Mayor updates on municipal services 

Gatineau Mayor Maxime Pedneaud-Jobin provided an update on the city’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic via live-streamed video on April 7, where he explained that the city’s services remain fully operational.

Park patrol

The mayor announced that additional measures would be taken by the city to prevent the virus from spreading, notably the implementation of a 10-member surveillance team that would patrol parks and pathways seven days a week between noon and 7 pm.

People will be reminded to stay off sports fields and urban furniture and away from dog parks, except for the parc de la Technologie, the parc Lamarche and parc du Lac-Beauchamp. Those who don’t adhere to the rules may be subject to fines.

Spring sweeping

Starting the week of April 13, the city will commence its street sweeping operations. To help facilitate the process, citizens are encouraged to avoid parking in the street during sweeping hours, to keep residual waste bins on their property and to minimize the creation of dust in the streets. According to a press release issued on April 7, the city intends to sweep more than 3,000 km of streets, 665 km of sidewalks as well as 133 locations that include parking lots at municipal buildings and pumping stations. It also covers almost 300 km of bike paths.

Operations will begin on the city’s main streets and bike lanes and will follow up with residential areas. Sweeping of bike paths will be done at the same time as street sweeping. Operations may be affected by weather.

Operations have been adjusted to respect government recommendations to prevent COVID-19 from spreading, by implementing social distancing in the city’s work methods and by intensifying cleaning procedures. Further information about municipal street sweeping is available on the city of Gatineau’s website - https://www.gatineau.ca/portail/default.aspx?p=guichet_municipal/balayage_printanier&requete=nettoyage&ref=haut-de-page.

Gatineau access cards

The mayor said that the city is looking into introducing a program to allow applications for access cards to be done online, since all municipal service counters are closed indefinitely. He added that the city library’s website offers a wide range of digital books and newspaper subscriptions, among other things, and invited the population to check it out. 

Environment and waste disposal

Pedneaud-Jobin explained that protecting the environment will not take a back seat during the COVID-19 pandemic. He stressed the importance of properly sorting different types of residual waste matter, including bulky waste and construction residue, noting that the city’s waste disposal services are operating as usual.

“It’s important that people continue to put as much effort as possible in that area,” Pedneaud-Jobin said. Citizens are reminded to toss disinfectant wipes into their grey bins, and not in the toilet, even if they’re labeled as biodegradable or safe to be flushed.

It was also advised that residents should keep their old unwanted clothes, electronics and dangerous domestic residue until they’re able to properly dispose of them.

Car shelters can stay until May

The mayor also announced that the city has changed the deadline to take down temporary car shelters to May 15, knowing that many people are typically assisted by others in the process.