Catégorie : Vision (Clarence-Rockland)

Le conseil des Comtés unis de Prescott et Russell (CUPR) a rejeté la demande du Conseil des arts Prescott-Russell (CAPRAC) pour une prolongation du financement de 169 000 $ par année pour 2025 et 2026.  

« On sait tous que les arts sont importants mais nous avons des pressions exceptionnelles qui montent aux Comtés unis », a affirmé Mario Zanth, maire de Clarence-Rockland, lors de la réunion de conseil du 24 janvier.

M. Zanth a dit que les CUPR devraient plutôt se concentrer sur le logement abordable, le logement social, la nouvelle résidence Prescott-Russell et la réparation des routes, ce qu’il croit être les priorités des citoyens. 

La mairesse de Casselman Geneviève Lajoie a appuyé la position de M. Zanth en disant : « À l’avenir, il sera important d’aligner notre stratégie en terme du financement qu’on veut donner aux organisations locales et peut-être penser à une sorte de structure qui va nous aider à déterminer les fonds qu’on donnera. » 

Le CAPRAC a reçu 169 000 $ de financement en 2024. S’ils veulent obtenir du financement des Comtés unis en 2025, ils devront faire une nouvelle demande l’année prochaine. 

Normand Riopel, Robert Lefebvre et Yves Laviolette ont voté pour la prolongation du financement du CAPRAC pour 2025 et 2026. Geneviève Lajoie, Mario Zanth, Robert Kirby et Francis Brière ont voté contre. 

Hammond Hill will play host to one Canada’s most prestigious winter endurance races when the Canadian snowshoe running championship comes to the village in March.   

Part of the national Dion Canadian Snowshoe Race Series (10 races organized across Canada), the race will see participants running up to 10 kilometres with snowshoes strapped to their feet around the trails of the Hammond camping site for the third year in a row, with the additional honour of being the venue for the Championship race. 

“We are incredibly excited to bring the Canadian Snowshoe Running Championships to Clarence-Rockland and Hammond Hill, » said Brad Cartier, co-founder of Hammond Hill. « Our scenic trails and serene environment provide the perfect backdrop for this exhilarating sport, and we’re eager to showcase our beautiful park to athletes and spectators alike.” 

Derrick Spafford, coordinator of the race series, said Hammond Hill is a great choice for the venue of this year’s Championship for a number of reasons, but particularly for its more consistent snowpack. 

“Obviously the sights are beautiful and its proximity to Ottawa makes it accessible to people flying in from across the country,” said Spafford. “But Hammond also seems to be a little bit of a snow belt. You can go 20 minutes out of the village and see considerably less snow. 

In the past the race series has had to hold events without snow, substituting snowshoes for trail-running shoes, but Spafford is confident that it won’t be the case this year. 

“Of course there’ll be snow,” he said. 

Given that the venue is playing host to the championship race, Spafford expects to see hundreds participate, but the numbers are difficult to predict as the sport continues to grow every year.  

The Dion Canadian Snowshoe Series, supported by Snowshoe Canada, has been instrumental in promoting snowshoeing as a sport and recreational activity in Canada. 

“Our goal has always been to nurture the growth of snowshoe running across Canada,” stated Spafford. “By hosting the championships at Hammond Hill, we’re not just celebrating the sport’s expansion but also bringing together a community that shares a passion for outdoor adventure.” 

The race is set to take place in the morning of Saturday, March 2. If racers are not interested in competing for points to add to their series total and looking to take part in a shorter race, there will also be a five kilometre race known as the Snowsquall 5 classic. A one kilometre youth race will also be held for those under 14 years of age. 

Snowshoe Canada is offering a prize of $500 to the top three male and female finishers of the 10k main event. They will also provide medals to the top three age groupers in ten-year age groupings. 

The registration and fee payment deadline is February 16, with a late registration at an additional cost on February 26. Registration can be done online at www.trackie.com. 

After a postponed midweek game against the Pembroke Lumber Kings, the Rockland Nationals returned to the ice against the Cornwall Colts and Brockville Braves over the weekend, earning two of four possible points.

The Nats first game of the weekend on Friday, January 26, welcomed the second-place Colts to Rockland for their fourth matchup of the season. Cornwall immediately went on the offensive, scoring four goals in less than ten minutes in the first period, opening the scoring in the fifth minute.

Despite two powerplay goals from Jaden Davis and Anthony Hall in the second period, a scoreless third period gave the Nats a 4-2 loss.

Thankfully, on Sunday, January 28, the Nats put on a show for the home crowd as they took on the Brockville Braves at the Clarence-Rockland arena.

Even if the Braves opened the scoring, three back-to-back goals from Samuel Dumont, Xavier Laurent and Aidan Dres (on a powerplay) between the first and second period gave the Nats a lead they held on to for the rest of the game.

A late second period goal from the Braves put the visiting team back within one of Rockland. Dumont, however, proved dominant, scoring twice more in the third period, broken up only by a goal from teammate Kyle Leonard, to get his 14th goal of the season and a hat-trick.

The Braves stole one back with less than two minutes left in the game to make the final score 6-3.

Brockville welcomes the Nats on Friday, February 2. Rockland gets a week off to rest before playing the Smiths Falls Bears the following Friday, February 9.

The City of Clarence-Rockland and Rockland Racket Sports signed a memorandum of understanding on Friday, January 26, to bring a large-scale multi-sport recreational facility to the community.  

“This definitely addresses the communities needs in terms of pickleball and tennis,” said Julian Lenhart, director of community services at the city. “It also positions the city as a touristic, sport and recreational hub, and makes it attractive to international athletes to participate in the tennis academy.” 

As presented to the city in 2023, the facility will be in the Rockland Industrial Park adjacent to the Clarence-Rockland arena and the Canadian International Hockey (CIH) academy along County Road 17.  

Representing a more than $20 million investment in the community, phase one of the public-private partnership will allow the construction of a $2 million facility comprising of 14 pickleball courts including an outdoor pavilion for viewing, and a dome for four indoor tennis courts. The city is transferring approximately three acres of land to Rockland Racket Sports, owned by prominent Clarence-Rockland businessmen Aaron Merkel and Brad Cartier, for the construction of the facility. 

“This facility will be built by the community, for the community,” said Merkel during Friday’s press conference at the Clarence-Rockland arena. “It’s a place for our community’s kids to learn to hit their first service and hit their first forehand.”

The construction of phase one is expected to start in the summer 2024, with registration for membership and community access expected in the fall. 

Phase two of the project is the construction of a tennis academy. Like the CIH, the tennis academy will include dormitories, food services, retail and gym space for local and international athletes to train and lodge. The estimated value of the academy is around $18 million. Construction of phase two will begin in 2025. 

“This is one of the biggest public-private partnerships we’ve had in the city,” said Mayor Mario Zanth. “This is another thing that puts Clarence-Rockland on the map just like the CIH did.” 

In agreement with Lenhart on the significance of the facility, Zanth added that he sees the facility as a major economic opportunity for the city. As tournaments and sporting events attract visitors, restaurants and hotels will pop up to service the increased tourism. 

Zanth also quipped that maybe the next Félix Auger Aliassime or Layla Fernandez will come from Clarence-Rockland. 

“I look forward to seeing what kind of partnerships we can have with the schools. with other organizations. I know the pickleball leagues and all the other racket sports will be happy,” said Zanth. 

As part of the agreement with the city, Rockland Racket Sports will offer a 20 per cent discount on the facility’s standard membership fees for residents of Clarence-Rockland, as well as a 25 per cent discount for court rentals during non-peak hours. The courts will be available for public use for at least 70 per cent of the time, according to the memorandum of understanding between the city and Rockland Racket Sports. 

The facility will also benefit from a municipal capital facilities agreement, allowing the construction of the building to be exempt development charges and municipal and school board property taxes. 

L’Association des municipalités rurales de l’Ontario (AMRO) a donné le coup d’envoi de sa conférence annuelle cette semaine avec une annonce du premier ministre de l’Ontario, Doug Ford, qui a révélé de nouveaux détails concernant l’investissement de 1,2 milliard de dollars de la province, pour aider les communautés rurales à construire davantage de logements.  

Dix pour cent (120 millions de dollars) du Building Faster Fund – destiné à soutenir et à encourager les municipalités qui atteignent leurs objectifs en matière de logement – sont désormais accessibles aux petites municipalités rurales et nordiques auxquelles la province n’a pas assigné d’objectifs en matière de logement. Ce fonds est destiné à aider les municipalités à financer les infrastructures essentielles au logement nécessaires pour répondre à la croissance, telles que la viabilisation des sites et la construction de nouvelles routes.  

Les fonds seront distribués par le biais d’un processus de demande « qui donnera la priorité aux projets qui peuvent être mis en œuvre plus rapidement », indiquait un communiqué du ministère des Affaires municipales et du Logement de l’Ontario.  

« Notre gouvernement s’est engagé à faire tout ce qu’il faut pour construire plus de logements le plus rapidement possible dans toute la province, a déclaré Paul Calandra, ministre des Affaires municipales et du Logement. Notre objectif est simple : construire plus de logements que jamais auparavant. Nous le devons aux Ontariens qui travaillent dur, y compris aux milliers de personnes qui sont venues ici pour réaliser leur rêve d’accéder à la propriété. Nous continuerons à travailler en étroite collaboration avec nos partenaires municipaux de petite taille, ruraux et du Nord, pour veiller à ce qu’aucune région de l’Ontario ne soit laissée pour compte. » 

La ministre de l’Agriculture, de l’Alimentation et des Affaires rurales, Lisa Thompson, a annoncé le début des consultations en vue de l’élaboration d’une stratégie de développement économique rural, donnant aux municipalités et aux populations rurales une plate-forme pour partager leurs idées sur la façon dont la province peut travailler pour améliorer les possibilités économiques, créer des emplois et soutenir la croissance dans les communautés rurales de tout l’Ontario.   

L’annonce de Mme. Thompson comprenait également l’ouverture des demandes pour le programme de développement économique rural 2024-2025, qui fournit un financement de partage des coûts pour les projets de développement économique jusqu’à 50 % ou 250 000 $ des coûts associés. Les municipalités, les communautés autochtones et les groupes à but non lucratif peuvent présenter une demande jusqu’au 21 février. 

« Nos communautés rurales sont le cœur de cette province et sont essentielles au succès de l’Ontario. En soutenant le développement économique dans toute la province par le biais d’initiatives telles que le programme RED et d’une stratégie réfléchie, nous pouvons créer de nouvelles opportunités et garantir la prospérité des petites villes et des communautés autochtones », a déclaré Mme. Thompson. 

Four drug traffickers arrested in Rockland last year have been charged. 

The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) have just recently sent out a press release that slipped through the cracks regarding a drug bust in Rockland that happened back on May 31, 2023. Three different residences in Rockland were searched as part of a drug trafficking investigation, and as a result, four individuals were arrested and charged. 

Mar Bergeron, 51, from Rockland was charged with possession of methamphetamine and cocaine, for the purpose of trafficking.  

Fanny Menard, 30, from Rockland was charged with possession of methamphetamine, cocaine, and opioids other than heroine for the purpose of trafficking. 

Eric Mercier, 40, from Rockland was charged with trafficking cocaine, possession of stolen property under $5,000, two counts of possession of methamphetamine, three counts of possession of cocaine, and one count of possession of opioids other than heroin for the purpose of trafficking. 

Finally Luc Viau, 60, from Rockland was charged with possession of cocaine and other drugs for the purpose of trafficking. He was also charged with possession of proceeds of property obtained by crime under $5,000. 

Officers seized suspected cocaine, speed pills, crack, hydromorphone pills, drug paraphernalia, and various items related to drug trafficking, all with an approximate value of over $60,000, as well as a large amount of cash and a 2021 Ford Bronco. No new leads arose due to the investigation, but according to OPP Media Relations Officer Bill Dickson, that doesn’t mean there aren’t more leads to be found. 

“We know that large-scale drug dealers are working with people in the smaller communities. We’ll find people from the Toronto area bringing drugs into some of the communities farther north,” Dickson said. “Whether it’s people from the larger communities bringing it in or people importing from Toronto, it ends up in our smaller communities. Drug use knows no boundaries when it comes to municipalities.”

Looking back on the year that was, Mayor Mario Zanth said there is plenty Clarence-Rockland has to be proud of – and plenty more to improve upon in 2024. 

Last year was a challenging year for many municipalities. Rising interest rates, provincial government funding cuts and a murky economic outlook made for difficult decisions, particularly when it came to housing and services. 

AMO, the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, which represents nearly all the more than 440 municipalities across the province, stated that the year prior, 2022, municipalities spent $3.8 billion more than they received in areas of provincial responsibility (housing, social services, paramedics, long-term care and childcare, to name a few). 

The result across the board was an increase in taxes in 2023 and the same goes for 2024, as was the case in Clarence-Rockland. 

“Individuals are going through such a tough time right now with interest rates, cost of living, rent, affordability,” said Zanth. “And while we don’t directly control those things as a city, we have to be mindful of them.” 

That being said, Zanth also acknowledged that the growth of the city can’t be stopped. 

“We have to make sure the city has the funds it needs for tomorrow,” he added. “That’s where essentially every municipality is across the UCPR and the province. They are all around a four per cent tax increase.” 

Regardless, Zanth believes the municipality is heading in the right direction and growing to serve its community. The beginning of the process to start development on the waterfront, progress on bringing a new tennis and recreation facility to town and establishing a task force to determine the future of the Jean-Marc Lalonde arena have all been positive steps in 2023. 

“Those are successes that prove we’re moving in the right direction as a city,” he said. 

On the other hand, communication and engagement with the public lacked, according to Zanth. For the city’s “Talktober” outreach event in October, only 150 people completed the survey out of a population of nearly 25,000 – and for the in-person events, just 70 people showed up. 

“We need to have more surveys, we need to have more interaction, and we need to better gauge their views,” said Zanth of the city’s connection with residents. 

“City council are the ones that go door to door to hear what people have to say. We have to be able to take that and translate it into something that the city will be able to implement,” he said. 

Big Things for 2024 

In 2024, Zanth has his eyes set on a number of big-ticket items. The uploading of County Road 17 to the province remains high on the list of priorities, as well as ensuring the province and federal government – through the United Counties of Prescott and Russel (UCPR) Eastern Ontario Wardens Caucus – fund affordable and social housing in the region. A shuttle to the new train station at Trim Road in Orleans (once completed), and the extension of Baseline Road passed Canaan Road through to Orleans are also transportation solutions Zanth hopes to see progress on in 2024. 

Additionally, discussions with the Hawkesbury and District General Hospital (HGH) for an urgent care solution in Clarence-Rockland will continue in January.  

“We need to be better aligned for the challenges that are coming tomorrow, versus those that were here yesterday,” said Zanth. “As the city continues to grow, we need to anticipate residents’ needs and not just be reactive. That’s what we are looking forward to in 2024.” 

In a whirlwind of activity Thursday morning, Jan. 11, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited Clarence-Rockland’s seniors, inspected some local coffee and got his own personalized high-visibility safety vest.

Escorted by Mayor Mario Zanth, Member of Parliament Francis Drouin and entourage of RCMP and staffers dozens strong, Trudeau started off his morning with a visit of the residents of the Jardins Belle Rive retirement centre.

Afterwards, Trudeau and crew visited Café Joyeux, greeted by throngs of the regions political figures, including former Rockland mayor and MPP Jean-Marc Lalonde, and Don Boudria, the former Glengarry-Prescott-Russell MP who served as Minister of Public Works, among other posts, in the government of Jean Chrétien. Café Joyeux owners Sandra Chabot-Ries, Alexandre Lauzeriere, Nicholas Andrella and Tania Andrella were also on hand to give the PM a warm Rockland welcome – despite Trudeau admittedly not being a coffee drinker.

The next stop on the PM’s itinerary was Fashion Sports & Workwear on Laurier Street. Owner Eric Lalonde said having the Prime Minister visit his shop in a small town outside of Ottawa was important.

« It was surprise that he wanted to come visit us and see our shop, » said Lalonde. « But it meant a lot to us. »

Trudeau was presented with a personalized high-visibility safety vest from Fashion Sports & Workwear, with PMJT emblazoned on the front and PM TRUDEAU across the back. The PM’s political wits where about him, because, without missing a beat, Trudeau said, in both French and English, the vest will come in handy for all the visits he makes to construction sites as his government works to build new housing and supports new businesses across the country.

Business owners weren’t given much of a heads up ahead of Trudeau’s visit. Both Lalonde and the owners of Café Joyeux were told only that an important visitor was going to come through, followed by a quick reconnaissance visit from the RCMP earlier in the week. The café even had the pleasure of meeting the RCMP’s sniffer dogs.

A Face-to-Face with the Mayor

While the visit from the PM was a little last minute, Mayor Zanth and Trudeau still had the chance to speak privately at Hammond Golf and talk about some of the challenges Clarence-Rockland, and many other rural Francophone communities, face today.

During his 15 minutes alone with the PM, Zanth discussed the threat of the annual spring flooding and the city’s issues with transportation, while flaunting much of the success Clarence-Rockland has garnered as it grows.

Zanth added that having Trudeau visit Hammond wasn’t just to accommodate the size of the PM’s entourage, but to show the Liberal leader that the municipality comprises of several villages beyond the urban centre.

« We wanted him to visit a rural part of our municipality, as well, » said Zanth. « It was important to us that he saw other parts of our municipality, not just Rockland. »

The Prime Minister did not make himself available for questions from the media during his visit.

Reporting in late November revealed Ontario and the City of Ottawa were in talks to ‘upload’ responsibility for Highways 174 and 17 to the province, relieving the city of the financial and administrative burdens, had Clarence-Rockland Mayor Mario Zanth asking if the province would consider uploading County Road 17 beyond Canaan Road as well.  

In late November, the province and the City of Toronto inked an historic new deal that would inject Toronto with much needed cash and an investment in its transit system, and would see the Gardiner Expressway and Don Valley Parkway, two of the province’s busiest highways, transferred over to the jurisdiction of Ontario’s Ministry of Transport. The deal offered Toronto billions of dollars in capital relief and “ensured the long-term protection, preservation, and enhancement” of the two highways, seen by the provice as significant economic thoroughfares. 

Not long after, reports surfaced that Mayor Mark Sutcliffe and the City of Ottawa were in talks with the province over a similar deal to hand over Highways 174 and 17, offering that city similar financial relief and support for the financial woes its transit system currently faces. 

Zanth, however, was initially frustrated when he saw the deal was on the table, as offloading the more than 70 kilometres of County Road 17 that cuts through the United Counties of Prescott and Russell (UCPR) has long been a focus for the two-term city councillor and mayor. 

The upkeep of those 70 kilometres takes up some 20 per cent, $2.8 million, of the UCPR’s annual roadworks budget, but only accounts for around 10 per cent of the more than 600 kilometres of roads across its territory. 

Since the road was downloaded to the UCPR by the Progressive Conservative government in 1998, major investments in the road have been made including nearly three kilometres of widening through Clarence-Rockland, installation of eight of the twelve traffic lights along the road, 51 kilometres of resurfacing and the rehabilitation of Jessup’s Fall Bridge. 

Over the next 10 year the UCPR expects an additional $13 million to be invested in the road, on top of another $19 million for structures investments. 

For Zanth, the upload would alleviate those financial stressors, but ultimately would not result in the highway being ‘twinned’ or expanded to accommodate increased traffic heading in and out of Ottawa as the municipality continues to grow. The cost of doubling the size of County Road 17 from Landry Road to Ottawa is estimated at nearly $140 million, a cost beyond the reach of the either tier of municipality. 

After seeing the province was indeed open to these deals, Zanth said he emailed Transport Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria and texted Premier Doug Ford twice without a response.  

“I spoke to [former Transport Minister] Mulroney last year about this and she told me that that would never happen,” said Zanth. “Then all of a sudden, I see that Mayor Sutcliffe is having conversations with Doug Ford.” 

“I’m upset that the Ford government didn’t even reach out,” said Zanth. “No one reached to the counties, myself or any other mayor that has the 17 go through their municipality.”  

Ottawa, Clarence-Rockland and the rest of the UCPR have been looking to upload the 174 and 17 ever since it was first downloaded to the municipalities by the Progressive Conservative government of the 1990s.  

“If they had done their homework, they would have seen that the 174 and the 17 were downloaded from the province together. They’re the same road, they just changed the name at Canaan Road.” 

Province ignoring needs of municipalities 

The Ontario government ignoring the needs of municipalities, particularly the Francophone communities east of Ottawa, is not surprising to Zanth who sees the investments the province makes in the anglophone communities all around. 

“This is about more than a highway. This is about respect for majority Francophone areas that never really seem to get mentioned,” said Zanth, citing projects in Carleton, Barrhaven and Kanata, but a lack of investment even in Orleans.” 

The continued financial pressures on growing municipalities, like Clarence-Rockland, are not being met with equal investment from the province or the federal government who continue to cut taxes while expecting municipalities to build more housing and offer more services. 

“You cannot keep forcing municipalities to raise their taxes while at the province you lower them,” said Zanth, who’s municipality is expected to raise taxes by 5.6 per cent in 2024. “Where is the provincial government to help us out? They will bankrupt us very soon if they don’t carry their share.” 

A spokesperson for the Ontario Ministry of Transport said they will « continue to work with [their] municipal partners to help ensure the sustainability of municipal infrastructure across Ontario. »

Two drivers from Rockland were charged in the past few weeks. 

On November 24 around 11 p.m., Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) officers responded to a traffic complaint on County Road 17 in Clarence-Rockland. After using an Approved Screening Device (ASD), officers arrested Boniface Ciza, 52, from Clarence-Rockland who was charged with driving with a blood alcohol concentration of over 80. 

Officers conducted a traffic stop in Clarence-Rockland on December 6 after a vehicle ran a stop sign on St-Jean Street around 11:30 p.m. After a breathalyzer test, officers arrested Atul Vishal, 40, from Clarence-Rockland and charged him with driving with a blood alcohol concentration of over 80 and failing to stop at a stop sign.  

Their licences were suspended for 90 days and their vehicles were impounded for seven days. They’re scheduled to appear in court in L’Orignal at a later date.