Weil returns to the Townships promising consultations early next year
Touring the Richmond riding on Thursday morning on her second trip to the Eastern Townships as Minister responsible for Relations with English-speaking Quebeckers, Kathleen Weil highlighted the fact that the province-wide consultations on the needs of the English speaking community will be getting started at the end of January 2018.
Weil returned to the Eastern Townships to visit with institutions and community organizations in Richmond riding having previously concentrated her focus in the Lennoxville and Stanstead areas. Over the course of the day she stopped into the Wales Home, Richmond Regional High School (RRHS), the Mante du Carré public market in Danville, and ADS Elementary School to
visit with a wide range of community groups and local institutions.
During the morning visit to Richmond Regional, Weil heard from Special Education Advisory Committee chair Cindy Veronneau about the need for more special needs resources in the English system as well as Eastern Townships School Board Chairman Michael Murray and RRHS Principal Kirk Robinson about other needs at various levels within local English schools. The minister was also given a presentation by Student Council executive members Jessica Coddington, Megan Oakley, Anne Laberge, Amelia Yetter, Alycia Chabot, and Jeremie Girard as well as their supervising teacher, Laurie Hannan. The student council offered the minister perspectives on the importance of community engagement within the school environment.
Invited back for a more in-depth visit with the rest of the student body, Weil expressed great enthusiasm about the idea.
Following the school visit, Weil and Richmond MNA Karine Vallieres attended a round-table lunch event with representatives of a wide range of local community groups including the Townshippers’ Association, Youth employment services, Literacy in Action, the ETSB, local historical societies, and several local municipalities. Each group was invited, in turn, to present their concerns to the minister to help present as broad a portrait as possible of the needs of the English community prior to the start of the consultations next year.