By William Crooks
Local Journalism Initiative
Federal MPs Marie-Claude Bibeau, Élisabeth Brière, and Pascale St-Onge hosted a symposium in Magog on Wednesday, Aug. 21, engaging with municipal leaders from across the Eastern Townships. Attended by around 40 mayors and municipal representatives, the event focused on federal programs aimed at addressing pressing local concerns, including infrastructure, housing, and climate resilience.
The meeting was initiated by Bibeau, Minister of National Revenue and MP for Compton-Stanstead, who emphasized the need to keep municipalities informed about the array of federal programs available to them. “It’s not always easy to navigate through these different programs,” Bibeau stated in a media scrum after the event, noting that some are managed federally, while others are administered by Quebec or the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. She stressed the importance of ensuring municipalities are aware of their options and how to access them.
Brière, MP for Sherbrooke and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development and to the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health, highlighted the success of the event, underscoring the importance of collaboration between federal, provincial, and municipal governments. “Collaboration, consultation, and teamwork bring so much more than division and confrontation. We witnessed that today,” she said.
Brière expressed hope that the regional mayors’ day would become a recurring event, providing a forum for continued discussion and problem-solving. She also underscored the commitment of MPs to working with municipalities: “We continue in this direction, ensuring that funds are put in the right places and directly benefit the population.”
Housing was a central issue during the symposium. Federal programs aimed at addressing the housing crisis were presented, but mayors expressed frustrations with the difficulty of accessing these resources. The challenges of applying for federal programs were echoed after the event by Stanstead Mayor Jody Stone and Ogden Mayor David Lépine, who explained that the lengthy applications, short deadlines, and limited municipal staff often put smaller towns at a disadvantage. “They send you a form that’s got 47 pages and you’ve got a month’s deadline,” Lépine said. “You’ve got three employees. One’s taking care of the roads, one’s on the phone counting, and the other one’s doing the inspections. Who’s going to do that?”
