Her throat tight with emotion, the single mother explained to elected officials that she feels abandoned. She recounted the sequence of events, specifying that it was her son who discovered cracks in his bedroom wall.
“On October 2, I touched up the paint and there were no cracks. On the 8th we discovered some and then quickly there were several.”
Valerie McLean lives in one of the four townhouses at the top of the embankment. They were evacuated on October 22, just like the three located at the bottom of the embankment. (Tom Core/The Daily)
Not really knowing where to turn, she finally made a call to the municipality on October 13. Three days later, an official came to take photos.
Having no response, Valérie Mclean made the decision to leave her house because the situation was deteriorating. “The floor was sinking.” She ended up calling 911 on October 22. “The firefighters ordered the evacuation within minutes for all the houses. We only had time to grab a few things.”
“In the four units, we are single women, including two single mothers. We feel abandoned. My children are destabilized. I’m off work.”
— Valérie McLean, resident of La Baie
However, the woman’s bureaucratic ordeal was only just beginning since once the risk of landslides had been ruled out and the evacuation was lifted, the authorities concerned closed the file. But the four households in the townhouses have yet to return to their homes.
It was in this state of mind that she presented herself to the question period allocated to citizens on Tuesday.
“I think you still have a responsibility. I need help with the building engineer who was supposed to come on the first day. There was no assessment on my own land. I know there are going to be repairs and that we are responsible, but no one is helping us. Neither do insurance companies. Everyone is letting us down.”
Valérie McLean found an attentive ear from Mayor Julie Dufour who directed her to an employee of her office. “My heart goes out to you. This is unacceptable. We won’t leave anyone behind. We’re going to untangle all of this and we’re going to give you a hand by seeing what we can do.”
