It has already been more than 440 days since we learned in the media that we were going to be kicked out of our homes, that we would be “relocated” to make way for a buffer zone near the Horne Foundry in Rouyn-Noranda. We quickly came together to help each other face this unprecedented situation, which involves the heart of our lives, our homes, our homes, sometimes our retirement investments, our living environment.
From the beginning, we have tried to convey the same two messages. We want no one to have to pay out of pocket to be relocated and we want to be part of the decision-making processes that concern us.
It took eight months before the assistant deputy minister for coordinating government action on the Horne Foundry file agreed to meet with us to discuss a consultation process on the financial assistance program intended for tenants and owners of the targeted area, finally! From that moment on, we began to feel that the government team was listening to us.
We have agreed with the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing (MAMH) on an overall satisfactory consultation process involving the establishment of two consultation tables, for owners and for tenants. We were then hopeful of achieving our common goal, a financial assistance program that met the needs of each person impacted by the relocation.
Intensive table work began in mid-April, with five meetings in five weeks, phew… Imagine the colossal work that this represents for volunteer citizens, who also have a job, a family, etc. We quickly realized that the deadline was too tight and that we did not have all the expertise necessary to ensure that our rights would be respected. So, we brought together more than 60 owners at the end of April to take stock.
Everyone agreed: it is important to take the time to do the job well. We therefore asked the table for more time and access to professional expertise to support our discussions. These requests were first received with openness by the MAMH team and by representatives of the City of Rouyn-Noranda, who participate in these tables. All these people find, like us, that it is worth taking the time to do the job well. We all want the same thing after all: an aid program that will meet the needs of the people targeted.
But now Minister Andrée Laforest has decided otherwise. Despite the fact that all the people concerned and the City of Rouyn-Noranda support the efforts of its citizens, the minister persists and refuses to grant the time necessary for this work of capital importance for those who are carrying it out. costs. Without explanation, without reason, the minister, from the top of her office in Quebec City — and without ever having set foot in our neighborhood destined to disappear or ever having even met us — refuses to see that our community is mobilized, that She wishes to collaborate and move towards solutions by continuing work that is so well underway.
What we are asking for is not exaggerated, time and support, isn’t that the least we can do since we are being kicked out of our homes?