Big turnout at MRC to oppose incinerator project, town hall meetings announced
Big turnout at MRC to oppose incinerator project, town hall meetings announced
It was standing room only as more than 40 people crowded into the Elsie Gibbons Room and spilled out into the hallway at the MRC Pontiac public council meeting on March 20. The group of citizens were present to voice their opposition to the MRC’s proposed waste incineration project, mainly due to concerns about its potential impact on the environment and human health.
Prior to the public question period, it was announced that the MRC would be hosting a series of town hall meetings to present the findings of the recently completed initial business plan that the MRC contracted Deloitte to conduct (details available at the end of the article). The meetings will be led by L’Isle-aux-Allumettes Mayor Corey Spence.
The public question period lasted around 30 minutes with 10 different speakers (a recording of the meeting is available here, question period begins at 32 min). Most of the questions were critical of the project, questioning the feasibility, its impact on the local environment, and health risks from the incineration as well as the ash produced.
Linda Davis, a former councillor in the Regional Municipality of Ottawa Carleton who ran against Warden Jane Toller in the 2017 election, took issue with the way in which the sole-source contract was awarded to Deloitte and questioned why the MRC was not making the documentation from Deloitte available to the public prior to the town hall meetings.
When questioned several times after the meeting about why the documentation from Deloitte would not be made available prior to the town hall meetings, Toller said that she was worried the data might be misinterpreted and making it public beforehand could reduce the turnout at the town halls. She suggested that CHIP 101.9 was “trying to make a story that’s not there” and at one point asked to stop recording the interview.
CHIP 101.9 has filed an access to information request for the full report from Deloitte, but under the law, the MRC has up to 20 days to respond, and may request extensions if necessary.
The dates of the town hall meetings are as follows (all start at 7 p.m.):
Monday March 25 – St-Joseph’s Hall on L’Isle-aux-Allumettes (6 rue St-Joseph)
Wednesday March 27 – Fort-Coulonge’s Club de l’Age d’or (566 rue Baume)
Wednesday April 3 – Shawville United Church Hall (410 rue Main)
Tuesday April 9 – Campbell’s Bay RA Hall (2 rue Second)
Wednesday April 10 – Raymond Johnston Community Centre in Otter Lake (394 rue Tessier)
This story has been updated to include all locations of the town hall meetings.
