Provincial elections: Alma wants to be heard – Le Lac-St-Jean

By Yohann Harvey Simard – Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The municipal council of the City of Alma presents the priority issues for the municipality as part of the 2022 provincial election campaign.

“The municipal issues in the current context are numerous and require significant action. We are counting on the next government to support cities in their efforts. In this sense, the elected officials of Alma will give the opportunity to all the candidates of Lac-Saint-Jean-Est to promote their program during a meeting scheduled over the next few days,” said the Mayor of Alma, Sylvie Beaumont.

Inflation

Almaty elected officials say they are “very concerned” about the exponential increase in costs, especially materials. Since the beginning of the year, they recall, several bids have had to be rejected since it is not uncommon for them to be 30 to 50% more expensive than forecast.

In order to avoid overtaxing citizens, they are asking the next government to “pay all of its property taxes in the same way as taxpayers and that it enshrine in law the sharing of the growth of a point of the QST with the municipalities”.

Access to housing

According to elected officials, Alma’s 0.7% vacancy rate is detrimental to “efforts to attract students or immigrant workers”, not to mention that it is increasingly difficult for citizens to find “affordable and quality” housing.

In this sense, they ask that concrete actions be taken to adequately address the housing shortage. We also hope that financial support will be provided for the construction of affordable housing.

Lack of manpower

Like all of Quebec, say the elected officials, Alma “sees businesses in its territory reduce their opening hours or close their doors for lack of staff. A nuisance for the economic development of the municipality, it is estimated.

Based on this observation, the members of the council ask that the procedures for recruiting immigrant labor be simplified and that the tax incentives for the return to work of retired people be improved.

Other queries

Among the grievances of municipal elected officials with regard to the next government, we also mention the implementation of measures aimed at supporting the municipality in the revitalization of its downtown area.

In addition, we ask that Quebec allow “St-Joseph Church to qualify within government programs in order to preserve this heritage infrastructure which is the anchor point and a starting signal for the revitalization of downtown town. »

Finally, the City of Alma wishes to obtain better financial support for the development of its sports and leisure infrastructures in order to save taxpayers’ wallets.