City installs new electric car chargers in Aylmer

Aiming to facilitate the population’s transition to electrified transportation and greener energy consumption, Gatineau recently started installing publicly-accessible electric car charging docks in three of Aylmer’s districts.

According to a press release issued by the city on August 18, sets of dual charging docks will be installed in parking lots at the Paul-et-Isabelle-Duchesnay arena in the Aylmer district, the André-Touchet community centre in Deschênes, and at Jardins Lavigne Park in Lucerne.

Initiated by councillors Audrey Bureau (Aylmer), Gilles Chagnon, (Lucerne), and Mike Duggan (Deschênes) as part of the city’s vision of developing a local network of electric vehicle charging stations, the investment is also in compliance with the provincial government’s Branché au travail reimbursement program.

With the installation process expected to last until September, the city says the new charging stations will be accessible starting in October.  

The initiative cost approximately $195,000, with leftover funding from the Fonds de soutien au développement des communautés. At the new installations, the city will boast a total of 43 electrical car charging docks, 19 publicly accessible and the rest reserved for municipal employees. With two sets each installed at the Aylmer Marina and Aylmer Galeries parking lots combined with the new ones, the sector will feature five publicly-accessible dual charging stations.

Having campaigned alongside Duggan and Chagnon to get the chargers installed in their respective districts since 2018, councillor Bureau told the Aylmer Bulletin that she felt relieved to be able to deliver them to the public before the end of their mandates. She added that the city needs to do its part in facilitating the electrification of local transportation, and that investing in publicly-accessible electric car charging docks is a positive way of doing that. “In the future, I hope we will continue to deploy some,” Bureau said, stressing that the city should implement an official action plan dedicated to installing more electrical car charging docks throughout its different sectors. “In the interim, we’re going at it more individually and taking opportunities when we have them and that’s what we did. It took a long time, but finally we got them.”

“That’s why the city needs to have a plan, to define a bit where the locations are,  how many we want, and what the need is,” she added, noting that the provincial government is dedicated to electrifying transportation in the future.

Glad to see the initiative come to fruition, Lucerne district councillor Gilles Chagnon said it’s an encouraging example of the city actually putting its words into action with regard to the need for environmental action.

“It’s up to us to show that we’re serious about this,” Chagnon said, pointing to a need for continued investment in electrifying transportation.

Emphasizing the city’s intention of countering climate change and promoting sustainable development in the region, President of Gatineau’s Executive committee and Hull-Wright district councillor Cédric Tessier said investing in electric car chargers is imperative for the good of the future.

“More and more citizens are adopting electric vehicles and public charging infrastructure gives motorists peace of mind by providing the ability to [recharge] when necessary,” Tessier said in the press release.