Youth commission steals the show as Gatineau council charts new priorities

Tashi Farmilo

At their meeting on March 17, Gatineau's municipal council adopted its priorities for the current mandate, passed several resolutions, and heard from a wide range of residents and advocates on topics that included community funding, a proposed hydrogen pipeline, women's rights, and public transit.

Mayor Maude Marquis-Bissonnette opened by announcing the adoption of the council's six priorities for the mandate:

• responsible financial management,
• quality infrastructure,
• addressing homelessness and affordable housing,
• building a sustainable city,
• delivering efficient municipal services, and
• promoting transparent and participatory governance.

The mayor also highlighted an announcement made earlier that day: In partnership with Unigym, a new gymnastics facility four times the size of the current gym is expected to open in Aylmer in September.

The council passed a resolution of support for "Le communautaire à bout" movement, a mobilization of community organizations calling on the Quebec provincial government for increased and stable funding, with Gatineau organizations identifying $57 million in outstanding needs. The council also proclaimed March 26 as the Journée nationale des cuisines collectives and passed a resolution authorizing a container deposit return centre in the Lac-Beauchamp district, responding in part to concerns raised by residents about access to deposit return points.

During the councillor speaking period, Councillor Sonia Ben-Arfa (Lucerne) described community organizations as the last social safety net for the city's most vulnerable residents, warning that underfunding risks collapsing the entire social sector ahead of the provincial budget tabled the following day. Councillors Isabelle Cousineau (Parc-de-la-Montagne-Saint-Raymond) and Tiffany-Lee Norris Parent (Touraine) both spoke in recognition of Women's History Month. Cousineau noted that 30 women and girls had been killed violently in Canada since the start of the year and closed with a message she once shared with secondary school students: that hatred divides and wounds, and that she wishes for a tomorrow filled with trust and love. Norris Parent cited data showing roughly a third of young men in her generation believe a woman should obey her husband, twice the rate among baby boomers, and called on men to actively join the fight for equality. Councillor Steve Moran (Hull-Wright) highlighted a weekend consultation that drew 150 residents to discuss renewal of the Île de Hull urban planning program. Councillor Catherine Craig-St-Louis (Carrefour-de-l'Hôpital) noted a coroner's report recommending safety improvements to Highway 50, praised city crews for their work during a recent ice storm, and highlighted a ceremony honouring young women who received awards for pursuing careers in non-traditional trades. Councillor Marc Carrière (Pointe-Gatineau) invited residents to the annual general meeting of the Soupe populaire Saint-François on March 24. Councillor Chloé Bourgeois (Bellevue) pushed back on accusations that the Gatineau Ensemble caucus opposes public transit, reiterating a proposal for a concrete plan B for west-end residents following the withdrawal of tramway funding, and highlighted the upcoming Festival du film de l'Outaouais, noting a special event on April 11 bringing together influencers and young people.

The resident question period opened with an address from members of the city's Youth Commission, now in its 26th year, representing 30 young people from 15 secondary schools and more than 21,000 adolescents across Gatineau. Members spoke about learning how a city functions, debating with respect, and understanding that governing is genuinely difficult, closing with the reminder that young people are not residents of tomorrow but residents of today. The response from the mayor and councillors was warm and extended, with several reflecting on their own early starts in civic life.

A local resident raised two long-standing neighbourhood concerns: a neighbour's trailer parked illegally for roughly 15 years, and an overgrowth issue on adjacent land. Councillors Michael Korhonen (Masson-Angers) and Marc Carrière both committed to following up directly. A representative of a condo association raised a long-delayed renovation derogation request, citing water infiltration and health concerns for families and elderly residents. Councillors Rachel M. Deslauriers (Mitigomijokan) and Caroline Murray (Deschênes) acknowledged the delay and committed to working with the administration to advance the file.

Two representatives of the Association des résidents et résidentes de Buckingham, including spokesperson Véronique Santos, addressed the council regarding a proposed hydrogen pipeline project by Enbridge Gaz Québec in the Buckingham and Masson-Angers sectors. They called on the city to obtain and independently examine the completed risk analysis, noting that no provincial body is mandated to evaluate public safety risks along the proposed residential route and drawing a parallel with the Lac-Mégantic tragedy. The city indicated it supports a BAPE investigation and intends to obtain all relevant studies before any permits are considered.

A resident raised questions about salary negotiations with blue-collar workers and firefighters and concerns about public security services. Councillor Timmy Jutras (Lac-Beauchamp) acknowledged the importance of competitive wages for staff retention and praised the work of frontline municipal employees. Two representatives of "Le communautaire à bout" movement called for stable, mission-based funding, rather than project-by-project grants, and invited councillors to a national march on April 28. Jutras proposed the creation of a non-partisan municipal commissioner for community organizations to formally represent the sector to council. A representative of the Festival Joie de Vivre, an annual multicultural celebration organized by the Accompagnement des femmes immigrantes de l'Outaouais that draws thousands of residents, requested financial support from the city. A representative of a Ukrainian community organization presented a certificate of recognition to the mayor and council, thanking the city for flying the Ukrainian flag in front of the Maison du citoyen in solidarity with democratic values. Guy Leblanc, who had worked on the Unigym file for more than a decade, thanked the mayor and council for delivering on the new Aylmer gym.

The council also approved a key step in the multifunctional complex project for the west end of the city, with Councillor Bettyna Bélizaire (Plateau) noting the building is targeting LEED certification and will include green roofs and water management features, calling it a project all of Gatineau will be proud of.

The most contentious moment of the evening came with a resolution to remove Councillor Julie Bélisle (Limbour) from the board of the Société de transport de l'Outaouais. Marquis-Bissonnette cited a breach of in-camera confidentiality and a resulting loss of trust, noting that Bélisle had acknowledged the error and written a letter of apology to the STO president. The Gatineau Ensemble caucus pushed back forcefully. Jutras argued that no written rules governed the conduct in question, that the STO's own president had not supported the sanction, and that the city's political staff had themselves participated in STO in-camera sessions in the past. He also drew a pointed contrast with a separate incident in which a councillor had voted to award a grant of over $200,000 to his partner's organization and faced no equivalent consequence, calling the decision partisan rather than political. Councillors Bourgeois (Bellevue) and Luc Chénier (Versant) raised similar concerns, with Bourgeois noting the resolution had been presented only hours before the vote. Councillor Cousineau, while expressing discomfort with the situation, said the breach had created unease among STO board members and that trust was an essential condition for the board's work. Bélisle was absent from the meeting. The resolution passed 12 to 6. A subsequent resolution naming Councillor Korhonen as the new STO board member passed unanimously. Korhonen said he would not be there to represent the past, but the future, and that his approach would be to ask questions and ensure quality service for residents across the city.

Gatineau's March 17 council meeting saw the adoption of new municipal priorities, passionate exchanges on community funding, a proposed hydrogen pipeline and a contentious STO board removal, but the evening's most memorable moment belonged to Adélia Demers and her fellow members of the Youth Commission, the Mont-Bleu Secondary School co-president leading an address that drew sustained applause and heartfelt responses from councillors around the table. Photo: Screenshot of the March 17 Municipal Council Meeting