Special intervention zone for flood areas 

Gatineau must wait for Quebec City

Gatineau Mayor Maxime Pedneaud-Jobin told his press conference after the holidays on August 21 that the ball is firmly in Quebec City’s hands as to the next steps to be taken in the saga of the special intervention zone.

“Seven departments are working on this, it is complex and entirely in Quebec City’s hands. The rules are determined by Quebec and we apply them. For them to determine the areas, I have no idea how long it can take them, but I know that only his press. »

Mr. Pedneaud-Jobin indicated that 292 requests have been made by citizens to be excluded from the area and that several of these have already been processed or resolved, however, indicating that some of the requests would be impossible to fulfill.

“Citizens who because their homes were dry feel that they should not be in the area, but that there was water everywhere around the house, from the government’s point of view, this withdrawal is not acceptable. »

The mayor acknowledges that many people find themselves in an incredibly difficult situation with the impossibility of moving or rebuilding without extreme debt and hopes with optimism that Quebec City will act quickly to avoid prolonging this period of extreme stress that many families must endure. 

When asked about the time frame he was considering before receiving a response from the provincial government, the mayor wanted to be realistic and encourage victims to be at their most pragmatic. 

 “It’s a shame to say, but if you look at the complexity of these decisions, you’re talking about years before the big decisions are made. I hope that small measures are taken to secure certain sectors, but in the meantime, I would tell citizens to take short-term measures according to their economic priority because we have no idea how long it could take. »

Mr. Pedneaud-Jobin hopes to be able to obtain Quebec City’s permission to carry out some concrete work on its territory that could mitigate the consequences of future floods on certain citizens and structures deemed critical to the city.

He talked about raising some roads to divert and create natural dams that would prevent water from flowing into the homes of some citizens in flood-prone areas. 

However, Quebec may hesitate to grant exemptions because of the domino effect they could have throughout the ZIS.