Five citizen representatives appointed to working committee for citizen participation

Sophie Demers

The working committee for citizen participation is to begin its work in the coming weeks. Gatineau announced five citizen representatives, along with one member of the Collective of Residents Associations of Gatineau who will sit on the committee. The citizen members represent each sector: Annie-Pier Caron Daviault is the representative for Hull; Marie-Josée Casaubon will represent Gatineau; Bounegta Mohamed is the representative for Aylmer; Sylvain Tremblay will represent Masson-Anger; and, Joel Mebaba is to represent Buckingham.

The Collective of Residents Associations of Gatineau representative is Darquis Gagné.

Members of the administration will accompany the working committee to carry out its work. Aylmer councillor Steven Boivin, Mitigomijokan councillor Anik Des Marais, Limbour councillor Louis Sabourin, Carrefour-de-l'Hôpital councillor Olive Kamanyana, and Mayor France Bélisle will also be on the citizen participation working committee.

“For me, citizen participation is the key to harmonious land use planning that provides a high quality of life for citizens. With this committee, I would like to see practices that encourage the active participation of citizens throughout the city,” said Anik des Marais, Mitigomijokan councillor and member of the working committee. I want the city to develop a consultation reflex. Ideally, citizens would be consulted early in the planning of real estate projects by an independent and specialized consultation body.”

The working committee's mandate is to analyze the various practices, make proposals, and ensure best practices, and to create a reference framework to support citizen participation in Gatineau and in municipal affairs.

“It is a real gain for the city to have citizens from each sector join us to begin thinking about citizen participation,” said Kamanyana. “They will make it possible to ensure the representativeness of each sector of Gatineau, in addition to promoting cultural diversity. I am delighted with this announcement, which will allow us to begin the committee's work in the coming weeks.”