Mayoral Candidates Platform on Climate change Action for Gatineau 

Sophie Demers

The Aylmer Bulletin asked each candidate asking about their plan for climate change action if they were elected in the upcoming municipal election on November 7th. Their responses are listed below in alphabetical order. For the candidates who did not answer in English (only France Bélisle), a translation was provided by the Aylmer Bulletin.

- France Bélisle (Indépendante) 

Bélisle says “We need to be more specific and firm about the targets and how to measure them and fund our initiatives. I believe we can aim for emissions reductions of more than 30% below 2010 levels. This is ambitious but nonetheless achievable. I trust that together we can achieve great results. We can be a leader in sustainable innovation by creating partnerships with organizations such as universities in the region, large employers, both public, para-public and private ".

France Bélisle wants to see closer collaboration with players in the housing industry so that all new residential constructions meet or exceed the highest energy efficiency standards, by 2024. The candidate commits to put in place financial incentives and the infrastructure required to accelerate the electrification of transport. 

Bélisle plans to increase the proportion of protected areas in the Gatineau territory to 20% by 2030, and wants the sites affected by the floods to be rehabilitated, an adaptation of the urban fabric to alleviate the consequences of climate change and their rehabilitation.

More detailed plans for the environment can be found on the candidate’s website. 

• Remi Bergeron (Indépendant) 

For climate change, I will ask the general management and all department directors to draw up measures to reduce our GHG emissions through improved work methods, citizen participation in neighbourhood watch, and the involvement of elected officials in the planning of work following requests from citizens on 311. 

All the measures adopted during the adoption of the resolution of October 5, 2021 will be reviewed and analyzed during the preparatory work for the adoption of the Budget and amounts will be provided for during the adoption of the three-year capital plan. 

Before hiring additional staff, we will review the city's entire organizational chart with the new directorate general and include all aspects of climate change in the job descriptions. 

The STO, which I will be chairing for the next four years without any additional monetary bonuses, will have to acquire electric minibuses to serve neighbourhood routes, and we will enter into agreements with taxi companies that own electric taxis to offer evening and weekend services on routes where ridership does not allow the use of hybrid buses. 

In 2022, the City and the STO will be evaluated by the Mouvement québécois de la Qualité as part of the Prix Performances Québec on the basis of recognized management principles, and we will add a section on climate change to the presentation of our performance indices. 

- Jean-François LeBlanc (Indépendant) 

Based on the information available on LeBIanc’s campaign website, he is committed to find innovative and technological ways to increase and stimulate tree planting. Additionally, he will support the suggestions made by Audrey Bureau, Aylmer District councillor, and sumit those suggestions to the next council. LeBlanc commits to working with corporate citizens to ensure diversity, quality and quantity of new trees in new and existing development projects.

Finally, his platform states that he would suggest planting a certain number of trees in each district to city's elected council members. He promises to support citizen driven engagement to identify ideal planting areas and provide municipal support for the first 3 years of the tree's life. 

- Abdelhak Lekbabi (Indépendant) 

Did not provide a response. 

- Jacques Lemay (Indépendant) 

"The actions I am proposing are basic actions to finally make people aware that protecting the environment starts with oneself and that setting an example is the best action that can be taken to protect our planet. These actions are to tighten the monitoring of idling engines, the use of rain barrels, banning glyphosate, the end of Publisacs and a certification of wood burning fireplaces among others. The linkage with the Climate Plan would level the playing field in the fight against climate change between the basic one (my commitments) and those of the provincial and federal governments. 

- Maude Marquis-Bissonnette (Action Gatineau) 

I want Gatineau to become one of the greenest cities in North America. The fight against climate change is at the heart of our electoral platform. 

We must respect science and reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. That is why Action Gatineau has quantified the climate impact of our election commitments. You can consult our climate framework, which is available on our website. Thanks to the climate framework, we know that our platform makes it possible to achieve a 27% reduction in GHGs compared to 2009 by 2025. 

We want to set up a Green Transition Office that would have the mandate to implement the actions of the Climate Plan and accompany the community in achieving carbon neutrality. 

We want to subject every decision, derogation or programme to a Climate Test, to ensure that the City's actions reduce our emissions and increase our resilience. 

Finally, we want to adapt our infrastructure and practices to the impacts of climate change, such as heat waves and flooding."