TIPSCHELSEA. [email protected]

Concrete surprises

Clippings

Nothing routine about losing your home

THE WAY

WE WEREContinued from page four

Alas, the rumor brieflyreferred to in our last issue,that the gigantic liner “Titanic”had foundered as the result ofa collision with an iceberg offthe coast of Newfoundland wasverified by later reports.

The suddenness with whichPremier Gouin has sprung theelections upon the province,and the very short timebetween dissolution of theLegislature and polling day,coupled with the probabilitythat the roads will be bad,makes it practically impossiblefor candidates in this or anyother large county to makeanything like a thorough can-vas of the electors.

Looks as if this was more bydesign than by accident.

125 Years AgoApril 28, 1887

Local news: Escaped: One ofthe burglars, Grenier by name,who broke into Turpain’s storeat Quyon, and was subse-quently sentenced to threeyears in the penitentiaryescaped through a car windowwhile he was being taken to St.Vincent de Paul by an Aylmerconstable.

A fire broke out in the tailorshop of Mr. G.H. Burroughs,Portage du Fort, Friday morn-ing last week, and althoughhelp to extinguish it was onhand soon after the alarm wasgiven, the building with muchof its contents, was consumed.The fire broke out in theupstairs part of the buildingand is supposed to have beenset by some malicious incendi-ary.

Mr. Burroughs had just fin-ished sheeting and painting hisshop, and although the build-ing and stock were well insured,yet the loss in the stoppage inhis daily increasing trade willbe heavy as there are few, ifany, suitable vacant buildingsin the village.

The Ottawa and CoulongeRivers have still their wintercoats of ice, although in someplaces it is becoming prettythin, so thin that a teamdropped in the other daybetween this place andLapasse.

Submitted by Elizabeth Hahn for THE EQUITY

Continued from page fourKF: Okay, so now we need to dispense of some toxic

cleansers. Please remind us why it is not a good strategy topour them down the toilet or into our bathtub drain.

LC: The irony is that to dispose of toxic household clean-ers - like those with hazard symbols you cannot pour it downthe drain. Wait. Isn’t that how most of them are used?

Here’s how to dispose of household hazardous waste - youneed to take it to a special depot, often run by your city.Never throw old cleaner bottles with product in the garbageor recycling where they can contaminate our waterways.

d a v i d s u z u k i . o r g / w h a t - y o u - c a n - d o / q u e e n - o f -green/faqs/cleaning/how-to-dispose-of-household-haz-ardous-waste/

KF: Thanks so much for your time, Lindsay.Katharine Fletcher is a freelance writer, columnist and

author. Contact her at [email protected].

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Canada’s 145th birthday was a tidal wave ofred flowing through Pontiac over the long week-end, as people in various areas came out tostrut their stuff, and help celebrate Canada’strue north, strong and free.

Fervent Canadians were out marching thestreets, waving flags and dressed in Canadianflags as everyone enjoyed the summer heat that

was broken by some threatening cloudsSaturday that, apart from a couple odd drops,held up.

In numerous municipalities throughoutPontiac, the local fire departments wereengaged in the community.

Firefighters leading parades from top to bot-tom of Pontiac independently said they wanted

to “do it for the kids” and help out in whateverway they could on this day that brings so manytogether to illustrate that very community spir-it Pontiac is known for.

Portage du FortChildren and parents in Portage du Fort

played against each other at the baseball dia-mond Friday night and adults played in a base-ball tournament Saturday morning, where 70-year-old Ross Gravel took part in the ball game.

Gravel took a spill coming into home platebut according to organizers he was bandagedup and continued playing.

The little tikes and their parents dressed upand participated in a bike parade Saturdaymorning around 11 a.m., which began at thecorner of Main and Rue de l’Église and pro-ceeded around the block via Nelson Street.

Just before the parade commenced, Portagedu Fort Mayor Lynne Cameron said of their

firefighters, “(The parade) brings everybody out,everybody chips in and they’re very supportivefor any event in town, I find, but especially forthe children.”

“They have a few prizes, but all the kids getsomething, and that’s nice,” said Cameronabout prizes the children later received for thecreativity of their Canada Day-decorated bicy-cles.

Led by the Portage du Fort Fire Department,some children had training wheels, some wentwithout.

Kids were dressed in face paint, red-and-white curly wigs with flags for capes and onewho even built a wrestling ring around his bicy-cle.

QuyonThe people of Quyon celebrated on Saturday

with a community barbeque sponsored byPontiac Mayor Eddie McCann, who made a

contribution to help offset the cost of the food.The town had a parade that went from

Onslow Elementary School on Clarendon Streetto the Quyon Lions Hall where a hugeCanadian flag donated anonymously by a localfamily was raised next to the Quyon Ferry in aflag-raising ceremony.

The donation of the flag was a contributionthat was “absolutely” appreciated, according toa Quyon Canada Day Committee official.

The flag is “the largest flag in Pontiac,”according to Curtis Hudson, a Canada DayCommittee member, in an email statement toTHE EQUITY.

Shawn Findlay is one of the organizers of theQuyon C Kidz Kan, a non-profit organizationaimed at offering fun activities for kids in thearea that asked Little Rays Zoo from Ottawa tobring a few reptilian specimens out for the kidsto see.

The voice of the Pontiac since 1883 Wednesday, July 4, 2012 1 dollarwww.theequity.ca Volume 129, Issue No. 27

Photo by Hamish McKillop

Nicole Ladouceur, whoops it up at the Otter Lake Canada parade. It was one of many parades to take place in Pontiac this past weekend.

“I may not want to marry somebody, butmaybe I should,” Thorne Mayor Ross Vowlestold his colleagues at the mayor’s council meet-ing held on June 26 at the Community Learning

Centre in Campbell’sBay, as the groupdebated amalgama-tion.

Vowles expressed his support for a study thatrings in at $76,500 and will examine the impactand feasibility of merging municipalities, as wellas suggest the best governance option.

Vowles encouraged mayors to facilitate thestudy by asking their councillors and municipalemployees to cooperate with the company com-pleting the review.

“Maybe the status quo is the best way for usto be but what if it wasn’t? What if there is abetter system out there and we didn’t go andlook? This is what this is,” said Vowles.

“This is all that this is; going and looking andhaving a study done. I think it would be negli-gent not to seek the information so that we canbetter serve our people going forward,” headded.

Allumettes Island Mayor Winston Sunstrumreferred to the study as a long-term investmentin the area.

“This is money being spent which we maybenefit from 30 years down the road,” he said,adding, “This is taking charge of our own destinyto see where we want to go.”

Sunstrum asked his colleagues from sur-rounding municipalities to unanimously adopta motion to approve the study. However not allmayors were in favour of the expenditure.

“The problem isn’t the study, the problem isthat we’re taking money from our MRC to makea study,” said Mansfield Mayor Leslie Belair.

Campbell’s Bay Mayor Bill Stewart added, “I

think what Mr. Belair is saying is: are there bet-ter ways for us to spend our money?”

According to Director General Remi Bertrand,money for the review has been budgeted for in afund for strategic development.

The county did have the option in the past tohave a study on amalgamation conducted, withthe provincial government footing half of the bill.However, a lack of interest shown by somemunicipalities resulted in the opportunity pass-ing by.

“There was a resolution sent to each munici-pality ... to sign if they were willing to take partin the study. All the municipalities had to say‘yes’ (by signing),” explained Fort CoulongeMayor Raymond Durocher. However, not all ofthe municipalities signed the resolution.

Durocher noted that by approving funding forthe study on June 26, mayors were keeping thepromise they’d made to the public in Vision

2020, a plan for local strategic development inthe area.

“We told the public that we were going toaddress governance and now we are. I’m notafraid of it because the bottom line of thisstudy is that it will be a regional vision withlocal aspects, local municipalities and localpeople will have a say in an open forum to sayyea or nay.”

The resolution to proceed with the studywas passed at the meeting, however it didn’treceive the support of all 18 mayors.

Fifteen mayors voted in favour of hiringRaymond, Chabot, Grant, ThorntonConsulting Inc. to conduct the review, withBelair as the sole mayor to vote against thestudy.

Mayors from both Waltham and CalumetIsland were not at the meeting, and as a resultdidn’t cast a vote.

Amalgamation study receives the go-ahead and 76 Gs

JULIELEE STITTEquity ReporterPONTIAC June 26, 2012

flags bbq baseball sun pig roast floats singing flea market 50-50 draws breakfastparade dancing clear skies friends auctions fireworks family candies toysdonations clowns beverages alligator food ... there was something for everyone

O Canada, O Pontiac!

In order to avoid going to court, MRC Pontiacis paying half the cost, about $6,000, in order to

quell a mistakethat was madeafter a municipalevaluation of

Clarendon equalled $9 million more than itshould have. The $9 million evaluation mistakeresulted in a $12,000 overcharge payable to MRCPontiac.

Servitech, a company that does municipalevaluations in MRC Pontiac, including propertyand building evaluations and MRC Pontiac areeach splitting the bill.

Somewhere along the way, a mistake wasmade when evaluating the depreciation of farmbuildings in Clarendon.

“That's where it arose from,” said ClarendonMayor Jack Lang. “We've never had any problemswith them until the 2012 tax year.”

Servitech's evaluation of Clarendon amountedto $9 million more than it should have been, saidLang.

“It amounted to quite a little bit ... (the mistakewas) that our share, in dollars and cents to themunicipality, was a shortfall of $46,500,” saidthe mayor. “The evaluation of the farm buildingshad never been depreciated so that put our eval-uation up that much higher. And then we had toeither go redo our budget or tax the people moreso we chose not to send out another tax bill.”

Please see MISTAKE page six

$9 millionmistakemadeANDREA CRANFIELDEquity EditorCLARENDON June 26, 2012


Maya Cardinal (whose Aboriginal nameis Nigàni Wabigan), eight, is partAlgonquin and part Cree and enjoyedthe festivities and having her bodypainted.

A powwow was held throughout the day out-side the arena in Fort Coulonge on June 30,with a pig roast, arts and crafts for sale and

music, cele-brating theA lgonquintribe roots.

The Country Drifters performed in theevening, at which time event coordinator GaryBélair expected to have even more people turnout.

For $12, attendees were served pork, cake,salad, potatoes and carrots. Money raised wenttowards subsidizing the cost of a Bone DensityMachine at the CLSC health Centre in FortCoulonge.

“This is a way for us to call the spirits out,and try to … show our roots, and show our dif-ferent tradition to the public. So we try to bindin with Canada Day so we can have a multicul-tural day,” said Bélair.

Leader of the Green Party of Québec, ClaudeSabourin was out enjoying the powwow festivi-ties and he was impressed with what he saw.

“We try to get closer to the Aboriginal people... We have to get closer to what the Aboriginalpeople think and plan for seven generations,”said Sabourin.

“It’s a way to celebrate our music, our cul-ture and it’s an opportunity for the earliestFirst Nations to come together,” said ShirleyCardinal, 49, a Cree from Fort Chipewyan, AB,the oldest settlement in Alberta.

Pow WOWHAMISH MCKILLOPEquity ReporterFORT COULONGE June 30, 2012

HAMISH MCKILLOPEquity ReporterPONTIAC June 30, July 1, 2012

JULIELEE STITTEquity Reporter

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CCeelleebbrraattiinngg CCaannaaddaa DDaayyContinued from page one

Findlay said the groupwanted to give somethingfun for the kids to do to keepthem occupied in the park.

Taylor Philips, 22, fromOttawa, has worked at LittleRays for six years and wasout in the park next to theLions Hall with Annabelle, asix-year-old American alliga-tor that was bred in captivi-ty.

A Quyon Canada DayCommittee spokespersondescribed the Quyon paradeas “another huge success.”

“Once again, it hit all ourexpectations and we werevery pleased and we’d like tothank the community fortheir support of all of ouractivities leading up to it,”said the committee member.

In order to offset the costof the fireworks display, thecommittee also hosts a golftournament at the NorwayBay Golf Course on the lastSaturday in May, and apoker tournament in April.

Officials said between 300and 400 people were out toenjoy the parade in Quyon,which climaxed with thesinging of “O Canada” bylocal singer Lise Nobert.

ShawvilleShawville started its

Canada Day Sunday with aFlea Market in the ShawvilleArena, organized by fire-fighter Chris Beimers, whosefamily has helped organizethe Flea Market for a num-ber of years.

For the first three yearsthat the Flea Market washeld at the Shawville Arena,he said it raised almost$2,500 for the dialysis fundat the Shawville Hospital.

“The dialysis fund has metits goal but we’re still givingthem the money for the roomin case they want to buychairs or TVs,” said Beimers.

Almost half the tables inthe arena were filled withdonated items from mem-bers of the community.

A 50-50 draw was held atthe flea market throughoutthe day, half of which wenttowards the dialysis fund.

While upstairs in theShawville Lions Hall theLions served a breakfast ofeggs, bacon, sausage, toastand coffee. A silent auctionwas also held at the fleamarket throughout the day.

Winners of the FleaMarket’s silent auction wereannounced around 7 p.m. asthe pig roast was wrappingup, which was put on by theShawville Firefighters.

Silent auction itemsincluded an 18-piece JohnDaly Golf set with bag, wonby Rick Younge, an auto-graphed Ottawa SenatorsShirt signed by seven differ-ent players, won by Shaw-ville/Clarendon firefighterVaughn Bastien, and apound of fresh ground coffee,won by Nancy Duchesne.

The build up to theevening was marked by theShawville parade at 3 p.m.,led up Main Street by aSûreté du Québec Policecruiser and motorcycle blar-ing their sirens, followed bynumerous Shawville/Clarendon Fire Departmentfire trucks, and bagpipemusic playing such music asThe Gordon Highlanders, apagpipe tune commonlyknown today as The GayGordons.

Parade floats followed,and included a massive vari-

ety. One dancer even insist-ed on decorating his floatwith a St. Paddy’s Daytheme.

The young girls from theCorriveau School of Dancewere out dancing in their redcowboy hats and outfits.

Many more participated inthe parade, which consistedof horses, trucks and vintagecars including a replica ofthe famous orange 1969Dodge Charger as seen inthe Dukes of Hazard, outfit-ted with air horns thatblared out the famous 12-note tune.

By the time the Shawvilleparade made it off of MainStreet and onto theShawville Arena grounds,the pork being roasted byShawville/Clarendon fire-fighters for the pig roast hadbeen skewering for morethan seven hours.

A slow cook in low (300-degree) heat is the secret,according to one firefighter,who said the two 90 lb. pigsand an additional 60 to 70lbs. of ribs would be enoughto feed the expected 300-500people spilling into theAgricultural Hall from thestreets of Shawville.

The lineup for the pigroast stretched to the rear ofthe Agricultural hall, acrossthe rear wall, and half wayback to the front entrance,where Clarendon MayorJack Lang was spotted wait-ing for his share.

At the Flea MarketSunday morning, Langexpressed his appreciationfor the Shawville Lions andShawville/Clarendon fire-fighters engagement in thecommunity.

“It’s great to have (theLions and firefighters) in thecommunity like that, to getthem involved – the Lions forbreakfast and then for thebarbeque this evening, thefirefighters always do well,and it’s no different thisyear,” said Lang.

A massive fireworks dis-play, sponsored by theMuniciaplity of Shawvilleand supervised and execut-ed by the Shawville/Clarendon Fire Department,began shortly before 10 p.m.at the Shawville fairgrounds.

The spectacular display ofprofessional-grade fireworkswas made up of 50 in theground and 25 electricboxes.

According to Shawville/Clarendon firefighter BlakePirie, $7,000 worth of fire-works were fired off, a$1,000 higher investment infireworks from last year.

Otter LakeOtter Lake’s firefighting

force were also out for thatmunicipality’s parade,dressed in full uniform andin addition, handing outcandies and toys for the chil-dren.

A fire truck led the way,but smaller vehicles fol-lowed, some people strum-ming guitars on the back of apickup truck, while othersrode horses and somewalked goats down thestreet.

The Otter Lake FireDepartment wished to thankRichard Lance at MysticalCreations for providing someof the materials in theparade.

This year’s Canada Dayillustrated that Pontiac’sstaple is all about communi-ty involvement, almost to the

degree of civic responsibility,it seems, for a region whosepassion for the Canadianspirit exceeds all expecta-tions.

DavidsonWhen it comes to celebrat-

ing July 1st, the majority ofCanadians opt to show theirpatriotism by putting on ared shirt, hosting a barbecueand lighting some fireworks.

But on Sunday a group ofDavidson residents boatedto the municipal dock tohave their boat blessed.

“It’s very nice,” said Fr.Réal Ouellette, who conduct-ed the ceremony.

“We see that many peoplein Canada tend to forgetabout God and the fact thatwe’ve been asked to do ablessing is nice,” he added.

Blessing of the Boats is anannual event held inDavidson that was first initi-ated by Guy Lefebvre.

Lefebvre would inviteboats from Ontario andQuebec to meet in the mid-dle of the Ottawa River toexchange Canadian flagsand then the group wouldparade down the water toPatro Day Camp where fes-tivities would continue.

However, when Lefebvrepassed away it seemed as ifthe event would be discon-tinued until residentDaphne Laycock revived it.

“This is the fourth year ofthe revival,” said the orga-nizer. For the first time sinceLefebvre last arranged theevent, boats from Ontariomade the journey across theriver to have their vesselsblessed.

“Everyone shares thewater and it’s a nice commu-nity event,” said Laycock.

Lefebvre’s sister, LiseLefebvre-Campbell, was atthe event with her familyand noted that it wasencouraging to see moreparticipants from bothprovinces.

“It’s nice. It’s good forboaters and it starts the sea-son,” she said.

Local performer PhilDenault unloaded his boatinto the water on Sundaymorning to be blessed.“Once a year we do that to besafe for the rest of the yearon the water,” he said.

Denault has attended theevent before and noted thatin the past one of his boatsneeded all of the help itcould get. “I had an olderboat and it needed a lot ofblessing,” the musicianlaughed.

Sheenboro“I think this is one of the

biggest crowds we’ve everhad,” Sheenboro Mayor DickEdwards said, when describ-ing the village’s Canada Dayfestivities.

The small municipalitywith big Canadian pridekicked off their annual cele-bration on Sunday morningand according to the mayor,volunteers are what contin-ue to make the day a suc-cess year after year.

“Everyone here who isworking is a volunteer.They’re either a residentthat’s volunteering, part ofthe RA, part of the parish orthe cottagers association,which is great because itshows a lot of really goodcommunity spirit,” saidEdwards.

And in Sheenboro there’sno such thing as being tooyoung to help. Cousins Anna

Gleason, Chris O’Neill andSydney Gleason were allbusy at the face paintingtable on Sunday afternoon.

“I like it because theneveryone knows I’m fromSheen,” said Anna about vol-unteering.

Canada Day celebrationsare co-organized each yearby the village’s parish coun-cil and recreation associa-tion.

Jennifer Jennings is thepresident of the RA and saidshe couldn’t begin to guesshow many people were vol-unteering.

“I think everyone is a vol-unteer and if not, and wecatch you, and you’re notdoing anything, then you’llbe doing something,”laughed Jennings.

“Everyone pulls togetherand helps out, it’s reallynice.”

Community spirit was onfull display when the paradekicked off, led by flag bear-ing RCMP Officer Sgt. CamCroal.

According to organizerPeter Gleason, while thenumber of participants wasslightly down this year, withapproximately 85 peopleentering a float in the pro-cession, the quality wasexcellent.

“We had really high quali-ty floats,” said Gleason, whonoted that many people optto participate in the paradeas a way to take part in thefestivities.

“People want to getinvolved in some way andonce they start to decorate afloat it just kind of takes ona life of its own,” he said.

Tricia Marchildon fromChichester and her sisterBetty-Ann Hammel fromPembroke, ON were at theparade with their children.

“We love to celebrateCanada Day and it’s a smallcommunity so that’s whatwe like about it,” saidHammel.

When asked what herfavourite part of the daywas, four-year-old MyleeMarchildon quickly said, “Allthe candy.”

Tina Michaud attendedthe event for the first timewith her husband Rapidesdes Joachims Mayor JimGibson and was impressedby the size of the celebra-tion. “I was in shock whenwe got here,” she said,adding, “you see it happen-ing for a good kilometre.”

In addition to a parade,the Canada Day celebrationsincluded mass, a pancakebreakfast, live music anddancing, a barbecue, gamesfor youth, fireworks and forthe first time, lawn mowerraces.

Lorraine Carroll sits onthe RA committee and orga-nized the races. “We thoughtit was a great idea as a com-mittee so we decided to runwith it. I think it went reallywell,” she said.

Cousins Kate Jenningsand Julia Dunbar were theyoungest participants tocompete and were represent-ing the Jennings family.Dunbar is from FairfaxCounty in Virginia and hasdual citizenship in Canadaand the United States.

She said she wasimpressed by the celebra-tions in Sheenboro. “It’sreally cool to see the wholetown come out and supportthe country,” said Dunbar.


‘O’ Canada, pictured is six-month-old Blake Chartrand who celebrat-ed his first Canada Day on Sundayin Sheenboro.


Showing off their Canadian pride are friendsChrissy Payne, Gisele Chartrand and DesireeChartrand.


Cousins Julia Dunbar and Kate Jenningsparticipated in the lawn mower races.


Dylan Hammel, six, Logan Marchildon, nine, andMylee Marchildon, four all enjoyed the parade onSunday afternoon.


This year’s Sheenboro parade was described as one of the “best ever.”


RCMP Sgt. Cam Croal leads the parade in Sheenboro.


Cousins Anna Gleason, Sydney Gleason andChristopher O’Neill paint Julia Kasier’s face.Julielee Stitt, THE EQUITY

Mansfield residents show their Canadian pride at the Blessing of the Boats on July 1.

Page 2 Wednesday, July 4, 2012 www.theequity.ca

tthhee PPoonnttiiaacc WWaayy


The Belsher family from Chenaux, ON got some food at the chip stand nextto Bushwackers Bistro on Canada Day, pictured left to right: Katie Belsher,Chuck Belsher, Hillary Belsher, Cody (family dog) and Michelle Belsher.


Otter Lake firefighters proudly led their town’s parade, in full uniform and a little extra.


Minnie Mouse was out and about on the ShawvilleFairgrounds following the Canada Day parade.


The Shawville-Clarendon Fire Department pre-pared a pig roast to accommodate as many as 500people.


Pictured at the Blessing of the Boats from left to right are Michael McCarter,Brooke Danis, Morgan Danis and Serge Danis. Standing behind are AnikMcCarter, Rene McCarter and Mireille McCarter.


Mario St-Aubin (left) and his sister Jeannine Larocque await Otter Lake’s Canada Day parade Sunday.


Canada Day fireworks in Shawville.Hamish McKillop, THE EQUITY

Little Ray’s Reptiles visited Quyon.


Sunday morningflea market at theShawville Arena.

Page 3Wednesday, July 4, 2012The voice of the Pontiac since 1883

HappyBirthday,Canada!

HAMISH MCKILLOPEquity ReporterSHAWVILLE June 30, 2012

At 6 p.m. on Saturday,the kids were off to theraces, piling into “soapboxes,” or gravity-propelledgo-cart-like vehicles, in asoap box derby that wasorganized by Gayle BelsherPirie, as well as by fire-fighter Captain GregHayes.

Soap boxes are like giantcub cars, but with peoplein them. Kids raced off ofthe back of a truck on loanto the Fire Departmentfrom W.A. Hodgins, anddown the slope from thetop of Victoria Street inShawville.

More than 40 kids racedin pairs of two, in agegroupings four to six,seven to nine and 10-12.There was initially a cost of$5 for each child to race,but Shawville CouncillorFrank Stafford made anunexpected move, cutting ablank cheque to theShawville/Clarendon FireDepartment to cover costsso the kids could ride forfree.

Stafford, a former fire-fighter himself, said, “thisway, nobody has to worryabout it, right? It’s paid for,and you just get in andenjoy yourself as part ofthe Canada Day festivities.The town’s here to sponsoreverybody having fun onCanada Day.”

Stafford said he and hiswife cannot have childrenso he wanted to do some-thing for the kids while stillsupporting his local fire-fighters. One young racerspun out, causing theiropponent to t-bone them,but both kids were unhurt.

A Golf Ball Race orga-nized by the ShawvilleLions Club was also heldimmediately after the SoapBox Derby, with a tractorand trailer full of hay pro-vided by local farmer RonStrutt, and ten six ft. by 10ft. beams lining the insideof each row of hay all theway down the slope.

With onlookers watchingfrom each side of the hay,Lion Dave Cummingscounted down to zero atwhich point about 800 golfballs, each numbered, weredumped from a front-endloader.

Some balls rolled to astop or got snagged, sokids jumped in to kickthem the rest of the waydown the slope, causing anunanticipated avalanche ofgolf balls down VictoriaStreet.

The first golf balls tomake it throught the three-inch finish line won a prize.First place for winning thegolf ball race went toChrissy Lang ($500), sec-ond place went to AnneDubeau ($300), and thirdplace to Sebastien Richard($200). The Lions also gaveout a number of consola-tion prizes.

Photo submitted by Tina Michaud

The community ofRapides des Joachimscelebrated La FêteNationale with a week-end celebration, heldJune 23 to 24. The eventwas organized by theOutdoorsmen Club,municipal council andvolunteers and includeda fishing derby, antiquecar show as well as acommunity breakfastand dinner. According toOutdoorsmen Clubmember Tina Michaud,63 people registered inthe fishing derby held onSaturday. “The beautifulthing about this activityis that the adults andkids both attend and getalong so splendidly,”shewrote in an email.According to Mayor JimGibson, the communityhosts a celebration tomark St. Jean Baptisteon years that it falls on the weekend. Pictured aremembers of the Outdoorsmen Club at the celebra-tions, Rodney Gutzman, Dena Meilleur, TinaMichaud, Annette Racine, Remi Fournier, DeniseRacine and Jim Gibson.

Rapides des Joachims celebrates Saint-Jean-Baptiste Soap boxes and golf balls


Soap Box racers from the ages six to 12 raced down the Victoria StreetSlope.


Hundreds of golf balls spilled out of a front end loader onto Victoria Avenuein Shawville June 30, each one numbered and many onlookers hoping theirball would be first to the finish line, while the Shawville Lions’ new president,Terry Campbell, looks on from the top of the track.

Page 14 Wednesday, July 4, 2012 www.theequity.ca

John and the late Betty Petty of Shawville, Quebecproudly announce the engagement of their youngestdaughter Andrea to Scott Manley, son of Louise andGary Petrie of Cobourg. It is with tenderness and pridethat Mom/Betty/God's Sweetest Angel surrounds uswith her love and peacefully guides us from Heaven aswe continue our journey together. A summer weddingis planned for July 21, 2012 at St. Mary MagdaleneAnglican Church in Picton, Ontario.

ENGAGEMENTCongratulationsGraham!

Congratulations to GrahamThoms on his Grade 12graduation from All SaintsHigh School in Kanataearning the OntarioScholar’s Certificate andPrincipal’s Honour Roll.Graham will be continuinghis education at theUniversity of Guelph’sComputer EngineeringProgram. We are all soproud of you!Love Mom and Dad - Pamand Randy Thoms, sisterKathryn, Grandparents -Mrs. Elizabeth Hahn andRoy and Shirley Thoms.

Congratulations Stephanie!You are an amazing dancerand your journey is justbeginning. We are very proud of youand look forward to seeingyou on the world’s big stage.

Dance first, think later!Corriveau School of Dance

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JamFest brings out the “new country” music spirit

HAMISH MCKILLOPEquity ReporterQUYON June 29-July 1, 2012

The 12th annual QuyonJamFest, organized andhosted by the local Quyonnon-profit organization TheEnsemble, had heads bop-ping and fingers snappingthis year, featuring some

country talent new to theEnsemble Grounds.

For $10 per person, andfree admission for kids, peo-ple got to drive in theircamper trailers, park themand come out and get theirfix of hot country musicfrom local bands and artists.

The first day of the coun-

try music festival kicked offFriday night around 6:45with the opening cere-monies. New Democrat MPMathieu Ravignat andPontiac Councilor LynneBeaton were in attendance,according to Lorne Brady,one of the directors of theQuyon Ensemble.

Performers that eveningwere Joanne Dubeau,Blackjack and Ran$om, anew group this year and aband that only came togeth-er less than two months ago.

The group also played inOtter Lake on Saturday towhich lead singer ArnoldTrudeau, 41, said, “we’reready for it.”

“We’re trying to introducesomething new to Pontiac, toget in some new country,”said Trudeau, who said this“new country” or “hot coun-try” music is a classificationof more contemporary,upbeat country music popu-larized by artists like GarthBrooks in the mid-1990s. Hesaid singers like Brooks“changed the style of it”

leading to more modernstyles of country musicknown today, with a cleancountry theme and a classicrock type of sound.

“New stuff’s pretty hard todo, so it takes some prettytalented guys to do that,”Trudeau reflected on the“young talent” he observedemerging from the JamFestperformances.

Saturday featured moregreat artists from 11:30 a.m.to 4 p.m., such as TimHermitte and Phil Denaultand Darline Thibault, andDoug and Pam Champagne.

JamFest started CanadaDay with Johnny Spinks at1 p.m. and continuedthrough the day with DaiBassett, Elly Kelly and theFrechette Family.

Organizers said morethan 100 camper trailerswere parked on the grounds.

An audience in their lawnchairs were stationed in andaround tends in front of theconcert stage.

Shirley-Mae Davis, theEnsemble’s president, said

the money raised fromJamFest, as well as fromthree spaghetti suppers thegroup is hosting this year,goes towards helping main-tain the grounds so thatother activities can continueto happen at various timesof the year, such as ice hock-ey in the winter.

JamFest got the longweekend off to a jiving startand filled the air with musicthat attracted people from asfar away as Hull.

Trudeau’s wife, Lisa, 41,as well as their son, Steven,11, and daughter, Jessica,20, were also in attendanceto cheer their dad on, ener-gizing the crowd from onstage.

“With the band, it’s prettybig. It’s nice to see him play-ing for the community andeverything. It’s really nice,”said Jessica.

“There’s a lot more peoplehere than last year,” saidJordan Trudeau, 12, whosaid he has been coming outto JamFest for about fiveyears.


Steven Trudeau, 11, son of Quyon JamFest per-former Arnold Trudeau, said this is his firstJamFest. Pictured with his cousin, JordanTrudeau (right), 12.


Left to right: Ran$om performers Eriks Stirajs on guitar, Arnold Trudeau, lead vocals, Brendan Kooy on drums and Ken Lucas.While Trudeau had himself performed at JamFest in prior years, this is the first time the group has performed at the event.

HAMISH MCKILLOPEquity ReporterBRYSON June 30, 2012

At the crack of dawn, earlyfisherman and fisherwomenturned out to launch theirboats from the Bryson mari-na, rearing to go for Bryson’sfirst Open BassTournament, held June 30.

Sixty-five teams, makingup about 130 people, eachpaid $100 to enter the com-petition for the heaviest totalcatch as well as heaviestbass overall.

As early as 4:45 a.m.,event organizers saw peopleshowing up.

“I actually had threeteams put their boats inLapasse, Ont., and drive 25km up the river to be here at7 o’clock in the morning,”said Bryson firefighter andevent organizer EricHarrington.

Organized by the BrysonFire Department, the OpenBass Tournament was an

overwhelming success,according to organizers. Allproceeds went to the Brysondepartment, which has beentrying to raise enoughmoney to update their solefire truck.

“You can have a one lb.bass on (the fishing line) andyou think it’s 12 lbs. just bythe way they fight,” saidTrevor Martelock ofLuskville. Martelock fishedwith his teammate StephaneLaroche from Bryson.

“There were some hugebass coming out of thatriver. It was unbelievable tosee the guys lining up withthese big bags filled withmassive bass in them. It wasawesome,” said Harrington.

First place went toRichard Martin and ShawnMartin from Chapeau, whocollectively took home$1,500 for their total 16 lbs.making up five big bass.Second place went to KevinGibson and Barry Wiltson,

who won $1,000. Third placewent to Tom Clouthier andDanny Venne, who won$750.

There were nine cashprizes altogether, which wasplenty of incentive to fishhard and have fun, accord-ing to Harrington.

As teams entered the com-petition, they were asked ifthey wanted to be part of the50/50 sub event called theBig Bass that cost $10 perperson, or $20 per team, butwith a chance to win half ofthe pot.

According to Harrington,$1,040 was raised throughthe Big Bass event, 50 percent of which went to theBryson Fire Department andthe other 50 per cent ($520)was won by FredericGenereaux, for his 6.4 lb.“football,” a designationgiven to larger bass becauseof their football-like shapewhen they exceed a certainmass.


Sixty-five boaters set off from the Bryson marinaat 7 a.m. sharp the morning of June 30, on a mis-sion to bring back the biggest bass they could


Left to right: Wayne Cameron, Eric Harrington, Gerald Stewart, Neil Derouinand Darcy Burnett.


Left to right: Trevor Martelock of Luskville andStephane Laroche from Bryson fished together inthe Bryson Open Bass Tournament.

Hooking “footballs” in Bryson waters

Page 3Wednesday, July 11, 2012The voice of the Pontiac since 1883

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Representatives from MRC Pontiac, MRC de La Vallée-de-la-Gatineauand MRC des Collines-de-l'Outaouais signed a 20-year regional waste treat-ment contract with the City of Gatineau on June 27.

With this contract, Gatineau was given the mandate to build a wastetreatment facility for Pontiac, Vallée-de-la-Gatineau, des Collines and Gatineau, with eacharea guaranteeing that their region will producea certain tonnage of garbage.

Kari Richardson, the Environment Coordinator at the MRC, said thethree MRC's had been planning to sign the contract with Gatineau for quiteawhile.

“All the MRC's had agreed that they were going to sign it but then thiswas the official signing date and they had a press conference,” she said.“What it is, is each MRC has signed on to guarantee tonnages of waste fora regional solution.”

The amount of tonnage in Pontiac was based on a formula determiningpopulation, growth and decline.

“(We also considered) the fact that people will probably improve theirrecycling and composting habits. So we took that into consideration when-ever we were determining our tonnage that we guaranteed,” saidRichardson.

She added, “We have to guarantee a certain amount so that it can bemore economically feasible to have a regional wide facility. It makes itcheaper if we have volumes, so that's why each MRC guaranteed volumes... now we're locked in for a certain amount.”

Pontiac Warden Michael McCrank said MRC Pontiac has been partnerswith Gatineau for more than six years now, ever since the proposed land-fill site in Danford Lake was quashed.

Please see GARBAGE page two

The voice of the Pontiac since 1883 Wednesday, July 11, 2012 1 dollarwww.theequity.ca Volume 129, Issue No. 28

Submitted by Vallée-de-la-Gatineau

Pictured are MRC Pontiac Warden Michael McCrank, MRC de la Vallée-de-la-Gatineau General Director André Beauchemin, MRC de la Vallée-de-la-Gatineau Warden Pierre Rondeau, Mayor of Gatineau Marc Bureau, MRCPontiac General Director Rémi Bertrand and MRC des Collines WardenRobert Bussière at a press conference on June 27, where a regionalwaste treatment contract was signed.

HAMISH MCKILLOPEquity ReporterSHAWVILLE July 11, 2012

Despite a suspected mould prob-lem prompting a number of MRCemployees to be moved for precau-tionary measures, Director Generalof MRC Pontiac Rémi Bertrand saidan air sampling that gave thebuilding a clean bill of healthmeans the MRC building is stillsafe for employees to work in.

“If (the building) wasn’t safe, wewouldn’t be here,” assuredBertrand.

There was humidity trappedunder some tiling on a cement slabin the basement, and Bertrand saidthe area has to be cleaned up andproper air ventilation has to beinstalled.

Experts were called in to assessthe area.

“For precautionary measures, weisolated the area and we movedeverybody,” said Bertrand.

Another company was broughtin at a later time to assess repairsneeded to the basement area,which Assistant Director General ofthe MRC Gabriel Lance said willcost $15,000 to fix up and renovatethe nearly 150 sq. ft. basement

area.“The first impression we got from

the person doing the tests was thatit didn’t seem like a concern to himbecause he’d seen it a lot of timesbefore and he says it’s a regularthing that he sees,” said Lance,who added the mould-like residuehad been spotted from under a fil-ing cabinet.

Lance said three MRC employeeswere relocated from their basement“semi-open” office space to a con-ference room on the same level. Hesaid the MRC invited and acceptedthree local tenders to providequotes for the work required to bedone to the basement, and materi-als were being ordered for the ren-ovation of the basement.

The company awarded the con-tract to do the construction is Valpa,a company from Bryson, which willbe replacing the floor tiles, installingan air exchanger, insulating the twooutside walls in the area in ques-tion, painting the room, as well assome other “refitting.”

Lance said “the cement wall, tome, should have been insulated along time ago but had never been,(and) we’re just taking advantage ofthat to finish it.”

Suspected mould,reno to cost $15,000

Garbage moving to new treatment facility

ANDREA CRANFIELDEquity EditorPONTIAC July 11, 2012

Clarendon residents will be going to thepolls this month in a municipal by-election.Three candidates have thrown their hatsinto the race for seat No. 1 and THE EQUITY

caught up with them to ask the questions that are important to voters.They included:

(1) What made you decide to run in the by-election? (2) What qualities do you have that make you the best candidate to fill

seat No. 1? (3) Some people will say that they

became involved in politics to effectchange. Is that why you’re runningand if so, what would you like to seechanged or bettered?

(4) Are you active in the commu-nity and if so, how?

(5) Why should Clarendon resi-dents vote for you?

Read on to find out what JerryBarber, Ron Hodgins and EdwardWalsh had to say. Some of theanswers have been edited for length.

Jerry Barber is a life-long resi-dent of Clarendon.

“I grew up on a dairy farm, myfather was a dairy farmer and whenI got married we lived in Clarendon.I'm married to Laurie Murray andtogether we have three boys and twoof them work in the business,” saidBarber who owns Petro Pontiac,located along Hwy. 148.

Barber took a break from work onFriday afternoon to talk about theupcoming election.

Q: What made you decide to runin the by-election? A: “Obviously the seat became

empty and I've always been interested in politics. I'm very interested in mymunicipality and I’m very interested in the community that I live in. I'vealways been involved in many service clubs and organizations on a vol-unteer basis and I like volunteering and being involved. I think it’s veryimportant if you want your community to be healthy and grow.”

Q: What qualities do you have that make you the best candidate tofill seat no. 1?

A: “Obviously the ability to listen. I would be a representative of the tax-payers and there to represent the taxpayers; I'm not there to representmyself.”

Please see VOTE page two

What to know beforeyou go to the polls

Edward Walsh

Ron Hodgins

Jerry Barber

JULIELEE STITTEquity ReporterCLARENDON July 11, 2012

Two local teens, Shamus Tubman and Erin Draper,both 17, graduated as cadets last Tuesday at theShawville/Clarendon Fire Department.

The entire department was in full uniform to hon-our their achievement, as well as their peers who are

currently workingthrough the program:Korbin Smith, whostarted the program less

than six months ago, Keysha Tubman, less than ninemonths ago, as well as Garrett Woolsey, also in theprogram.

For at least two years, Shamus (a student atPontiac High School) and Draper (who just graduatedfrom École Secondaire Sieur de Coulonge) have beentraining to do almost everything the pro firefightersdo, except going to the scene of a fire. Under supervi-sion, they did many exercises at the station, includ-ing wrapping hoses, connecting them to firehydrants, search and rescues and learning how to

use all of the tools in the fire station.While the course does not certify them to be fire-

fighters, Shamus noted, “it makes us eligible to start(firefighter training) right away.” He said, “anythingthat the firefighters do, we do. The only thing we don’tdo is to go to a fire scene.”

After a closed-doors meeting, firefighters camedown to the station floor, where a speech was givenby Shamus’s father, Shawville/Clarendon firefighterKirk Tubman, who told the department that in addi-tion to graduating Shamus, he would be promotingShamus to Cadet Captain.

Kirk then presented Shamus with the same plaqueDraper received, and gave his son a big hug.

“I’m proud of Shamus, I’m proud of all of the kidsthat have gone through. They’ve matured … It justseems to bring them out. It takes a year to bring themout, but once they start to come out of their shell, theyjust become part of the unit around them,” said Kirk.

Draper, who despite her achievement and like

many her age, could not say what she wanted to donow that she has graduated from high school.

“I just thought it was pretty interesting. I just saweverybody do it, and I thought it was pretty neat,”said Draper about the cadet program.

Both Shamus and Draper received letters of rec-ommendation from the department, which Kirk saidcould help with employability down the road.

Korbin Smith’s father, Mitchell Smith, is one of thefirefighters at the Shawville/Clarendon FireDepartment, and said that as they have watched thecadets as they progressed, “it’s amazing how every-thing sticks in their brains,” adding that the cadetshave displayed a high level of attention to detail andastuteness.

This is the first year, he said, that the town sealshave been included on the certificates, adding to theauthenticity of the credentials the cadets received,who have much to look forward to as they plan fortheir future.

CCaaddeettss SShhiinneeHamish McKillop, THE EQUITY

Left to right: Firefighter Mitchell Smith, cadets Korbin Smith, Keysha Tubman, Shamus Tubman (graduate), Erin Draper (graduate), GarrettWoolsey and firefighter Kirk Tubman.

HAMISH MCKILLOPEquity ReporterSHAWVILLE July 3, 2012


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Dear Editor,Next year the Canadian 4-H Council is celebrating

its centennial. The Quebec 4-H Association is partici-pating in the celebrations by preparing its own histo-ry.

4-H Canada is celebrating 100 years in 2013. To cel-ebrate, each provincial association is contributing toan e-history. Québec 4-H is also working on its ownhistory.

Send us your old photographs, videos, memorabiliaand stories. Send to: [email protected] or mailto Québec 4-H, Macdonald College, Harrison house 3-04, 21, 111 Lakeshore Road, Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue,QC, H9X 3V9.

Information on the centennial can be found at:www.celebrate4h.ca

Alyssa Fourneaux, Public Relations AssistantQuebec 4-H Association, Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, QCIt was my first time attending the annu-

al Pontiac Relay for Life at the ShawvilleFairgrounds on Saturday night.

I wasn’t sure what to expect but wassoon overwhelmed to discover how manypeople’s lives have been affected by cancer.

Many people wore ribbons bearing theword ‘survivor’. It was shocking, to say theleast, at how many people have had to dealwith this terrible disease.

For 12 hours, hundreds of peoplewalked in circles around the fairgrounds,raising money to help find a cure for can-cer.

All money made is being donated to the

Canadian Cancer Foundation, about$109,000 in total.

It was a cold, chilly night but thesebrave souls were undaunted, determinedto stay outside for 12 hours, with at leastone member of their team walking thetrack throughout the night.

Personally, I have had two grandparentswho have passed away from this horribledisease, and another grandparent whofought and survived.

Although it was many years ago whenthey both died, it still brings tears to myeyes when I think about them.

I still miss them everyday.It seems that everybody has been affect-

ed by cancer in some way or another,whether they have had to battle it or theyknow someone who has.

At the lighting of the candles ceremony,it was of course, inspiring, but also dis-heartening to see hundreds upon hun-dreds of candles being lit up in remem-brance of another cancer victim.

People cried as they bent over the bags

bearing loved ones names to light a candlefor them.

Many wiped away tears as they whis-pered a loved one’s name.

Children watched, understanding thattheir parents were grieving but some tooyoung to understand exactly what cancerentails.

Too young to understand that they hadmissed out on having grandparents intheir lives because cancer had taken themaway too early.

I will never forget seeing all of these peo-ple fighting for a cure.

I remember the image of thousands ofbright lights shining back at me as I lookedon, hitting me hard knowing how manypeople have had to suffer.

I am in awe of those of you who spent 12hours walking to find a cure and I’m grate-ful there are people like you.

We hope that one day, there will be acure and no more candles will be added tothe already enormous circle of lights I sawon Saturday.

The voice of the Pontiac since 1883Page 4 Wednesday, June 6, 2012

The mere mention of Yukon’s Kluane National Park bringsimages of majestic wilderness, sweeping icefields — and some ofCanada’s iconic wild mammals. For me, Kluane is synonymouswith dramatic images of grizzlies amid gorgeous mountainscenery.

For the past week, I’ve been exploring the Yukon, includingfour days in Kluane and, while there, I was deeply impressed bythe wildlife. The four-legged sort didn’t disappoint: I saw bears,porcupine, moose — and even a lynx, an unusual and prizedsighting. How did I see these critters? By joining an expensivewildlife viewing hike?

No. What’s really cool is that I simply drove along the highwayat what you and I would call dusk, between 10:30-11:30 p.m.(Now, during springtime in the Yukon, the sun doesn’t set untilafter midnight and sunrise is at 4:30 — so, as you can tell, duskis relative!)

Grizzly and other bearsThe first evening my hosts invited me out on our evening

drive, we spotted two large adult black bears. The second night?Two black bears, two “brown phase black bears” (think a brownbear that’s a warm milk chocolate brown) plus a grizzly. Thethird night? A grizzly and her cub; one solitary young grizzly;and three black bears.

Most of the grizzlies were wary of the car and as our carapproached they rushed into the bush. However, two behavedjust like the black bears: instead of running away, they noncha-lantly ate while keeping us in plain sight. They grazed on thegrass and flowers, looked up at us, then sat down on theirhaunches, even rolled onto their bellies — while continuing toeat.

PorcupinesEvery night we saw porcupines on the road or alongside it on

the shoulders, licking salt still remaining from the winter roadmaintenance. But these critters are not like our eastern porcu-pines. In Kluane, they’re larger and when they threatened us byraising their quills, they raised a shield-like backside of golden-coloured quills. Our eastern porcupines don’t have this goldenhue, so these were quite different.

MooseAt a lookout on the Alaska Highway, our group was returning

to our vehicle when someone exclaimed, “There’s a moose!”Excitingly, it wasn’t just a moose: it was a mother with her new-born calf. Wobbly, ungainly legs, slight build, and sticking closeto its watchful mother’s side, it made a fantastic wildlife viewingmoment.

Three nights later, that encounter was both matched andexcelled: we parked the car to watch a mother moose with hertwo calves, in the shallows of Dezadeash Lake.

“Not a good sign,” explained Chuck Hume, a SouthernToshone and Tlingit First Nations Kluane resident with whomwe were travelling. “The mother’s trying to protect her youngfrom predators. I’d guess wolves. They’ll be patient. They’ll waither out.”

“I’d guess she’ll probably decide to swim the lake – and sheknows her calves can’t make it. But, it’ll be better than lettingthe wolves get them. I hope they’re not still here when we passby later tonight.”

But, they were there, all three of them. Can the calves stillnurse, I asked Chuck?

“Yes, she can nurse them there. But, the wolves are waiting.The mother is nervous: they’re all still looking at the forest soshe knows the wolves are there. Oh, it’s a terrible thing — but Iknow better than trying to do something. This is nature’s way.”

Not one of us liked the idea of the calves being ripped apartby wolves — or drowning. However, wolves are predators theyneed to live too. The cycle of life includes death and in nature,it’s not pretty.

LynxI’d never seen a lynx. Like all wild cats, they’re elusive.

Imagine my thrill one night when ahead of us we saw a lean sil-houette starting to cross the road. Slowing down, we realizedwith complete shock, we were watching a lynx cross the high-way.

We were so close I could see its characteristic black ear tufts.Stopping the car on the shoulder, we watched it slip into the for-est and then we all spoke excitedly at once, sharing our excite-ment.

Wild impressionsWhy were so many bear visible, so close together? Aren’t they

extremely territorial? Both Chuck Hume and retired ParksCanada warden Brent Liddle agreed that at this time of year, ter-ritoriality comes second place to the lure of eating fresh springshoots and flowers.

“They’ve just come out of winter, so they’re eager for freshspring shoots and roots,” explains Liddle. “Later on in June andearly July they’ll be up the mountain slopes. Late July andAugust is berry season but it’s also mating season here, sothat’s the time they become especially territorial.”

Whatever the reason, this short spring shoulder season inKluane National Park is the time to spot wildlife on the roadside.

As for me? Spotting the lynx was the most amazing, incredi-bly special wildlife sighting of the trip — an unexpected glimpseof one of our most elusive, wild animals.

Katharine Fletcher is a freelance writer, columnist and author.Contact her at [email protected].

YOUR OPINION

Out of formation Dave Moore, THE EQUITY

Never forgotten4-H Canada to celebrate centennial

Kluane wildlifeENVIRONMENTAL FORUMKATHARINE FLETCHER [email protected]

25 Years AgoJune 10, 1987

Pontiac Hospital receives donations: The PontiacCommunity Hospital was recently presented with acheque of $620 from the Radford Hospital Auxiliary topurchase a wheelchair for the Hospital’s first floor.Director of Nursing, Joyce Hodgins accepted thecheque from Irene Zimmerling, Radford President andTreasurer Mary Brownlee.

Programs aimed at young entrepreneurs begun:Two projects aimed at aiding and encouraging youngentrepreneurs have recently been initiated by both theQuebec government and a private investment fund. Bothprojects offer financial aid to young people wishing tostart their own businesses and cover the entire province.

The government project, sponsored by the QuebecMinistry of Industry and Commerce, is aimed at help-ing full-time students between 16 to 24 years of age. Itoffers eligible candidates loan guarantees of up to$2,000 individually or $3,000 in partnership.


Quyon proudly watches as new post office isopened: The mail came in on schedule at 4:15 inQuyon yesterday but there was a brief delay in thesorting of it. District Architect Wilson of the Dept. ofPublic Works, Regional Director Gaunt of the PostOffice Department, Mayor Billie Burke of Quyon, RayJohnston MPP, Post Master Basil Murphy and twohundred other interested people watched PaulMartineau cut the ribbon to symbolize the officialopening of the new post office and congratulate con-tractor Russell Judd on the splendid building job.

Goulet, Legault, Martineau, Parker: Those whotravelled to Temiskaming to witness the nominationsgot more than they bargained for Monday. Expecting tohear a one-sided PC rally at the TCA hall Monday night,they were instead treated to the favorite meat of Pontiacpolitical camp followers, the contradictory meeting.

This time honored test of the candidates’ debatingabilities had not been planned for this particular elec-tion but the surprise was well received by a large gath-ering Monday night.


Local news: Brig. General C.A. Smart, formerConservative MLA for Westmount, and recentlyappointed to Quebec’s Legislative Council, died sud-denly on Friday, June 4, aged 69.

In feeble health almost since his return from the GreatWar, General Smart, who sat in the Legislature consis-tently since 1912, died at his home in Westmount. Hisdeath followed closely on that of his predecessor, the lateHon. George Bryson, dean of Quebec’s Upper House, onlyone of its kind in the Dominion.

Nearly $12,000,000 will be spent this year by theQuebec government, mainly for the purpose of bring-ing colonization settlers closer to civilization, J.E.Laforce, Deputy Minister of Colonization, told mem-bers of the Eastern Townships Board of Trade onFriday. Laforce said that since 1923, colonization workhad proceeded far beyond highway construction. Thepresent government however, will open about 1,800miles of roads, with no fewer than 103 bridges and willconstruct 256 schools this year.

The Austin Y.P.U. will present their three-act playentitled, “Yimmie Yonson’s Yob”, at the Austin Hall, on

Wednesday evening, June 16, at 8:15 o’clock.Admission 25 and 15 cents.


Local news: The new Canadian gold pieces of thedenomination of $5 and $10 can now be had on appli-cation to any bank. Their advantage will be that theywill pass at par in the United States, and thatCanadians who go there hereafter will, if providedwith the gold coins, avoid the trouble of having to suf-fer a discount upon their Canadian bank bills.

The Prime Minister, Rt. Hon. Mr. Borden, will sailfor Britain on the 28th of this month. He will beaccompanied by Hon. Mr. Hazen, minister of marineand fisheries, and probably one other member of thegovernment. Mr. Borden will probably be absent forsix weeks and while in the Old Country will consultwith the Imperial authorities on matters of interestand concern to Canada.

The Arnprior Chronicle says: this section was vis-ited by a most severe storm on Friday last, and as aresult much damage was done. The wind was terrificand rain and hail fell in torrents; many windows werebroken, one of the large plate glass lights in the nov-elty store next to Armand's being smashed to pieces,a number of large trees were blown down and in thetownships of Fitzroy and Huntly some damage wasdone to crops and buildings, but in this respect thestorm was not nearly so severe as the one whichswept over those townships last year, carrying barnsand fences across fields.


Local news: A gentleman, whose name we did notlearn, was looking at the phosphate to be found on Mr.Pat O’Brien’s farm Upper Litchfield, some time lastweek, and pronounced it the very best kind. Mr.O’Brien will quietly fall into the blissful arms of wealth,if the deposit is extensive.

The heavy rains of last week did more harm thangood in many places, more especially where the landwas low.

Whole fields of peas, just nicely up over the top ofthe ground, have been rooted up and rendered value-less, while in a few places the grain was scalded, butof course on the whole the good done by the rain falllargely overbalances the damage.

Mr. H.J. Beemer, Vice-president of the P.P.J. RailwayCompany, was married in Montreal on Wednesday toMiss Dufesne, daughter of an English gentleman.

On Saturday evening a young man named Clarkewas drowned in the Bonnechere River just below theFourth Chute. He with a companion named RobertCampbell were capsized out of a canoe and both beinggood swimmers struck out for the shore which theyreached in safety. Clarke then attempted to recover thecanoe which had drifted to the other side, which hereached, but could not paddle it back owing to thepowerful current. He abandoned the canoe and in try-ing to swim back to his companion, took cramps andsank to rise no more. He was 32 years of age and camefrom Armagh, Ireland, about 6 years ago.

Next Sabbath, the Rev. M.D. Blakely B.A. of Rosswill officiate at Portage-du-Fort in the morning, and inBryson in the evening. The people of Lower Litchfieldand of the Stark Settlement are expected to attend thePortage-du-Fort church on this occasion, as a congre-gational meeting is requested.

THE WAY WE WERE C o m p i l e d b y B o n n i e C h e v r i e r

FROM THE EDITOR’S DESKANDREA [email protected]

Call 819-647-2204 Fax 647-2206 www.theequity.caCopyright 2012 Publication Mail Reg. No. 08560,Legal deposit in the National Library of Quebec,Member of CCNA, QCNA, Hebdos Sélect &ISWNE“We acknowledge the financial support of theGovernment of Canada, through the CanadianPeriodical Fund (CFP), toward our mailing costs.”

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EDITORIAL PAGETHE EQUITY • The Voice of the Pontiac since 1883 • Published weekly by Pontiac Printshop Ltd., 133 Centre St., Shawville, Que. J0X 2Y0 • Deadline Monday 12 noon

On this day in 1944, about 14,000 Canadian soldiers joined theD-day landing on Juno Beach between Courseulles and St-Aubin-sur-Mer. Four hundred and fifty jumped by parachute orlanded by glider the night before. RCN minesweepers helpedclear the sea lanes and RCAF bombers and fighters helped soft-en up the German defenses. During the first six days of theNormandy campaign, 1,017 Canadians died and by the end of theNormandy campaign, about 5,020 Canadians had been killed.

THE EQUITY, reporting historic events since 1883.

Don’t knock it if you haven’t tried itTWEETASTICHAMISH MCKILLOP [email protected]

A few months ago, I wrote an article for Glue magazinethat attempted to explain the characteristics of our"online identities" on the internet that are shapedthrough various social networking sites. Unfortunately,my message wasn’t so clear-cut.

For this one I have to go out on a limb to speak forFacebookers and those of us comfortably trapped in the"Twittersphere." Just as the article explained that ouronline identities make our real lives seem boring, it alsoproved that even entering into discussions about our gro-cery list of social networks proves that our online identi-ties are fragmented.

Facebook is by far one of the most popular social net-works on the planet, but it's still a proprietary system.That means that to fully exploit its features and be partof the ecosystem, you have to sign up.

Where's the freedom in that?Then there is a sharp divide between those Facebook

users who are liberal about their online content, andthose who worry incessantly about what the world willsee.

What the latter group may be unaware of is that there

are privacy settings that can be customized to yourheart's content. Facebook's Terms of Use may spell outother ways that your information may be collectedand/or used, but at least no one can Google your privateinformation if you shut off the "Public" strata.

Built on a policy that I don't accept any friend requestunless I know the individual in person, about 80 per centof my Facebook content is fully accessible to my"Friends"; whereas about 15 per cent is viewable to my"Friends of Friends," and about five per cent viewable tothe "Public."

If you don't have a Facebook account and you are notone of my Facebook friends, all you find of my Facebookprofile on Google is a name attached to my face and acouple of details about where I'm from. No skin off mynose.

Twitter doesn't have as many privacy settings asFacebook, but its syntax and endless slew of hashtag hellcan be unnerving to some, even though it is arguably themost efficient mode of communication for many journal-ists, live bloggers, and professional think tanks.

Continued on page five

The 1871 Canadian census pro-vides one with much more than thenominal return of all persons livingin Canada on the date of the return.This census has a number ofattached schedules that provides onewith more information of the time.One schedule provides the names ofpersons who had died in the previous12 months. The agricultural schedulecovers topics such as cultivated land,field crops and livestock. Otherschedules cover real estate and landvaluation, industrial establishmentsand resource based industries:forestry, shipping, fishing and min-ing.

In order to make maximum use ofthe information available throughthis census, one has to make note ofthe page number and line number forthe head of the household on thenominal return. A number of theschedules utilize the page and linenumber, not the name of the head ofhousehold, as identifier. One has togo through the nominal census andeach attached schedule to obtaincomplete information on each house-hold and premise in a township.

In the north half of Bristol town-ship, one finds at Range 6, W/2 Lot 3the household of George and BridgetTelford with their children: Franciseight, Thomas George six, Robertfive, Mary Ann three and Alexanderage one. Listed under the deaths in

the previous 12 months was Telford,Ann age nine and one half months,born April, religion Church ofEngland, who died in January ofinflammation of the lungs. From thisschedule, one can speculate that Annand Alexander were twins. ThisTelford family emigrated to Octono,Wisconsin.

The Tubman family of Range 6, Lot2 Bristol was listed as Tugman withthe following members: Thomas 48,Lily 32, Mary Jane 14, Margaret Ann12, George Thomas 10, WilliamJames five, and Robert John four.Margaret, George and William attend-ed school. Thomas could not read norwrite and Lily could not write. TheTubman family had one house, onebarn and one plough.

The 100 acre farm, 15 acres undercrop production the previous year,produced 40 bushels (bu) oats and 6bu of corn. One acre produced 80 buof potatoes. Three acres of hay pro-duced two 16 pound piles. The fami-ly had two oxen, two milch cows, twohorned cattle, seven sheep, four pigs.Slaughtered during the previous 12months were: three sheep, two pigsand one cow. Farm productionincluded 150 pounds of butter, 30pounds of wool, 45 yards of cloth and20 cords of firewood.

Under the Return of IndustrialEstablishments in the north part ofBristol were carding and weaving

operations. Uriah Keeler operated acarding premise, on the Quyon Rivernear the Ragged Chute, powered bywater. Keeler had a $3,000 fixed cap-ital investment in his premise thatoperated eight months of the yearemploying two people over the age of16 years with a yearly wage of $240.The previous year the raw materialinventory was 4,000 yards ofundressed cloth valued at $2,200and 9,000 pounds of uncarded woolvalued at $2,340. The finished pro-duction was listed as 4,000 yardscloth valued at $2,600 and 9,000pounds of carded wool valued at$2,700.

James Doherty operated a weavingestablishment employing one femaleover 16 earning a yearly wage of$100. His capital investment was$30. His raw inventory of 420 poundsof wool and cotton had a value of$255 and finished inventory of 900yards of finished cloth valued at$361.

The 1871 Canadian census isvaluable in providing informationabout the community not just theindividuals who resided in any town-ship.

Gloria Tubman is a geneologyenthusiast living in Ottawa. Her inter-est in the study of family trees waspiqued by her grandmother's story asa home child in Pontiac.

GENEALOGY GLEANINGSGLORIA F. [email protected]

1871 census provides community information

Photo courtesy of Maurice White

Fishing at Lac Dumont around the turn of the last century.

All in the past Don’t knock itContinued from page four

There is nothing saying you have to use Twitter, eventhough the media regularly exploits its hyperactive efficiency,to propagate and collect information. But at the same time,don't knock it if you haven't tried it; and, if you have, give ittime.

Twitter will grow on you, despite the steep learning curve onthe social network's ettiquette - the socially acceptable way touse Twitter (tweets about what you had for lunch is not as rel-evant as what the latest hockey score is).

What's critical is that while the Internet is a relatively openspace, and its jungle of websites doesn't come with a usersmanual, there is lots to learn and plenty more to ostrecize fromyour bona fide social life. Work with it, and it will work for you.

Summer is just around the corner and families are often look-ing for inexpensive ideas to keep visitors and children amusedduring the long, hot days.

A trip to the air conditioned library is always fun for childrenand provides a break from the routine. While here, patrons canhave access to thousands of books, computers that are connect-ed to high speed internet and WiFi connection. We also have thecoveted free museum passes for the major museums in Ottawa.

The Ottawa Museum pass provides a family of five (maximumof three adults) free access to 10 museums within the City ofOttawa. These include the Billings Estate, the Bytown Museum,the Diefenbunker, Pinhey’s Point, among others.

The Canadian Museum of Nature pass also allows a family offive (maximum three adults) entry into the “dinosaur” museum.This museum has recently been renovated and is a hit amongstchildren and adults alike.

The Canadian Museum of Civilization pass allows a family offour (maximum of two adults) entry into the Museum ofCivilization, the Children’s Museum and the Canadian PostalMuseum, all located at 100 Laurier in Hull. It also providesaccess to the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa.

The Canadian Agriculture Museum (Experimental Farm), theCanadian Aviation Museum and the Science and TechnologyMuseum all located in Ottawa, now have admission pass. Thispass gives free access to two adults and three children to each ofthe museums.

The newest member of the museum pass family is theNational Gallery of Canada in Ottawa. A family is granted freeadmission to the art museum when they present the pass at theadmissions counter.

These five passes are available on a two week loan period,however if there is a high demand for them, we will reduce thisperiod to one week. Also for those readers who are not membersof the Shawville-Clarendon Library, all of the passes are avail-able at each library in the MRC Pontiac (Alleyn and Cawood,Bristol, Campbell’s Bay-Litchfield, Fort Coulonge, CalumetIsland, Otter Lake, Allumettes Island and Mansfield-Pontefract),as well as the Quyon Library, so please visit your local library toget your pass to these museums.

Also available are passes to eight different cultural sitesthroughout the Outaouais. These passes can all be borrowed ona two week loan and range from one person to five people, andthey are available at all Pontiac Libraries.

The Carte Patrimoine Outaouais gives free access to the fol-lowing sites: the Cultural and Education Center of Kitigan Zibi,the Centre d’interpretation de l’historique de la protection de laforët contre le feu de Maniwaki, the Yellow Walleye InterpretationCenter in Grand Remous, the Musée des pionniers in Saint-Andre-Avellin, the Manoir-Papineau in Montebello, the Centred’interprétation du Patrimoine in Plaisance, the Bryson House inMansfield-Pontefract and the Chutes Coulonge in Fort Coulonge.Each site has its own individual pass and more than one can beborrowed at a time.

Also at the Shawville-Clarendon Library this summer is theTD Summer Reading Club for children aged six to12. This willtake place on Wednesday evenings from 6 - 7 p.m., beginningJuly 4 and finishing on Aug. 8. This year’s theme is Imagine andclub members explore beyond their realms all by using theirimaginations. Parents are encouraged to attend with their chil-dren to help with the activities and use their imaginations aswell. Until next month, keep reading.

Jennifer Davies MLIS is a local Librarian, if you would like tocontact her with any ideas or thoughts that you may have emailher at [email protected].

Summer, just around the corner

CHECK IT OUTJENNIFERDAVIES [email protected]

PONTIAC • Citizens andlandowners from the munici-palities of Pontiac and Bristol,as well as any others from theMRC Collines-de-l’Outaouaisand the Pontiac MRC, areinvited to take part in thepublic workgroups scheduledfor June 9, 2012 at the JackGraham Community Centrein Bristol.

Participants will have anopportunity to learn the mostrecent developments aboutthe Chats-Falls Park inPontiac project and to expresstheir views.

This phase marks a water-shed in the development ofthe project. Its proponents areeager to set a climate of col-laboration and respect sothat, together, all communi-ties can build and shape theirfuture. Active citizen partici-pation is the key to help growthe project with constructiveideas, questions, commentsas well as concerns.

Chats Falls Park in Pontiacis an innovative recreationaland tourist project that willspearhead regional develop-ment for the benefit of all sur-rounding communities. It con-stitutes an outstanding touristdestination in the vanguard ofregional development offeringa unique range of activitiesdeserving of national status.Chats Falls Park in Pontiacwill provide visitors with aunique recreation and inter-pretation experience in a nat-ural environment in an excep-tional state of preservation.

The MRC Collines-de-l’Outaouais, CLD Collines-de-l’Outaouais, MRC Pontiac,CLD Pontiac, the CRÉO(regional council of electedrepresentatives in theOutaouais) and the munici-palities of Bristol and Pontiacmake up a partnership solidlybased on the site’s extraordi-nary potential. These mem-bers are working together tocome up with an ambitiousand innovative design conceptthat will feature the rich nat-ural and historical heritage ofthe area.

The Chats Falls Park inPontiac project fits seamlesslywith local and regional priori-ties. It will constitute a dri-ving force in communitygrowth and developmentbecause beyond revenue gen-erated by visitors, it will cre-ate many business opportuni-ties for surrounding munici-palities given the need forcomplementary infrastruc-ture (accommodation, restau-rants).

The project has survivedthe design concept phase,which can be considered theopportunity study, and it isthe feasibility studies that arethe primary focus in thisphase of the project. This pre-sent consultation is part ofthis phase because it is key togenerating a popular consen-sus around the project tomove on with its development.

Submitted by Ben Khun,Cultural Development Officer,CLD Pontiac.

Chats Falls Park in PontiacCitizens to voice their views June 9

ALYSSA FOURNEAUXSpecial to The EquitySHAWVILLE May 30, 2012

The Shawville 4-H clubis hosting the 37th annualQuebec 4-H ProvincialRally next month.

Laura Stephens-Dagg isthe press correspondent forthe Shawville 4-H club. Shesaid the members of theclub “are psyched” for thecoming rally, particularlythe younger members.

“Hosting a rally is impor-tant for our club becausethis year many of ouryoung members (ones thatare too young for rally oth-erwise) will also be able toattend,” Stephens-Daggwrote in an e-mail. “Thisexperience will help tostrengthen the bondbetween our members andhelp the younger ones tomake friends with mem-bers in other clubs.”

The Provincial Rally orig-inated in Richmond in1976 and has grown intoan anticipated event formany members of the 4-H.Lorelei Muller, the execu-tive director of the Quebec4-H Association, said theProvincial Rally gathersmembers from 4-H clubsfrom across Quebec todemonstrate their skillsand have fun. She said theProvincial Rally is impor-tant because it allows themembers to meet new peo-ple.

“They make friends fromdifferent regions acrossQuebec,” she said. “It’sbeneficial when it comes tothings like their [post-sec-ondary] schooling becausethey’ll already have friendson the same campus.”

Eighteen year old EmilySimms is the current pres-ident of the Shawville 4-Hclub. Although she hasonly been a 4-H memberfor a few years, she said 4-H has given her many pos-itive experiences.

“I have had the opportu-nity to make friends fromall across Quebec,” shesaid.

“I have also been able tohelp give back to my com-munity with the help of ourclub members.”

The Shawville 4-H clubmakes a point to give backto their community.

Stephens-Dagg said at theend of an event all themembers wear a smile ontheir face despite thefatigue.

“Community service isimportant to the Shawville4-H club because we are acommunity based club,”wrote Stephens-Dagg.“Without community ser-vice our club would gounnoticed and unsupport-ed by the community. Theydo so much to help us out,we decide to give back asmuch as possible.”

Last year’s annual reportof the club describes vari-

ous fundraising events forcharities like Free theChildren and Relay for Life.The club also helped plant100 trees around the townto celebrate the 100anniversary of the Woman’sInstitute of Shawville.

The Provincial Rallytakes place from July 5 to 8at the local fairgrounds inShawville.

The opening ceremonieskick off on Thursday fol-lowed by the Farmers’Olympics. Show day is onSaturday. Events continueuntil the banquet onSaturday evening.

Shawville to welcome provincial clubs

Submitted by Alyssa Fourneaux

The Shawville 4-H club at a general meeting in May at Elmside ViewFarms/Dannan Holstein hosted by Dan Egan.

Page 5Wednesday, June 6, 2012The voice of the Pontiac since 1883


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June 9 and June 10, 2012 at Mill Dam ParkThe Municipality of Shawville is sponsoring a fishingderby on June 9th and 10th, 2012. FISHING ONTHESE DATES IS RESTRICTED TO CHILDREN 18

AND UNDER AND THEHANDICAPPED. CHILDREN UNDER12 MUST BE ACCOMPANIED WITH AGUARDIAN. You may register on thosedates at the park or by calling theMunicipality of Shawville. Registrationis $5.00 per person or $10.00 perfamily. Prizes will be given. There is alimit of “3 fish” per day, per person. Afishing course will be given onSaturday, June 9, 2012 at 9:00 a.m.

for children 8-18. MUST BE A RESIDENT OFQUEBEC. Please register by calling theMunicipality at 819-647-2979. VOLUNTEERS ARENEEDED, if available please call the MunicipalHall at the number listed above.

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ADRIENNE TAYLOREquity ReporterPONTIAC June 9-10, 2012

The 23rd annual PontiacArtists’ Studio Tour startedthis past weekend with 15different artists at 15 studioslocated throughout thePontiac region.

Porcelain pottery, fusedglass, handmade paper,watercolour and oil paintingswere just some of the differ-ent kinds of art displayed onthe tour.

ValerieBridgemanWith 13 years

of the tour underher belt, ValerieBridgeman trulyknows how to setup an eye-catch-ing display of herartwork.

B r i d g e m a nuses a variety ofnatural materi-als to form cre-ative artworkpictures on herh a n d m a d epaper.

She driesmany flowers,seeds or evenleaves off pineap-ples and trans-forms them intoa series of pic-tures of goldendragons.

“A lot of peopledon’t noticethings like pineapple leavesbut it’s those little things thatcan make the most interest-ing artwork,” saidBridgeman.

Another medianBridgeman works with is

clay.Bridgeman was happy to

explain a couple of her tech-niques.

The first is rolling the clayout and stamping patternsshe curves out of plexiglass.

One of the other ways shetransfers a pattern is usingitems found in nature, likeleaves. Again she presses theleaves into the clay to formdesigns.

Some of the clay that ispatterned issquared off andflipped over cutfrom styrofoamforms then firedand painted. The end results

are unique platesthat could dou-ble as beautifulcentrepieces. B r i d g e m a n

claimed that thepreparation timecould be some-what stressfuldue to theamount of time ittakes to gete v e r y t h i n gtogether perfect-ly.“It takes me

about a week toget everythingorganized andset up,” saidB r i d g e m a n .“That may seemlike a lot of time

to most, but for me it’s bare-ly enough.”

She also explained how agallery display of her artworkis quite different from thePontiac Artists’ Tour display.

Please see ART page three

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What a bashAndrea Cranfield, THE EQUITY

Friday night’s ceremonies of the fifth annual Bikes in the Bay kicked off with a parade.

ANDREA CRANFIELDEquity Editor

CAMPBELL’S BAY June 8, 2012Motorcycles roared into

Campbell's Bay on Friday night,as residents stood on theirdoorsteps waving to the passingbikes.

A sea of leather vests, red T-shirtsand shiny machines flooded into the smallmunicipality and the fifth annual Bikes in theBay began.

Bikes in the Bay started as a barbecue andhas grown in terms of size and magnitude overthe years, now including numerous activitiessuch as boat tours, helicopter rides, motorcy-cle stunts, an ATV pull and more.

Campbell's Bay Mayor Bill Stewart said thisyear went wonderfully.

“We had a fantastic weekend. Theturnout Friday night, I don't think I'veever seen that many people inCampbell's Bay. The tent was full, thegrounds were full, we ran out of tick-ets, we had to get more tickets, it wasunbelievable,” said the mayor.

Please see CELEBRATE page five

HAMISH MCKILLOPEquity ReporterCAMPBELL’S BAY June 9, 2012

The bikes were revving, thepeople were cheering, andbands were singing Saturdayfor the second and final dayof Bikes in the Bay.

The event continued intoSaturday with a multitude of activities andfun for all to see.Campbell’s Bay Mayor Bill Stewart evenjokingly arranged for horses dressed as

firefighters to gallop into the action for thetug-o-war.“I wasn’t quite sure if I was going to getthe helmets strapped on them, but we got

them on pretty good,” said Gary Moorhead,whose horses Dusty and Rosie originated

from his father’s farm.While kids played on play structures,

grown-ups played with theirmotorcycles, raced theirSeaDoos, and competed in the

motorcycle games and the popular ATVPull for cash prizes.

Please see HOWLING page five

On Saturday night at about 1 a.m. two cars were travel-ling on Knox Landing Road in Bristol when one carstruck the other.

According to Sûreté du Québec (SQ) Sgt. Marc Tessier,the damage was minimal but the accident caused a dis-pute between the two parties.

“People came out of their vehicles and they wereyelling at each other andafter the yelling, a fightensued and after that, oneguy went in his car and

chased the people who were on foot with his car,” saidTessier.

The driver hit a man with the car but they were notseriously injured. He also hit two parked cars, causinghis car to roll into the ditch.

One of the parties left by foot and as they were leav-ing the other group of people threatened to come backwith firearms and beat them up.

At this point, everyone left the scene of the crash, saidTessier.

“(Then) they came back ... with another vehicle and afirearm and they pointed the firearm at the other peoplewho were still on the scene. We're still looking into it butat least one gun shot was shot in the air. Not at the per-son, like a warning shot in the air,” said Tessier.

The people who were unarmed ran into the woods tohide and waited for police to arrive.

Three people, all 23-year-old men, two from Quyonand one from Aylmer, were arrested and brought downto the police station.

“The next day they were released with a promise toappear in court and with severe conditions,” saidTessier.

The three men could be facing charges related to thefirearm, reckless driving causing bodily harm and utter-ing threats. They were all either partially or heavilyunder the influence of alcohol.

The investigation is ongoing and further charges couldbe laid.

In other police news, a car accident involving a munic-ipal dump truck towing a backhoe and a pickup truckwas reported on Thursday just before 11:30 a.m.

A flat tire caused the dump truck, which was travel-ling westbound on Hwy. 148 near Quyon, to veer off thehighway near Robinson Road and swerve into the ditch,striking the pickup truck parked at the edge on the road.

Nobody was in the pickup truck at the time but thevehicle was totalled.

“He hit that pickup truck that was parked up thereand he fell in the ditch,” said Tomy Bourque from theMRC des Collines who was at the scene. “You have twoguys inside the (dump) truck but you have no injuries.He lost control, you call that a jackknife.”

The accident caused a section of Hwy. 148 to remainclosed for more than three hours.

In more police news, there was a series of car break-ins that occurred in the Shawville area on Sunday.

The Sûreté du Québec currently has five files openrelating to the incidents.

Please see POLICE page two

Fights, man hitwith car and ashot fired

Artist Tour showstrue Pontiac talent


Val Bridgemanstands beside herpottery creationsoutside of herhome in Ladysmith.

The voice of the Pontiac since 1883 Wednesday, June 13, 2012 1 dollarwww.theequity.ca Volume 129, Issue No. 24

ANDREA CRANFIELDEquity EditorPONTIAC June 13, 2012

According to an environmental report done by the FederalGovernment that came out on May 8, there are three contam-inated sites in Pontiac.

The report was tabled Chapter 3-Federal ContaminatedSites and Their Impacts of the2012 Spring Report of theCommissioner of theEnvironment and Sustainable

Development. The report lists Fort William in Sheenboro, the Lower

Passage in Allumettes Island and Short Turn Island inSheenboro as being contaminated.

The Office of the Auditor General of Canada website sayscontaminated sites, “contain substances that pose, or arelikely to pose, a hazard to human health or the environment.More specifically, a contaminated site is one at which sub-stances occur at concentrations above background levels andpose, or are likely to pose, an immediate or long-term hazardto human health or the environment, or exceed the levelsspecified in policies and regulations.”

According to the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariatwebsite, Lower Passage has metal, metalloid andorganometallic in the soil.

“An estimated amount of contaminated medium has notbeen reported for this site,” reads the website.

It also states the site's status as, “Initial testing completed.Detailed testing underway.”

Fort William and Short Turn Island have n/a's markedbeside contaminants.

Please see SITES page two

Contaminatedsites found

Bikes celebratesnew monument

Bikes growling,people howling

ANDREA CRANFIELDEquity EditorPONTIAC June 13, 2012

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Continued from the frontFriday nights' events kicked off with the Ride in Red

parade aimed to raise awareness of the sacrifices made bysoldiers in the military and show support for the troops fight-ing overseas.

Bikers from both Quebec and Ontario met up in QuebecCity and with motorcyclists joining them along the wayincluding a family from Thunder Bay, they eventually madetheir way to the main street in Campbell's Bay, the loud humof the engines filling the air.

After all of the motorcycles were parked, the bikers turnedthe corner and walked to the Veterans Memorial Park at thecorner of Leslie and John streets, attendees applauding theparade as it went by, led by Joe McLaughlin playing the bag-pipes.

There was an abrupt silence and a more somber atmos-phere took over as everyone turned their attention to the greymonument in the middle of the park bearing the words “Inmemory of our lost heroes who have made the ultimate sacri-fice in Afghanistan 2002-2011” on a granite plaque andrepeating these same words in French.

The monument was built by members of the the CanadianArmy Veterans Korea Unit. The first part was completed lastyear and the finished monument was revealed on Friday.

The unveiling of the monument was meant to honour the158 Canadian soldiers who have died in Afghanistan.

Everyone in the crowd was given a poppy and a photo witha soldier who had died. Everyone stood in silence as the rainpoured down on them.

After the opening ceremonies, Stewart took the podium,welcoming attendees on behalf of the municipality ofCampbell's Bay.

“We are honoured to have this monument in Campbell’sBay and we recognize how important it is to pay tribute tothese brave men and women who are willing to pay the ulti-mate sacrifice in order to maintain our freedom,” he said.“You are always welcome to come back and visit us in thefuture and pay homage to this beautiful monument.”

MP Mathieu Ravignat followed Stewart's speech with hisown, saying, “Today with this monument we pay tribute tothe efforts of our Canadian soldiers who fought inAfghanistan. I’d like to recognize the bravery of the membersof our Canadian Armed Forces whose men and womencourageously participated in dangerous operations to supportour allies and help the people of Afghanistan.

“The loss of our soldiers whether long ago or more recent-ly, is a reminder of just how dangerous their job is and howprecious is our freedom.”

First C.A.V. President Maddawg, said that he left London,ON at 6:30 a.m. Friday morning for the Ride in Red, givinghim a lot of time to reflect on his thoughts while on his bike,which he shared with the audience.

“As I travelled here today, I thought about our first C.A.V.Korea Unit ... and the members of that unit and the hardwork and the dedication that they have done to mark theirplace in history with this beautiful, beautiful monument ded-icated in the memory of 158 Canadian heroes so that we willnot forget.”

Every stone, 158 in total, represents 10 fallen soldiers inAfghanistan.

Julie Barrette, President of the C.A.V. Korea Unit com-mended soldiers for their efforts and determination to “allevi-ate the suffering of the oppressed and their desire to bringpeace to depressed countries.”

“By this monument, their memory and a trace of their sac-rifice will be engraved forever in the rock of the monument.”

Silver Cross parents, meaning that they had lost a familymember in war, were also present at the ceremony.

Raynald Bouthillier told the crowd about his son Tpr JackBouthillier who had died in Afghanistan.

When Jack told his parents that he wanted to become asoldier, they disapproved knowing the dangers he could face.

“I tried to discourage him many times ... until the time hetold me to back off. He was not going to change his mind, hismind was set and he was going for it. So that day I under-stood there was nothing to do to change his mind, he was asoldier. And Me and Elaine said since we cannot change hismind, we’re going to be behind him, we’re going to supporthim,” said Raynald.

Although Raynald is proud of his son, he said he has tolive with the pain of losing a child every day.

“That day when he died, he was with many friends. Thosefriends had to carry on with the mission. So as civilians, ourjob is to be behind those guys, support them. With that mon-ument there ... we do just that. We’re going to rememberthose guys and we’re going to thank the guys who were thereand came back.”

After the speeches were finished, Ravignat and Stewartlaid wreaths beside the monument.

Then people surrounded it, everyone pinning a poppy andphoto of a fallen soldier onto yellow bows atop the monu-ment, splattering colour onto the grey stone.

“Essentially the idea of a monument like this is cruciallyimportant to remember the most recent of our fallen heroes,”said Ravignat.

“I’d like to thank all veterans, not just those who served inAfghanistan but others for preserving our freedom and forprotecting us. We should never forget them. I think it’s beau-tiful. I think what’s great about it is that it’s solid and itshows that we always remember them because of that.”

After the unveiling of the monument, Crash Course andAMBUSH entertained the crowd with live music well into thenight.

“It was unbelievable the people who showed up Fridaynight. The parade was nice, the army celebration was nice,everything turned out really fantastic and the grounds werecompletely full of people,” said Stewart. “We did really well.”

Continued from the front“I think one of the best things was

the (SeaDoo) event they had in the riverthere. I think it was a packed housedown at the river watching that. It waspretty nice,” said Stewart.

A Robinson 44 helicopter, providedby Helicraft flight school fromGatineau, gave eight-minute rides for$40. Organizers even satisfied requestsby some riders who wanted to ride overtheir cottages for deviations from theflight plan of no more than six min-utes, which took them aroundCampbell’s Bay.

In the first tug-o-war of the after-noon, people of all ages including NewDemocrat MP Mathieu Ravignat suc-cessfully pulled a fire truck attached toa rope about 50 ft. up the street.

Then, as if with mighty power withintheir small hands, a battalion of chil-dren successfully pulled the fire truck,and even members of the CanadianArmed Forces jumped in to help out.

“We were pulling trailers the otherday, now we’re pulling fire trucks!” onesoldier bragged to another after themassive tug.

Mayor Stewart could be seen zippingup and down Front Street in a golfcart, clearly enjoying the festivities.

“For economical reasons, it boostsup the economy, and all of the moneywe raise goes back into the community,so it’s a win-win,” said Stewart.

The mayor said the money that theevent generates is injected back intoprojects such as investing in toys forkids at the park, investing in theCampbell’s Bay ice rink, a schoolscholarship.

“It’s big, and it impacts a lot of peo-ple,” said Stewart, who said the eventis affiliated with various groups andalso recognizes Canadian war veterans.

A ceremony was held to recognize158 Canadian soldiers who made theultimate sacrifice in Afghanistan, threeof which were present at the ceremonyand were commended for their servicein Afghanistan: warrant officer JohnStewart, warrant officer Doug Quinn,and Sgt. Ron Langille.

“It always gives me tingles up myspine, and I feel very proud, very hon-oured,” said Langille.

“It’s very nice, and it’s appreciated,”said Stewart. “It’s my third year here… I really enjoy it,” he said.

Quinn said, “I think it’s very welldone. The Campbell’s Bay people arevery good, they support everything wedo, and if they don’t support us thenwe can’t do what we do.”

When Bikes in the Bay started outfive years ago, the “bikes” portion ofthe day was initially called “MotorcycleEvents” but this year is being renamed“Donna’s Motorcycle Events” afterWayne Harris’s wife Donna who suf-fered from cervical cancer.

Donna had complications from hercancer treatments. Earlier this yearher bowels shut down and 11 dayslater, on Feb. 5, Donna died in hisarms.

Donna would have turned 45 inSeptember.

Harris, a professional demolitionderby competitor, decided to paint his1984 Caprice pink, parts of its exposedengine bound tightly in duct tape, inDonna’s memory and asked everyoneto sign it.

“It’s a community thing, it’s the …military, it’s people with cancer, peoplewith life problems – they can get out,forget about the worries of life, andenjoy and help out anybody (with) acause.”

Harris helped facilitate five motorcy-cle events. In addition to an obstaclecourse and an overall prize for “bestbike,” he had the Slow Race, wherebythe last one to the finish line wins, butplayers are disqualified if their feettouch the ground.

For the Clothesline race, riders hadto hang socks on a clothesline, and inthe Water Balloon Toss, two riders hadto pass a water balloon through abarbed wire hoop and catch it as theyride underneath.

Without a doubt the festivities werea great success and will be back nextyear for even more fun and excitement.

Celebrate Howling


The dirt was flying at the ATV pull, in which ATVs pulleda weighted trailer more than 100 ft., competing to see

who would go the farthest distance.


As part of “Donna’s Motorcycle Events,” bikers competein the Slow Race in which the last rider to the finish linewins, making balance the key.


Dusty and Rosie (left to right), wearing fireman hats,were asked by Campbell’s Bay mayor Bill Stewart to bebrought in as a surprise joke.


For one of the tug-o-war challenges, about 15 kids andonly two adults including MP Mathieu Ravignat and oneCanadian Armed Forces soldier successfully towed atruck.


Phil Denault and company provided the first wave of musicalentertainment Saturday.


Left to right: Warrant Officer Doug Quinn, WarrantOfficer John Stewart and Sergeant Ron Langille were

recognized for their service in Afghanistan, in additionto the 158 members of the Canadian Armed Forces who

never came home from Afghanistan.


Following the death of his wife, Bikes in the Bay founderWayne Harris decided to paint his 1984 derby car, as

well as his hair, pink.


From left to right, Canadian Army Veterans National Vice-PresidentBuddha, President of the C.A.V. Korea Unit Julie Barrette, MP MathieuRavignat, Campbell’s Bay Mayor Bill Stewart and 1st C.A.V. PresidentMaddawg take part in the ribbon cutting ceremony symbolizing theunveiling of the new monument in the Veterans Memorial Park.


Campbell’s Bay Mayor Bill Stewart helps to lay a wreathbeside the memorial.


MP Mathieu Ravignat and Campbell’s Bay Mayor BillStewart are proud of the new monument situated inVeterans Memorial Park in Campbell’s Bay.


Motorcycles lined the streets of Campbells’ Bay onFriday night.

Bikes in the Bay a blast


After the speeches, everyone in the crowdpinned poppies and photos of fallen soldiers to

yellow bows hanging from the monument.


Behind the double doors, lives are savedHAMISH MCKILLOPEquity ReporterGATINEAU May 31, 2012

When paramedics aresent to the scene of a med-ical emergency, little isknown or appreciated inwhat happens after a patientis rolled into the back of anambulance, the doubledoors firmly close, and themedical emergency speedsaway.

The headquarters for theCooperative Paramédics del’Outaouais located on boul.des Affaires in Gatineau isthe communication hub fordispatching 31 ambulancesacross Outaouais, and thehighly trained personnel inthe facility’s dispatch centrealso keep a close eye on thefour ambulances that areresponsible for Pontiac.

Two of those ambulancesare stationed in Shawvillebecause of the proximity tothe CSSS du Pontiac, one islocated in Chapeau, and oneis in Fort-Coulonge.

“They’re all strategicallyplaced so that there’s thesame amount of responsetime for each citizen, whichis the minimal time of waitacceptable by the govern-ment,” said Yvon Proulx,Team Leader in the head-quarter’s CommunicationsCentre, who is responsiblefor coordinating four dis-

patch stations.Proulx has been in the

medical field for 26 years,during which time he wasalso a paramedic on thestreets, and has so far spenta year-and-a-half as TeamLeader. Because there aremany “elderly” residentsaround the Shawville area,the calls he gets are oftenheart-related issues.

Other emergency callsreceived from the Pontiacregion include lacerationsbecause there are manylumberjacks in the area,said Proulx.

Standing behind five LCDmonitors one might expect ofa Wall Street stockbroker,Proulx takes every call on acase-by-case basis, guidedby a sophisticated flip chartwell known to emergencydispatchers as the ClawsonProtocol. The instructions,condensed into 33 sections,guide Proulx on how to diag-nose any possible medicalemergency he may receiveon the phone.

Martin Beland, anotheremergency medical dis-patcher, has worked in thecommunications centre forfour-and-a-half years, andhas helped with two child-births over the phone in histime in the centre.

“That type of call makesyou love your job more and

more. You finish on thatphone, and you’re veryhappy,” said Beland, whowas one of the people recog-nized at a paramedics galaon May 22, which recognizedparamedics and dispatchers.

Out of approximately 235paramedics that serve thewhole Outaouais region, 61were recognized at the galafor having saved lives.

Four paramedics servingthe Pontiac region were alsorecognized, including MichelGraveline of Fort-Coulongefor 12 years of service, KevinHodgins of Shawville for 22years of service, DenisLadouceur of Otter Lake for12 years of service and GillesLaprade of Mansfield for 12years of service.

According to Lepine, 78-year-old Gatineau residentMarguerite Renaud came tothe gala who had beenresuscitated by paramedicsRyan Gagnon and SimonPelletier.

One paramedic saved hiswife’s life after experiencinga terrifying eight minutes oftrying to resuscitate her.

“It’s a privilege. We’re allhere trying to do our best,”said Proulx.

When a 911 call is placedfrom anywhere in Pontiac,according to Daniel Renaud,a paramedic and supervisorof operations, if the callerrequests an ambulance thecall is immediately trans-ferred from the local author-ities to the Coop’s communi-cations centre, who will intern dispatch the ambulancethat can respond the fastest.

Renauld, who has been aparamedic for 31 years,eight years as a supervisor,said in rural areas he hasresponded to calls includingcar accidents, plane crashes,and murders.

“When I arrived here, Ithought ‘oh my God, this ismuch more than I everthought. Paramedics arealways working in the shad-ow in the background,” saidMartine Lepine, theConseillère en communica-tions et relations commu-

nautaires for theCoopératives des para-médics de l’Outaouais.

Lepine said that by thetime the media arrives at thescene of an emergency, theparamedics are often gonebecause they have alreadyarrived, dealt with a situa-tion, removed a patient andare on their way to the hos-pital.

“What’s happening insidethe ambulance is really,really important. This iswhen they stabilize thepatient, this is when theycan actually save their lives,”said Lepine, who noted whathappens inside an ambu-lance is “not known by thepublic because it’s privateinformation, but this iswhere it all happens.”


Paramedic DanielRenaud sits in the backof an ambulance out-side of the Coop’sambulance depot inGatineau.

Québec accorde une aide financière de près de 1 M$ pour la modernisation du traversier de QuyonQUYON • La députée dePontiac, Mme Charlottel’Écuyer, est heureuse d’an-noncer, au nom du ministredélégué aux Transports etministre responsable de larégion de l’Outaouais, M.Norman MacMillan, qu’uneaide financière de 996 500 $est accordée à Traversier deQuyon inc. pour la moderni-sation du traversier deQuyon qui relie le secteurQuyon de la municipalité dePontiac au secteur FitzroyHarbour de la ville d’Ottawa.Le coût total du projet estestimé à 2,84 millions dedollars.

« Je suis particulièrementfière de cet investissement

qui aura d’intéressantesretombées pour les entre-prises et les citoyens duPontiac. Ce projet majeur,tant sur le plan socioé-conomique qu ’env i ron-nemental, correspond auxobjectifs du Plan d’action2006-2012 sur les change-ments climatiques du gou-vernement du Québec, quicible le développement dutransport intermodal dans lastratégie de lutte contre lesémissions de gaz à effet deserre dans le domaine destransports », a conclu MmeCharlotte L’Écuyer.

Le projet consiste à rem-placer les deux traversiers àhélices actuellement en ser-

vice par un transbordeur àcâble moins énergivore etplus performant. La réalisa-tion de ce projet permettra àl’entreprise de transportertous les types de véhiculeslourds ainsi que lesvéhicules de promenade. Lacapacité de charge passerade sept à 18 véhicules. Lenouveau traversier permet-tra d’éviter un détour de 40kilomètres vers Gatineau-Ottawa et de 50 kilomètresvers Fort-Coulonge,réduisant ainsi le temps dedéplacement des personneset des marchandises. Deplus, cette modernisationfavorisera le développementdurable et diminuera de

façon significative les émis-sions de gaz à effet de serre.

Le projet de Traversier deQuyon inc. répond auxobjectifs du Programmed’aide visant la réduction oul’évitement des émissions degaz à effet de serre(PAREGES) par l’implanta-tion de projets intermodauxdans le transport desmarchandises. Ce pro-gramme est doté d’un bud-get total de 60 millions dedollars pour la période 2008-2013. Cette somme provientdu Fonds vert créé en vuede financer les mesuresinscrites au Plan d’actionquébécois de lutte contre leschangements climatiques.

Chats Falls redevelopmentHAMISH MCKILLOPEquity ReporterBRISTOL June 9, 2012

In an effort to bring moretourist and economic pros-perity into the region, themunicipalities of Pontiacand Bristol are workingtogether on the redevelop-ment of Chats Falls, which islocated near Quyon, andwas discussed at the firstpublic consultation.

The effort between CLDPontiac and CLD desCollines-de-l’Outaouais is anongoing project that couldcost “potentially several mil-lion dollars” and “could bespread out over a decade ortwo,” according to Ben Kuhnof CLD Pontiac, who mediat-ed much of the presentationand answered questionsfrom local residents.

Organizations that wereconsulted as part of the pro-ject’s development includedThe National CapitalCommission, Parks Canada,SEPAQ – Parcs Québec,Nature Conservancy ofCanada, the Department ofNatural Resources andWildlife, and Hydro-Québec.

A slideshow presentationand posterboards with mapsof the region were presentedto a full house of local resi-dents who later had ques-tions on such aspects as theproject’s feasibility, andwhether local real estatevalue would cause tax hikes.

While the questions andconcerns of various groupsbeing taken into considera-tion may cause changes tothe final plans, three keyareas of development arebeing looked at in regards toChats Falls.

A proposed “park centre”will provide an educationaldepot for visitors to learnabout the rich history of thearea, and could include a wel-come centre, campground, asmall marina and replica ofthe horse-drawn railway.

The second proposition isfor a “nature zone,” whichwould be located in the west-ern part of the park, nearBristol, and “highlightnature’s attractions alongthe shoreline as well asmarshes and forest in thePark’s interior,” according toliterature distributed at themeeting, and include hikingand bicycle trails and “roughcamping or semi-servicedsites and a stable.”

The third aspect is a “riverzone” that would “link allareas of the park” and“accommodate interestingfeatures revolving aroundoutdoor activities” that couldinclude a new docking sys-tem to accommodate variouswatercrafts to “bring togeth-er the historical and themodern,” and possibly“revive paddle wheel river-boat excursions,” accordingto the distributed plans.

Bristol Mayor Brent Orrsaid “our side of things isgoing be more on the natur-al” side of the equation, pos-sibly on campground devel-opment as an example.

While Kuhn said these arenot always overnight pro-jects, and can be estimatedin some cases to take up to40 years to fully complete,Pontiac Mayor EddieMcCann does not anticipateit taking that long.

“The participationbetween the municipalitiesis yet to be decided over a

few months or a few years.It’s not (a project) that’sgoing to go on forever. It willeither be a go or a no-go, butI believe that there’s poten-tial there, for sure,” saidMcCann.

The Pontiac mayor saidfor the concept to work, itwould have to be a regionalpark for it to have sharedmunicipal control betweenBristol and Pontiac. Aregional park would give it agood fit, said McCann,between being a municipalpark and a provincial park.


Ben Kuhn of CLD Pontiac explained to theattendees of the first public consultation of theChats Falls project that many different variableswill be taken into consideration, including culturalpreservation, feasibility, and ways in whichinfrastructure will be able to be maintained.


In the 26 years Yvon Proulx has been in themedical field, there’s not much he hasn’t seen, butas the Team Leader for the emergency medicaldispatchers at the Cooperative Paramédics del’Outaouais Headquarters, he takes every call ona case-by-base basis.


Commission scolaire Western QuébecWestern Québec School Board

15, rue Katimavik, Gatineau (Québec) J9J 0E9Tél. : 819.684.2336 Téléc. : 819.684.6810

AVIS PUBLICAVIS est par la présente donné que le conseildes commissaires de la Commission scolaireWestern Québec examinera son budget pourl'année 2012-2013 lors de sa séance ordinairequi sera tenue le 26 juin 2012 à 19h00 aucentre administratif de la Commissionscolaire Western Québec, 15, rue Katimavik,Gatineau.

Donné à Gatineau, Québec le 6 juin 2012Richard Vézina, secrétaire général

PUBLIC NOTICENOTICE is hereby given that the Council ofCommissioners of the Western QuébecSchool Board will be studying its 2012-2013budget at its regular meeting to be held onJune 26, 2012 at 7:00 p.m. at the offices ofthe Western Québec School Board, 15, rueKatimavik, Gatineau.

Given at Gatineau, Québec, June 6, 2012Richard Vézina, Secretary General

OFFRE D’EMPLOI

Technicien en informatique,temps partiel

DESCRIPTION GÉNÉRALE DU POSTERelevant de la Direction générale, le technicien eninformatique est la personne support de la MRC pour veilleraux connaissances des employés, à la disponibilité et à lasécurité des équipements du réseau.Pour de plus amples informations, veuillez consulter notresite Internet à l’adresse suivante : www.mrcpontiac.qc.ca outéléphonez au (819) 648-5689, poste 238.NOTELa rémunération sera établie selon la convention collectiveen vigueur tout en tenant compte de l’expérience ducandidat choisi.Les personnes intéressées doivent faire parvenir leurcurriculum vitæ (préférence par courriel) avant le 20 juin2012 à midi, à l’attention de monsieur Gabriel Lance,directeur général adjoint, aux coordonnées suivantes :

Par télécopieur : (819) 648-5810Par courriel : [email protected]

Par courrier :Gabriel Lance (Technicien en informatique)

MRC de Pontiac 602, Route 301 nord, Campbell’s Bay (Québec) J0X 1K0

JOB OFFERCOMPUTER TECHNICIAN,

PART-TIME

GENERAL JOB DESCRIPTIONUnder the supervision of the General Administration, thecomputer Technician is the support person of the MRC tooverlook employee’s knowledge, the availability and securityof all network equipments.For more information, visit our Website atwww.mrcpontiac.qc.ca, or telephone at 819.648.5689,extension 238.NOTEThe remunerations will be established in accordance withthe collective agreement in effect and according to thebackground and the relevant experience of the retainedcandidate. Interested persons must send their résumébefore June 20th, 2012, at 12 p.m., to the attention of Mr.Gabriel Lance, Director General Assistant:

By fax: 819.648.5810By- E-mail: [email protected]

By mail:Gabriel Lance

(Computer Technician) MRC Pontiac602, Highway 301 North

Campbell’s Bay (Quebec) J0X 1K0

OFFRE D’EMPLOI

Technicien en prévention incendies

DESCRIPTION GÉNÉRALE DU POSTERelevant de la Direction générale, le technicien enprévention incendies devra interagir avec les services desécurité incendie sur le territoire de la MRC.Pour de plus amples informations, veuillez consulter notresite Internet à l’adresse suivante : www.mrcpontiac.qc.ca outéléphonez au (819) 648-5689, poste 238.NOTELa rémunération est composée de toute une gamme debénéfices marginaux et d’un salaire établi selon laconvention collective en vigueur.Les personnes intéressées doivent faire parvenir leurcurriculum vitæ (préférence par courriel) avant le 20 juin2012 à midi, à l’attention de monsieur Gabriel Lance,directeur général adjoint, aux coordonnées suivantes :

Par télécopieur : (819) 648-5810Par courriel : [email protected]

Par courrier :Gabriel Lance (Technicien en prévention incendies)

MRC de Pontiac 602, Route 301 nord, Campbell’s Bay (Québec) J0X 1K0

JOB OFFER

FIRE PREVENTION TECHNICIAN

GENERAL JOB DESCRIPTIONUnder the supervision of the General Administration, theFire Prevention Technician will have to interact with the FireSafety Services on the territory of the MRC Pontiac.For more information, visit our Website atwww.mrcpontiac.qc.ca, or telephone at 819.648.5689,extension 238.NOTEThe remunerations will be established in accordance withthe collective agreement in effect and according to thebackground and the relevant experience of the retainedcandidate. Interested persons must send their résumébefore June 20th, 2012, at 12 p.m., to the attention of Mr.Gabriel Lance, Director General Assistant:

By fax: 819.648.5810By- E-mail: [email protected]

By mail:Gabriel Lance

(Fire Prevention Technician)MRC Pontiac602, Highway 301 North

Campbell’s Bay (Quebec) J0X 1K0

« LA FONDATION DU CENTREHOSPITALIER DU PONTIAC »

vous invite àparticiper à leur

ASSEMBLÉE ANNUELLElundi le 18 juin 2012

à 14 h 30

“THE PONTIACHOSPITAL FOUNDATION”

invites the population toparticipate at their

ANNUAL MEETINGMonday, June 18, 2012

at 2:30 p.m.Salle de conférence Gaétan Boutin Conference Room

Centre hospitalier du Pontiac Hospital Centre200, rue Argue St., Shawville, QC

OFFRE D’EMPLOIINSPECTEUR, INSPECTRICE

EN BÂTIMENTLa Municipalité d’Otter Lake est à la recherche d’un Inspecteur,inspectrice en bâtiment a temps plein.ResponsabilitésSous la supervision du directeur général, l'inspecteur desbâtiments gère les demandes de permis et de certificats, effectueles inspections en conformité avec les règlements municipaux etprovinciaux. Aussi, de façon non limitative, l'officier municipalsera appelé à effectuer les tâches suivantes :- Recevoir, traiter et répondre aux diverses demandes des

citoyens et professionnels;- Étudier les demandes de permis, certificats ou autres

attestations, les analyses et assurer le suivi;- Assurer l'application des règlements applicables à l'urbanisme

et à l'environnement;- Rédiger des avis d'infraction et représenter la municipalité

lorsque requis;- Effectuer toute autre tâche demandée par son supérieur.Exigences- Détenir des études et connaissances en aménagement du

territoire, en environnement ou toute autre combinaison deformation et d'expérience jugée équivalente;

- Maîtriser la réglementation en matière d'urbanisme et leprocessus d'émission d'un permis de construction;

- Bonne connaissance des codes, lois et règlements en lien aveccet emploi, notamment en ce qui concerne les installationsseptiques;

- Être autonome, faire preuve de jugement, d'initiative, êtreresponsable, fiable, honnête, avoir un bon esprit d'équipe et decollaboration;

- Bonne connaissance des outils informatiques, bonneconnaissance de la Suite Microsoft Office;

- Capacité à travailler sous pression;- Avoir le sens de la planification et de l'organisation du travail;- Possède un permis de conduire et une voiture;CommentairesBilinguisme essentiel, autant à l'oral qu'à l'écrit.Conditions salarialesRémunération concurrentielle basée sur les qualifications.Veuillez soumettre votre candidature en faisant parvenir votrecurriculum vitae accompagné d’une lettre de présentation, par laposte ou par courriel, en mentionnant « Inspecteur en bâtiment » àl’attention du Directrice générale, 15, avenue Palmer, Otter Lake,QC J0X 2P0 ou [email protected] au plus tard le 6juillet 2012.Nous remercions tous les postulants, cependant, seuls lescandidats retenus seront contactés.

JOB OFFERBUILDING INSPECTOR

The Municipality of Otter Lake is looking for a full-timeBuilding Inspector.ResponsibilitiesUnder the Director Generals supervision, the Building Inspectorwill manage permit and certificate requests, perform inspectionsin conformity with municipal and provincial regulations. Also,without limits, the municipal officer will be requested to performthe following tasks:- Receive, treat and answer diverse requests from both citizens

and professionals;- Study permit requests, certificates or other attestations, the

analysis and insure the follow-up;- Ensure the application of rules relating to urbanism and the

environment;- Write violation notices and represent the Municipality when

required;- Perform all tasks requested by your superior.

Requirements- Training and knowledge in land use planning, the environment

or any other combination of training and experience judgedequivalent;

- Master the urban planning regulations and the process ofissuing a building permit;

- Good knowledge of the codes, laws and regulations inconnection with this position, especially in regards to the septicinstallations;

- Independent, good judgement, takes initiative, responsible,reliable, honest, good team spirit and work well with others;

- Knowledgeable on the computer, a good understanding ofMicrosoft Office;

- Capable of working under pressure;- A strong planner and highly organized individual;- Possess a valid driver’s license and vehicle.

CommentsBilingualism essential, both oral and written.

Salary ConditionsCompetitive salary based on qualifications.Please submit your application by sending your resumeaccompanied by a presentation letter, by mail or by email,mentioning “Building Inspector” to the attention of the DirectorGeneral, 15 Palmer Avenue, Otter Lake, QC J0X 2P0 or [email protected] on or before July 6, 2012.We thank all applicants, however, only the selected candidates willbe contacted.

ational Bank’s Shawvillebranch recently won an awardputting it on the map as the

highest rated branch in customer satis-faction in Canada.

National Bank commissioned

Montreal-based Saine Marketing to gath-er and compile aggregate data throughcustomer feedback and report back tothem.

The National Bank in Shawvillereceived notification in early May thatthey were being honoured with theaward.

A survey administered by each of the446 branches across Canada is conduct-ed twice a year, and for the Shawvillebranch, the last one spanned from Julyto December of last year.

The survey measured various criteria,concentrating on general satisfactionwith customers’ visits to the branch,global satisfaction with employee serviceand quality of the bank facility, accord-ing to Renée Morrissette, who has beenthe branch manager in Shawville for fouryears.

Customer feedback delivered fromSaine Marketing to the Shawville branchis “very confidential” with no namesattached to it. According to the branch

manager, follow-ups are conducted tolook for areas of customer service thatcan be improved.

Morrissette said this survey is veryimportant because in addition to mea-suring feedback from customers on howthey are treated by banking representa-tives, she attributes her branch’s out-standing customer service largely to “ageneral ambience.”

This is an aspect of customer feedbackthat, when channeled back, is “veryvaluable for the employee, to know that(customers) appreciate what (we) do,”she said.

Even before the five-month-long studywas completed, data was returned to thebranch to expedite feedback rather thanwaiting until the study was completed,although Morrissette said “usually, ifthey’re not happy, (customers) will let usknow in the branch before doing it withthis survey.”

“It means a lot for everybody here,”said Morrissette.

Nationalnumberone

HAMISH MCKILLOPEquity Reporter

SHAWVILLE June 27, 2012

N

JULIELEE STITTEquity ReporterPONTIAC June 27, 2012

A collision on Hwy. 148 inCampbell’s Bay has resulted infour people being taken to hospitalwith non-life threatening injuries,according to Sûreté du Québec(SQ) Sgt. Marc Tessier.

The accident occurred atapproximately 10:30 p.m. onFriday, near the intersection ofHwy. 148 and Front Street.According to police, a car contain-ing a driver and two passengersswerved into the wrong lane, collid-ing head-on with an oncomingvehicle. There was only one occu-pant in the vehicle that was hit.

The driver that swerved into theoncoming vehicle later had hisblood alcohol level tested at thehospital. “Alcohol may be the cause of theaccident so we are investigating that angleright now but it’s going to take a couple ofweeks or maybe a month or two because the

blood sample has to be analyzed,” says Sgt.Tessier.

Specialists were called to investigate thescene, leaving the highway blocked to

motorists until late Saturday afternoon.In other police news, the Paws ‘R’ Us case

culminated on Friday afternoon in courtwith a judge ruling that Charlene and

Nicole Labombard couldn’t ownmore than three pets at one time oroperate a kennel for a minimum oftwo years.

The pair were the owners of aClarendon-based kennel that wasthe site of the largest seizure ofdogs in Quebec’s history, with morethan 500 canines being removedfrom the site last September.

Police in MRC des Collines arealso asking the public to be on thelook-out for a man described to bein his 60s, with grey and white hairand of medium build.

The man is said to have tried toconvince a 13-year-old girl toboard his truck while the pair wereon the Quyon Ferry, crossing fromFitzroy Harbour to Quyon. Theman was last seen driving a darktruck decorated with white flames

on the hood. Anyone with information can call MRC

des Collines de l’Outaouais at 819-459-2422.

The voice of the Pontiac since 1883 Wednesday, June 27, 2012 1 dollarwww.theequity.ca Volume 129, Issue No. 26

Head-on in Campbell’s Bay sends four to hospital

Members of various regional bod-ies from the Outaouais region metlast Wednesday at the Stone SchoolGallery in Portage du Fort to dis-cuss present and future challengesassociated with cultural preserva-tion, sustainable development andto devise a strategic cultural planfor arts and culture throughoutPontiac.

According to the Director Generalof the Conseil régionale de la cul-ture de l’Outaouais (CRCO), Michel-Rémi Lafond, groups interested inthe “cultural affairs” in the area arefacing three challenges: represent-ing artists, maintaining infrastruc-ture and supporting cultural orga-nizational and human resources.

Lafond, who was the president ofCRCO for 15 years prior to his cur-rent post as Director General,which he has held for three-and-a-half years, said that while somemay see communication inPontiac, as a challenge he main-tains the there are ways to workaround language barriers, citingthe example that dancers for exam-ple don’t need lingual abilities to beable to express themselves in theirmode.

“Art is in itself a language,” saidLafond. “We have to protect the cul-tural identities, not only the major-ity but also the minority such as(Aboriginal) and (religious institu-tions)”

Gathered around a table on thesecond floor of the Stone MillGallery in Portage du Fort, atten-dees representing CRCO, CLDPontiac, CRÉO and Culture,Communications et Condition femi-nine Quebec discussed variousaspects of representing artists,

maintaining infrastructure and pro-moting cultural organizations.

Lafond said there is a need for“good representation of artists andactors in the cultural affairs in theregion.”

Christopher Seifried is the presi-dent of the Pontiac HistoricalSociety and attended the meeting.

He later said he was impressedby what was stated in a quote fromthe United Nations Educational,Scientific and Cultural Organization(UNESCO), reiterated by ChristineSt-Pierre, Minister of Culture,Communications and the Status ofWomen in the Agenda 21 documentdistributed at the meeting: “culturaldiversity is as necessary forhumankind as biodiversity is fornature.”

According to the document,Agenda 21 is a 21st Century actionplan that was adopted at the EarthSummit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992.

Émilie Chazelas, a cultural devel-opment officer at CLD, said CRCOis “very important because it makeslinks between artists and organiza-tions.”

She said, “if artists of the Pontiacwork even harder with the CRCOand the CRCO tries to know moreabout the Pontiac, we will be able to(have) a better image and peopleoutside of Pontiac will have a betterunderstanding of what’s going on inPontiac.”

As part of her work with the CLD,Chazelas represented the interestsin the cultural agreement signed bythe MRC, and recognized the con-nection between the variousOutaouais regional bodies presentto look at a cultural strategy forPontiac moving forward.

A strategic plan created by theCRCO is expected to be presentedby September.


Shawville’s National Bank team, standing in front of their branch. Pictured left to right: Personalbanking advisor André Chretien, Senior customer service representative Dawn Dolan, Personalbanker Debbie Kilgour, Financial service representative Chantal Lance, Customer service repre-sentatives Claire Lance and Janet Lapointe, Bank manager Renée Morrissette and Personalbanking advisor Laird Graham.

A devastating fire on June 19 claimed the home ofone Litchfield family.

Kelly Stewart-Turgeon had just returned to herhouse on Ridge Road afterdelivering tools to herhusband Theode who wascutting hay at a farm the

pair rent on Stitt Road when she discovered flames hadengulfed her home.

She quickly placed a call to 911. According to Campbell’s Bay-Litchfield Fire Chief

Kevin Kluke, 12 firefighters responded to the call at3:35 p.m. but were unable to save the house. “We werethere for four hours,” said Kluke.

“It went very, very fast,” said Stewart-Turgeon, asshe watched her belongings being sacrificed to theflames.

The couple celebrated their sixth anniversary livingin the home in April.

“The farm came up for sale the same week we gotmarried but we didn’t move in until our weddingnight,” recalled Stewart-Turgeon.

The wooden house was built sometime between1926 and 1928. Its proximity to her mother-in-law’shomestead made it an attractive choice for the newlymarried couple.

A mother of three, Stewart-Turgeon says that two ofher children were born while the couple lived in thehome.

Despite the personal loss, Stewart-Turgeon says shewas thankful that no one was hurt.

At the time of her fire, two children were with herhusband in the hay field while the eldest was on aschool trip.

Fire claimsthe homestead

Photo submitted by Donald Graveline

It took the Campbell’s Bay-LitchfieldFire Department over four hours toput out the flames at the home ofTheode and Kelly Stewart-Turgeonlocated on Ridge Road on Tuesday,June 19. The home was builtsometime between 1926 and 1928.

Cultural preservation

JULIELEE STITTEquity ReporterLITCHFIELD June 19, 2012

Submitted by Paul Guttadauria

Vehicles were rerouted until Saturday afternoon after a Friday night car crash on Hwy. 148near Front Street in Campbell’s Bay resulted in four area youth being transported to hospi-tal. Police are currently investigating the case and it’s believed that alcohol may have beena factor.

SHORTSTOPSJEANS SKIRTS

HAMISH MCKILLOPEquity ReporterPORTAGE DU FORT June 20, 2012

AGM sheds light on CSSS du Pontiac’s concerns and annual highlightsJULIELEE STITTEquity ReporterPONTIAC June 21, 2012

Despite a shrinking oper-ating budget caused by theintroduction of Law 100 twoyears ago in Quebec, theCentre de santé et de ser-vices sociaux du Pontiac(CSSSP) is calling 2011-2012 a successful year.

The organization, whichoversees nine health andlong-term care facilities inQuyon, Bryson, Allumettes

Island, Mansfield, OtterLake, Rapides desJoachims and Shawville,has seen its budget cutsince the provincial enact-ment of Bill 100 An Act toImplement CertainProvisions of the BudgetSpeech of 30 March 2010 toReduce Debt and Return toa Balanced Budget in 2013-2014.

The legislation requireshealth care facilities acrossthe province to reduce

administrative costs by 10per cent over a four-yearperiod.

“Maintaining and in somecases increasing serviceswhen the demand on yourservices is outside of yourcontrol is a huge chal-lenge,” said Director ofFinancial Services forCSSSP Leanne Gray.

Between 2011 and 2012,$100,000 was cut from theCSSSP’s annual operatingbudget.

According to Gray, theorganization was able tobalance its finances due inpart to reduced chemother-apy treatments.

“We have given about halfof the treatments this yearas we did last year, so thecosts were cut in half from$400,000 to about$200,000,” Gray told atten-dees of the CSSSP’s annualgeneral meeting (AGM) heldon Wednesday at the CLSCin Bryson.

The use of generic drugsalso helped reduce thegroup’s expenses for a sav-ings in 2011 and 2012 of$143,288.

However, further avenuesfor cost savings and finan-cial cuts within the CSSSPcould be forthcoming.

In the annual manage-ment report for the CSSSP,Executive Director RichardGrimard referring to Bill100 writes, “The year 2012-2013 will require further

compressions of $126,000under this Bill.”

“We have to admit thatthese compressions createa serious administrativeoverload, especially forsupervisory staff … despitethe enormous goodwill ofemployees and managers,important choices will haveto be made next year,” hecontinued.

Following the AGM,Grimard explained how theCSSSP was able to continue

functioning and evenexpand its services despitecontinued cuts from theprovince.

“All these people, myworkers, the board of direc-tors, volunteers, they sticktogether.”

The CSSSP employs 496people, 298 of which arefull time. Three-hundred-and-eighty people volunteertheir time at one of thehealth or long term carefacilities in Pontiac.

Groups that donate theirtime and fundraisingefforts to Pontiac Hospitaland other facilties underthe CSSSP umbrellainclude local ladies auxil-iaries and the PalliativeCare VolunteersCommittee.

Both organizations areseeking volunteers andaccording to Grimard he isalways on the lookout forpeople able to volunteertheir time.

Shawville doctors honoured for service at the Rural and Remote Medicine CourseHAMISH MCKILLOPEquity ReporterSHAWVILLE April 28, 2012

Two medical practition-ers based in Shawville,Dr. Keith MacLellan andDr. Maurice Lamarchewere recently honouredwith an award April 28 inWhistler, B.C., recogniz-ing them for their out-standing contribution torural medicine.

One of a number ofawards that is handedout to about 30 rural doc-tors by the Society ofRural Physicians ofCanada (SRPC), estab-lished in 1992, the RuralLong Service Award rec-ognizes doctors acrossCanada for investingmore than 20 years ofservice and a wealth ofdedication into rural

medicine, and at leastfive years membershipinto the SRPC.

The award was given tothe Shawville doctors atan awards ceremony dur-ing the 20th Annual Ruraland Remote MedicineCourse that went fromApril 27 to April 29.

“It always feels good tobe recognized. I was hon-oured with some of mycolleagues throughoutCanada who worked forover 20 years in a ruralsetting … it certainlymakes us proud,” saidLamarche, who has prac-ticed rural medicine inShawville for 36 out of 37

years he has been prac-ticing medicine altogeth-er.

“It’s important to recog-nize the ef forts of theindividuals because of theimportance to the com-munity and that responsi-bility is on the shouldersof a very few people,” saidLee Teperman, adminis-trative of ficer for theSRPC.

MacLellan, who alsoworks at the Shawvillehospital in addition to hisworking out of his localoffice, even has an awardnamed after him – theKeith award – and accord-ing to the SRPC website

this was “the first awardestablished by the SRPC,and is given to recognizemedical schools whichproduce a significantnumber of practicingrural physicians.”

MacLellan, who washumble when asked aboutbeing honoured with theRural Long ServiceAward, said, “I thinkrural medicine is thecrème of the crop. Thedoctors are the best in thecountry.”

Both doctors agreethere needs to be morerural physicians practic-ing. Lamarche went as faras to say, “I think overall

there is a shortage,because a lot of doctorswill prefer to work in theurban areas, eitherbecause that’s their pref-erence or because theyhaven’t been trained wellenough to go to a ruralarea, or because theyknow that rural practicemight be a little more dif-ficult …”

An SRPC press releasesaid the Society’s presi-dent Dr. Braam de Klerk“feels it is important toprovide recognition forphysicians who havedone solid work in ruralcommunities over theyears.”


Dr. Maurice Lamarche, having practiced ruralmedicine in Shawville for 36 years, believes thereis a growing need for doctors in rural areas butmany of them are not “at ease” with the change inscenery compared with what they are accus-tomed to in urban centres.

Games and clowns and weddings, oh my!

Submitted by Lana Cowley

Pictured are various scenes from Family Day at Chutes Coulonge on June16.ANDREA CRANFIELDEquity EditorFORT COULONGE June 16,2012

It was a sunny Saturdayfor Family Day at theChutes Coulonge on June16.

Children participated ingames, a scavenger huntand were entertained byBUNJ-E the clown whomade balloon animals forthem.

A barbecue kept everyone

full and the radio stationMYFM was there broadcast-ing music.

“It was a good day, it wasgorgeous weather,” saidLana Cowley from ChutesCoulonge. “It’s just to dosomething to make achange to our regular rou-tine and to attract morelocals. The idea is thathopefully more locals wouldcome up from the commu-nity.”

Three hundred people

attended the event, sometravelling from Pembrokeand Petawawa, ON. “Part ofit was because we had awedding here too,” saidCowley.

She added that the wed-ding was a perfect ending toa great day.

“It was nice to see thebride come in and all of herguests,” said Cowley. “Itwas just a good day and itwas fun and everybody thatwas here had a lot of fun.”

Ann Taylor, THE EQUITY

A graduation celebration was held for the graduating class of Pontiac HighSchool (PHS) on Saturday at the Pontiac Agricultural hall in Shawville.Graduates, family and teachers joined in the year end event.

Looking to the future

Norway Bay Seniors GolfAssociation weekly reportANDREA CRANFIELDEquity ReporterNORWAY BAY June 20, 2012

Wednesday was so hot thatone could just about choke onthe humidity.

Of course, this didn’t stopmembers of the Norway BaySeniors Golf Association fromhitting the greens at theNorway Bay Golf Course fortheir weekly game.

There were 28 members inattendance this week with

Denis Power playing as a guest.Winston Kinnard got the

lowest gross score with a 40and Eric Smith came in a closesecond with a 43.

Ken Clause got the lowestnet score with a 33.

Kinnard got his ball closestto pin no. 3, Brian Huck got hisball closest to pin no. 5 on thesecond shot and Jerry Nichygot his ball closest to the redpin no. 9.

David Cummings won $24

in the 50/50 draw with ticketnumber 674.

Beer jug winners were BrianOsborne, Kinnard, GilGelineau and Bill Kearnan.

New members for 2012 areRichard Marion, Cummings,Gary Thompson, Doug Cooper,Wayne Labelle and MilesJamieson.

If the weather cools down alittle for next week’s game, itwill make for a more comfort-able day of golf.

Page 14 Wednesday, June 27, 2012 www.theequity.ca

Pontiac PrintshopHome of THE EQUITY

133 Centre St., Shawville • 819-647-2204

$10.00 including taxes. No appointment necessary.Also: Health Card, Native Status, FAC


Every Friday night tuckedaway in Masonic Hall at 244Main St., you will find agreat competition betweenEuchre players as part ofthe Order of the EasternStar Euchre Night.

According to the WorthyMatron, Betty Johnson, foronly $5, members of thepublic can get in on the fun,get some sweets and a hotcup of coffee while they play.

Many of the current loyalclub players have playedEuchre in the Eastern Starfor years, travelling to wher-ever the Euchre takes them,said Beverly Murray, a mar-shall for the Eastern Star.

“You could play Euchre

seven days a week, I’m sureof it,” said Mrs. Johnson.

The card games typicallygo from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30p.m., followed by a lightlunch of cake or muffins.Each week, two EasternStar members provide thelunch.

“I’ve come to have fun. Iplay five nights a weeksometimes,” said ByronHodgins, who has playedEuchre regularly for morethan 20 years.

Half the money earned atthe door is donated to vari-ous charitable causes, andhalf goes to the winner of a50/50 draw at the end of thenight, which players canhave a shot at for an extra$2 at the door.

Louis Johnson is the

club’s Worthy Patron of theOrder of the Eastern Star’sShawville group. He startedthe club about two yearsago after Starks Cornerswas forced to close downdue to “not enough sup-port,” according to Mrs.Johnson.

Starks Corners’ EasternStar Euchre started upagain for a brief time lastspring and summer, but hassince discontinued and isnot expected to resume, saidMrs. Johnson.

The Shawville EasternStar club in comparison hasso far enjoyed a healthyturnout, depending on theweather.

“Last year we had prettygood weather, and it wasreally, really good. Actually,

we [made] $1,500 bucks intwo months,” said Mr.Johnson. He said while theweather this year was not asgood, he hopes the recentbatch of good weather drawsmore people out.

Shawville’s Eastern Stargroup not only hosts Euchregames. It also hosts summerBBQs in July, and turkeydinners where, according toMr. Johnson, the Order ofthe Eastern Star also col-lects money to donate tocharitable causes.

The Eastern Star’sShawville group donated$200 to Pontiac High Schoolin their last yearly bursaryto the school, and they alsomade a $100 donation tothe Children’s ChristmasFund.

By Order of the Eastern Star:Euchre Night Friday!

HAMISH MCKILLOPEquity ReporterBRISTOL March 26, 2012

Peter and BarbaraHaughton of Bristol onceagain loaned their shore-side property to the needs ofKeith Button of Simcoe, Ont.and the town’s steam warp-ing tug alligator that theyjust launched into theOttawa River for the season.

“We’ve got to take advan-tage of the high water,” saidButton.

The man behind the con-trols of the front-end loader,Shandy Ardern, who hasworked at Blue HeronLandscaping for 20 years,helped get the boat out ontowater, and was pleased tolend a hand.

Ardern rolled the front-

end loader part way into thewater and, with its armextended, gave a gentlenudge seamlessly launchingthe massive vessel into theriver.

“Peter and I collect loggingstuff, so that’s how we gotinto all of this,” said Mrs.Haughton. “I have picturesof when my grandfather wasworking the river, of alligatorboats. So for me to look outand have an alligator in ourbay and to think that mygrandfather, when he was ateenager, that’s where hestarted working. It was hisjob; he worked on the river.”

When all was said anddone, all parties appearedcheerful and relaxed like itwas just another walk in thepark.

Simcoe alligator launches for the season

Stay safe, as the wheels go round and round

Photo submitted

Jensen Hodgins’ illustration, second place winner in the Western QuebecSchool Board’s School Bus Transportation Safety Campaign drawingcompetition.


Peter Haughton is on the deck of the Simcoe’s alligator steam warping tug, providing directions toheavy machinery operator Shandy Ardern, who gives the massive boat a gentle nudge into the OttawaRiver.


Grade 6 student JensenHodgins of Dr. S.E.McDowell ElementarySchool has won secondplace in a drawing contest,as part of the seventh annu-al School BusTransportation SafetyCampaign.

“It’s very special to havea life, and it would just beso simple to get it takenaway from the easiestthings, so you have reallygot to be careful aboutwhat you’re doing,” saidJensen, 12.

“I’m very excited,” saidJensen. “I want to jump upand down.”

Dr. S.E. McDowell’s prin-cipal, Jennifer Dubeau,said the illustration waschosen by the school, to besubmitted to the boardlevel for evaluation,because of its effective,

multi-dimensional designthat depicted multiple set-tings inside of the schoolbus and not just exteriorshots as reportedly done byother students.

The campaign, launchedthis year from Lord AylmerSchool in Gatinueau, wasadministered by the WesternQuebec School Board’s(WQSB) transportationdepartment, ran from Jan.30 to Feb. 10 and wasspecifically geared towardshelping raise awarenessamong students to stay safewhile traveling on schoolbuses.

Lorraine Mallette, aWQSB school transporttechnician, said the drawingcontest was but one compo-nent of the safety campaign,and encouraged students toillustrate “the danger zonesaround the bus and how tocross the street when thelights are flashing on thebus.”

A kiosk was also set up atthe Foreurs de V’al d’Or hock-ey game Feb. 4 with freebeepromotional items being givenout. Elementary students alsoreceived promotionalbracelets, printed on them“Do you see me?”

Many other activities wereexecuted, including a quizgame called “Chatterbox”that tested elementary stu-dents’ knowledge on schooltransportation safety.


Every Friday night, the Masonic Hall hosts Eastern Star Euchre where multiple games are battled out.

Page 5Wednesday, March 28, 2012The voice of the Pontiac since 1883

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JULIELEE STITTEquity ReporterPONTIAC May 23, 2012

The debate over its statusas weed or flower has haunt-ed the dandelion for years.

But Jared Hamilton fromMountainview Turf is goingon the record and calling thehardy, golden plant anenemy of turf specialistseverywhere.

“Absolutely, in our indus-try, clover and dandelionsare weeds,” said the thirdgeneration turf farmer andfield production manager.

While the golden weed is ararity at the Quyon-basedbusiness that specializes ingrowing and selling turf(along with numerous otherservices), Hamilton has afew tips for people of a likemind, who view dandelionsas enemy number one.

Because there is no suchthing as an ideal lawn envi-ronment (unless you’reMountainview Turf that is,and your business includesthe upkeep of 500 acres ofturf grass) Hamilton saysyou need to cultivate a“healthy turf canopy that isthick, lush and dark greenso that weeds can’t pene-trate it.

“You need to keep yourturf as healthy as possible.The best practice is to makesure that you have a goodfertilizer program for everyseason, spring, summer andfall.”

According to the turfgrass specialist, if you seeneighbours’ living side-by-side and one has an impec-cable lawn while the othermight have weeds, thin orpatchy grass areas, there isonly one difference: “Theperson with the nice lawnhas a fertilizing program.”

Another option to ensurethat you achieve the perfectlawn is by overseeding.

This is necessaryHamilton notes because“weeds are all over theplace.”

“They’re always growingin the ditches or on people’slawns that don’t fertilize.Weed seeds are always inthe atmosphere and alwaysin the environment. Byputting in grass seed you’reensuring that you havefresh grass coming up andcompeting as much as pos-

sible.”Mountainview Turf offers

two different blends of grassseed, both of which includethree varieties of grasses:Kentucky Bluegrass, Fescueand Perennial Ryegrass.

Kentucky Bluegrass,which grows on the fields ofthe turf farm, requires ideallawn conditions.

“It is primarily for reallygood conditions, wide opensunny areas and grows ingood soil,” says Hamilton.

Fescue is a hardier grassthat is able to sprout up indry conditions where the soilisn’t as rich.

Perennial Ryegrass isincluded in the blend sold byMountainview Turf due toits germination period.

“Kentucky Bluegrass andFescue take 14 to 20 days togerminate, whereasPerennial Ryegrass is sevento 10, so it’s like ‘Boom hereya’go,’” says Hamilton.

Ensuring your lawn isreceiving enough water isalso important when tryingto cultivate a carpet-likeappearance.

“When summer hits andit’s thinning and drying outand it’s almost gone intodrought, that’s when youreally get your weeds.”

Hamilton says dry condi-tions can cause a lawn to gointo a state similar to hiber-nation, which allows weedsto pop up.

If those pesky (albeit cute)dandelions continue tomake their way onto yourlawn, Hamilton says there’sone more option that ischemical free.

“There are a couple oforganic and natural prod-ucts that you can use andthat are available here,” hesays.

Depending on the numberof weeds protruding throughyour lawn, you may want touse either Weed B Gone,which is a handheld spraybottle for small areas orFiesta which can be used onan entire lawn.

While Hamilton doesn’tpretend to like dandelions,he does admit that once inawhile he will receive a bou-quet of them from an admir-er.

“My daughter will bringthem into the office here forme,” laughs Hamilton, whoconcedes that he does hap-pily accept the weeds notingthat the seasonal pest isendangered atMountainview Turf.


Eyes to see

On the bright side,there’s dance

TWEETASITIC

HAMISH [email protected]

In 1995, Lissa McGuireand husband Luc Bélair ofDavidson found out that Luchad brain tumor.

For the past 17 years theyhave been relentlessly seek-ing treatment for what hasnow developed into full-fledged brain cancer.

Their eldest daughter,Mélodie, 12, has been danc-ing with the CorriveauSchool of Dance for 10years. Her younger sister,Marie-Pier, seven, hasdanced with the school forthree years.

The Corriveau family ofthe Corriveau School ofDance has taken care of thegirls while their parentstravelled to Sherbrooke,Que. for treatment some-times three to four daysaway at a time.

According to Lissa, whileshe is away with her hus-band, the Corriveaus feedher daughters, house them,help them with homeworkand make sure they get toschool in Fort Coulongeeach day.

From 1995 to 2004 Luc’stumor was declared a (non-malignant) type 2 tumor, buthe still received years ofinvasive surgeries at theNeuralogical Institute atMcGill University in 1995,2000, 2004 and 2006, toremove part of the tumor.

In 2004 the tumor wasdeclared by physicians to becancerous, but then Lissadiscovered an experimentaltreatment at theNeuralogical Institute inSherbrooke, Que.that allowsnon-invasive treatment forpatients with brain cancer.

In addition to more recentchemotherapy procedures,these surgeries helpedextend Luc’s life for another17 years, to see his daugh-ters’ dancing talent grow.

Luc could not elaborateon questions because of

physical and speech impedi-ments, but when asked if hewas proud of his daughters’accomplishments, heanswered with a firm “yes.”

Despite the grim nature ofher parents’ absence once amonth, and the fact that herfamily life will one daychange forever, Mélodie saidshe enjoys staying with theCorriveaus, and that shegets more time to play andpractice her routines withher friends.

“It’s really fun that I canbe with my friends, and Ireally love to dance. I reallylike [that] when we go there,we practice, and do what wecan do to make our routinebetter,” said Mélodie.

Luc took a break for ayear in 2008 to try radiationtreatment in Gatineau, butthen returned to his aggres-sive regiment of chemother-apy, and has remained on itever since.

The two girls performed inthe Corriveau’s “Circle ofLife” dance at Dr. S.E.McDowell School Thursday.

“[It’s] really good. It’s get-ting better each year,” saidLissa about the girls danc-ing.

“Dance really helps[Mélodie] stay focused onwhat she has to do. She’saround a lot of friends, itbuilds character for a child,it gives them strength. She’slike an 18-year-old. She’s soresponsible, and it’s allbecause of everything thatshe does,” said CindyCorriveau, the owner of theCorriveau School of Dance.

Luc’s most recent visit tothe doctor was last week andthe prognosis was not good.

At this stage, said Lissa,doctors won’t say how longhe has.

Despite the family’s sadsituation, the girls are ableto breath life into their bod-ies with every dance move


Lissa McGuire and husband Luc Bélair stand withdaughters Marie-Pier, 7, and Mélodie, 12.

Dandelions aren’t dandy, says turf specialist

I was on vacation in theMaritimes and a particularmorning I heard the soundof utensils moving around.My stepmom was searchingin the drawer for the potatomasher. She didn’t find it.“Where could it be?” shesaid under her breath.Leaving the hunt she pur-sued another job in thekitchen.

Later that morning, shesearched the same drawerand sure enough there itwas. Potato mashers haveno life of their own, yetsomehow during that firstsearch, it could not befound.

Life can be like that.Trouble arrives at our door.Reality can stare us in theface but we are blind to thetruth. We fuss, blame,maneuver, worry and stillanswers elude us. Why?

Maybe we are preoccu-pied, maybe reality is too

hard to face, so we go onwith other things until timeor circumstances forceanother hard look.

At that point we haveanother chance to choosedifferently. We can acceptreality, focus on the options,find a solution and move for-ward. The solution may notbe what we had hoped for. Itmay be a very hard reality,but rolling things around inour minds over and over willnever make the situationbetter. It will make us sick.

God says if we lack wis-dom we can ask and He willgive it to us. He’s only aprayer away. His way leadsinto the light. In the lightyou can see clearly. Thoughthe path may be difficult,with many obstacles to beovercome, headway willhappen, step by step.

Faith gives sight to theblind.

Submitted by Esther Colpitts

Page 5Wednesday, May 23, 2012The voice of the Pontiac since 1883



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HAMISH MCKILLOPEquity ReporterSHAWVILLE May 17, 2012

For more than two hourson Thursday evening, Dr.S.E. McDowell ElementarySchool leapt off its founda-tions and shook to the beatof students from theCorriveau School of Danceperforming live.

Fifty members of the fam-ily-run dance school, rang-ing in age from as young asthree and into their twen-ties, performed for an audi-ence of family, friends andrelatives.

Natacha Corriveau chore-ogrpahed all numbersexcept for two. The GoldenAge tap dance, which waschoreographed and per-formed by her husbandJordan Long; and the Feverjazz solo was choreographedand performed by youngersister Marie-Josée, 18.

The title of the evening

was The Circle of Life,inspired by Walt Disney’sThe Lion King, and featureddancers dressed in cos-tumes fitting the bill for theroles of characters from TheLion King.

Some of the more creativecostumes of the evening inaddition to the Lion Kingtheme were of the MichaelJackson performers, as wellas The Shirelles, and JimHenson’s The Muppets, fea-turing Marie-Josee asKermit the Frog.

“Over the years, theimprovement in (thedancers) is quite nice,” saidTerry Davies, grandfather ofLaura Mayhew, who per-formed with Chantal Zhangin the “Hot n’ Cold” routine.

“The Muppets was verygood…,” said Davies.

The opening and finalefeatured grandiose LionKing performances packedwith talent expected of a

Broadway routine – quite anachievement for the agegroups performing.

As the group dancedthrough the evening, theytold the story of The LionKing through numerousdances, and also danced toroutines featuring hits suchas The Nylons’ The LionSleeps Tonight.

Partway through theevening, Cindy Corriveaustood on stage and thankedan attentive audience ofparents for enrolling theirchildren in dance.

Cindy encouraged par-ents to allow their kids to“take part in an activity thatbuilds self-esteem, pride,teaches grace, poise, disci-pline, and fun. But, aboveall, it gives them great con-fidence to come out on thisstage and perform. Thankyou, parents.”

An entertaining numberof ballet and jazz routines

kept the momentum up,and more modern hip hopand pop hits like DemiLovato’s Skyscraper, andNiki Minaj’s Starships werepowerful dances.

Some of the modernsounds were a stark con-trast to the various dancegenres the group per-formed, however the daringcombination of pop hits andtraditional dance stylesproved to be evocative andhighly energizing.

“I believe that every childshould do some kind ofactivity, because it buildscharacter, it builds confi-dence, it teaches them toexpress themselves, so Ithink it’s really important,”said Cindy.

The dance school isowned by Cindy, whose ninechildren (seven girls andtwo boys) have all beenactive members at one pointin its past 14 years in oper-

ation. Natacha has choreo-

graphed for the group forthe past 14 years it hasbeen in existence, and herhusband and son LoganLong, four, also dance withthe group.

This year, five Corriveauchildren are still dancingwith the Corriveau group,and 73 young dancers fromacross Pontiac have alsojoined.

So far this year the grouphas performed at thePontiac Cabaret, the BrysonLyons Fundraiser and atthe Shawville, Campbell’sBay and FortC o u l o n g e / M a n s f i e l dChristmas parades.

This was the first Circle ofLife themed performancethe group has given, butthey will be performingagain at the Fort Coulongehigh school on Thursdayand Friday.

‘Hands up and touchthe sky, can’t stop ‘causewe’re so high’


Samantha Corriveau performing the Lion King roleof Simba.


Left to right: Isabelle Milks and Audrey Hampel performing “This Little Light of Mine.”


Left to right: Sister dancers Natacha Corriveau, Samantha Corriveau, and Marie-Josee, prepping fortheir first Circle of Life performance on Thursday. (View video at:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqd5WrJJep4)


Left, Jordan Longperforming in theGolden Age tapnumber. Right,M a r i e - J o s e eCorriveau per-forms a daringflip with ease.

Page 14 Wednesday, May 23, 2012 www.theequity.ca

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EQUITY Clippings: April 4 - July 11