“It appears that another councilor has interfered in the debate. You had better contact him!” Mr. Cournoyer replied in writing.
Having himself served as a municipal councilor in the former municipality of Sainte-Marthe-du-Cap, Roger Jean was surprised by this response. “I couldn’t believe it,” he said.
“I don’t want to cause a scandal, but I think it’s a very unfortunate response for such a hot issue. I find it crazy to have an answer like that to a very banal question.”
— Roger Jean, citizen of the Sainte-Marthe-du-Cap sector
Daniel Cournoyer, councilor for the Sainte-Marthe district. (Stéphane Lessard/Archives, Le Nouvelliste)
He does not know to which elected official Mr. Cournoyer is referring. “I was a councilor for eight years. I had some phones. People sometimes aren’t happy. Sometimes the answers aren’t satisfactory, because you can’t change the laws. There are many things that cities cannot change, but at least they must be addressed. When you get a response like that from the sector advisor, you think he doesn’t care about the issue,” he adds.
Mr. Jean was at the forefront as an advisor to Sainte-Marthe-du-Cap during the creation of the golf course. He does not see the real estate project favorably. “It is the heart of a city that is being broken. Mr. Lamarche [Jean Lamarche, le maire de Trois-Rivières] said that projects on golf courses were being done elsewhere. That’s true, but the cities that did that didn’t put blocks [appartements] there. It doesn’t make any sense.”
The email was shared on social media. Advisors also read it. “It’s a special response. If he [Daniel Cournoyer] has against a councilor who, according to him, is playing into his flowerbeds, he should go see him and talk to him about it,” says Pierre-Luc Fortin, councilor of the Estacades district.
“It’s totally embarrassing to send this message,” laments Dany Carpentier, councilor for the La-Vérendrye district. “That tells me that Daniel Cournoyer will not get involved in this matter.”
Leave your district or not?
Mr. Carpentier does not know if it is him who is in question in the email, but the fact that elected officials get involved in a district other than theirs was the subject of discussions during a closed-door plenary session. lately.
He himself went to meet merchants who regularly come to the municipal council to denounce the elimination of parking spaces on Sainte-Madeleine Boulevard, in Councilor Sabrina Roy’s district. They also submitted a petition of 600 names to the city council.
“On a beautiful Monday morning, I went to sit down with the people from Panier Santé. I told the council that I had gone to see the traders. Afterwards, the mayor said that we should not leave our districts. I obviously don’t agree with that. I find it embarrassing that a citizen submits a petition, experiences things and no elected official comes out to see him,” says Mr. Carpentier.
“I distinguish between a district issue and a city issue within a district. When it affects the environment or it is a decision that can have repercussions elsewhere, it concerns everyone,” adds Mr. Fortin.
According to Mr. Carpentier, during this discussion, Mr. Cournoyer told him not to go to his district. Mr. Carpentier still contacted representatives of the Collectif Marthelinois, after seeing Mr. Cournoyer’s email on social networks.
“I think I’m just doing my job. I wouldn’t want to be someone from Sainte-Marthe and feel abandoned by my advisor. The mayor also did not have very reassuring reactions for citizens lacking information. I have that impression.”
— Dany Carpentier, La-Vérendrye district councilor
He believes that citizens should organize a meeting and invite City representatives. “I offered them my support in trying to get their questions answered. I’m not taking anyone’s place. I take the place which is not occupied and which should be.”
Dany Carpentier contacted representatives of the Collectif Marthelinois. (Olivier Croteau/Archives Le Nouvelliste)
Municipal Democracy Summit
Elected officials from Trois-Rivières participated in the Summit on municipal democracy of the Union of Municipalities of Quebec (UMQ), in the National Capital, Thursday. Mr. Carpentier was not there, but the event gave him some thoughts*.
“The UMQ often rightly mentions that certain citizens attack elected officials and that it is not easy. But at the same time, elected officials still need to create a democratic space and provide answers to citizens’ questions. It’s not black or white. We, in Trois-Rivières, must do better so that our decisions are more unifying.”
He finds that too often citizens who try to obtain information on a project are perceived as opponents or people suffering from “not in my backyard” syndrome.
“The proper management of projects at the council is in the council’s backyard. It’s not in anyone else’s backyard. […] Quickly, the citizen is painted in the corner as being an opponent. But if you don’t have information about a project that has an impact on your life, you may be against it. It is better to make more efforts for a good approach to social acceptability than to pay the costs of a project that does not pass.”
Collective Marthelinois
On the side of the Collectif Marthelinois, the group of citizens reiterates its request for a second public consultation meeting.
“What we aim with the group is to make the information digestible, to make the information accessible to promote citizen participation and democratic life.”
— Jean-François Lasnier, member of the Collectif Marthelinois
There is a lack of information, particularly on citizens’ rights in this matter, according to Mr. Lasnier. Only part of the project can be subject to referendum approval, he laments. “That doesn’t make any sense.”
“They said they weren’t committed to stopping the process, but they didn’t tell us why,” he adds. There are a lot of people who don’t feel listened to.”
It was not possible to reach Mr. Cournoyer on Thursday.
* In a previous version of this text, it was incorrectly written that Mr. Carpentier was at the Summit of Democracy. Our apologies.
