Provincial politicians
“The message is clearly that we need the MNAS to be on the ground, working for their constituents, their businesses, their organizations,” said Isabelle Charest in Brome-missisquoi.
“It is in the community that we can really take action.”
Although Charest’s riding offices are closed and mainly unstaffed, the she told The Record that telephone and email services remain completely accessible to the staff working from home.
“Our role to be close to our constituents has not changed, in fact it is even more important,” noted Geneviève Hébert, Charest’s colleague in the Saintfrançois riding, describing the work of the local representatives as being to reassure the population, particularly when it comes to issues of revenue and food security.
André Bachand, who represents the Richmond-arthabaska riding, said that as time goes on, the concerns coming in from the community are starting to increase.
“In the beginning it was almost like a vacation, but now the financial aspect is coming into play,” he said.
In speaking with The Record, Charest, Hébert, Bachand, and Sherbrooke MNA Christine Labrie all said that the same kinds of concerns are being voiced pretty unanimously across all regions, with people concerned about food and health security, and also financial stability in an increasingly uncertain time.
Speaking as the only voice from an opposition party in the region, Labrie said that she sees her role at this time as being one of making sure nobody falls through the cracks of government support.
“We are trying to help with the types of situations that are not covered by aid at this point,” she said, explaining that while there is a good spirit of cooperation in place among the different parties at this time, opposition politicians play an important role in ensuring all voices are heard. “The proposals we are making are to improve the measures taken in the spirit of cooperation and constructive criticism,” she added. “but the goal is to solve problems as quickly as possible.”
Charest agreed that people are getting along well right now across party lines.
“This situation goes beyond partisanship, it is a group effort,” she said, noting that it would be frustrating for someone to push a political agenda during a state of emergency.
In terms of action being taken at the moment, Charest, Hébert, Bachand and MNA Orford Gilles Bélanger all spoke of a government initiative granting leave to the politicians to use any leftover budget for the year as a donation for local food banks while also drawing on next year’s budget up to a total of $10,000. Hébert mentioned that she used the new program to make donations to the Cornerstone foodbank, Moisson Estrie, The Knights of Colombus in Saint-elie, and the Centre d’action Benevole (CAB) in Coaticook while Bélanger supported the Banque alimentaire Memphrémagog, the The Knights of Colombus, and the Magog, Stanstead and Missisquoi-north CABS.
Charest, meanwhile, underlined the MNAS important role in networking organizations and sharing information.
“My team is working seven days a week,” she said, pointing to a regular newsletter that is being shared with local municipalities and organizations to keep the most up-to-date information on hand, and also the important work of listening and responding to the feedback that comes from local community organizations.
“We know what concerns are being brought to our riding offices, so we know what organizations are most in need of support,” Hébert said, explaining that keeping track of referrals allows the office to create a portrait of what organizations are becoming overburdened. She added, however, that the questions that are coming in cover the full spectrum from questions of food security to seniors who are angry about not being able to leave their homes.
Bachand, whose territory has an almost 50/50 urban-rural split, said that the needs break down very differently across those regions.
“What’s interesting in the rural areas is that the community organizations and the municipalities are well organized,” he said, sharing that this makes it easier to support organizations since they already know what their needs are.
Bachand also said that despite that level of organization, so far the need has been generally greater in rural areas where the population is older and more spread out.
As the most experienced of the local MNAS, Bachand said that the experience reminds him of other challenges he’s faced in the past.
“Every crisis has its particularities. Right now, we are in a sanitary crisis but the essential services can continue and that helps prevent a panic,” he reflected. “It’s not a perfect analogy, but I lived through the ice storm in 1998 where, for the people involved, the situation was worse because there was no electricity and the grocery stores and gas stations could not open.”
He also recalled being trapped in Edmonton for a week after 9/11.
While she does not have Bachand’s political pedigree, Hébert pointed to this crisis as a time when everyone has to draw on their own skills and personality to persevere.
“We’re working in a situation that is really unusual. I sometimes have the feeling that we are in a bad science fiction film,” the Saint-francois MNA said, “but I am used to being creative and bouncing back from challenges.”
For Labrie’s part, although she was critical of the accessibility of the government’s approach to education following the suspension of the school year, she acknowledged that the situation is unique.
“We understand that this is an exceptional situation,” she said. “I think that overall the response of the government so far, while not perfect, has been very fast and effective under the circumstances given that this is not something you can really plan for.”