A promise from the CAQ is awaited in the villages of Quebec

Tranquility reigns in the small village of Saint-André-de-Kamouraska, in Bas-St-Laurent. Despite the little snow, the St. Lawrence River blows a “waxy wind” that freezes the face, as residents of the community say.

Those we meet near a building which until last April was the one and only grocery store in the village are still heartbroken. It was the last local business in the community.

Saint-André-de-Kamouraska has also seen, in recent years, its gas station and then its credit union close.

We are truly helpless; there is nothing left! says Micheline Rodrigue. It’s far, going to Rivière-du-Loup and back for milk!

Citizens now have to travel 23 km to get to Rivière-du-Loup to buy groceries.

It's a food desert. […] This is a significant loss.

The village mayor, Gervais Darisse, is saddened by the loss of the small grocery store that was the cooperative called Le Dép du Village.

He knocked on all the doors of the Quebec government in the hope of finding financial support, without success.

We didn't manage to get through it; It pains us, breathes Mayor Darisse. We sent a signal for help, but there was no program.

However, during the 2022 election campaign, François Legault promised a sum of $470 million to help local businesses in municipalities with fewer than 20,000 inhabitants.

In writing, the office of the Minister of Municipal Affairs, Andrée Laforest, claims to have taken a first step in this direction at the end of last September by allocating an envelope of $50 million to this project.

Villages will be able to share this amount to save their local businesses.

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Doubts about the CAQ promise

For the Fédération québécoise des municipalities, the initial commitment would have had an impact incredible in each of the villages and most of the local servicesaccording to its president, Jacques Demers.

However, he now doubts that the promise of CAQ will be fully held.

That would be a surprise. We can see it clearly: we are under restrictions, budgets are decreasing… This leads us to believe less in the 470 million announced at the beginningargues Jacques Demers.

For his part, the PQ MP and spokesperson for municipal affairs, Joël Arseneau, believes that an amount of $50 million over 5 years announced by the government is unacceptable.

We made big promises, but at some point, there is a limit to saying anything and not delivering the goods! he says. It must be admitted that this seems to line up with a breach of commitment on the part of the CAQ.

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The challenge of keeping your head above water

As is the case in several villages in Quebec, the small grocery store in Saint-André-de-Kamouraska was a cooperative managed by committed citizens.

Marie-Ève ​​Morin was president of the board of directors of the cooperative. She explains that maintaining traffic all year round in a village of 700 inhabitants had become too difficult, despite the growing attraction of the region for tourism.

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In the summer, there were a lot of people, she said. Tourism meant that we were able to build a cushion to get us through part of the winter, but it was still not enough.

With time, energy… we couldn't see the end of it.

She believes government help probably could have saved the business.

It was a business, a village convenience store with several facets. We had a coffee corner, a bulk corner, a grocery corner, a lunch corner…she specifies.

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In front of the old grocery store now converted into an apartment building, a resident walks past wrapped up in his parka with a toque tightly screwed on his head. I don't have a carlets Michel Roy down.

The closure of the grocery store disrupted his daily life. It leaves a big void, because it also provided an opportunity to see the worldhe points out.

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