Municipal elections 2021 | Club Med of all hopes

15 years ago, Petite-Rivière-Saint-François almost lost its elementary school. Three years ago, it was the turn of its only convenience store. With the imminent opening of Club Med, will the small village of Charlevoix finally be able to relaunch its historic heart? The candidates for mayor hope so.

(Petite-Rivière-Saint-François) Lison Harrisson remembers the surprise. Two years ago, she was passing through Petite-Rivière-Saint-François when she came up against the closed door of the convenience store.

The poster on the door left no doubt: the business was closed for good. For the small village of nearly 900 souls, nestled at the foot of one of the most beautiful ski resorts in eastern North America, the closure of the only convenience store and single gas station was a big blow.

“The closest gasoline was 25 minutes from here, in Baie-Saint-Paul. So if you ran out it was an hour round trip. ”

Then, M^me Harrisson was surprised again, this time by his reaction. The woman from Quebec turned to her husband and said: “We’re going to buy it! ”

The couple relaunched the small grocery store in the village, to the relief of many “Local residents”, the pretty kind of inhabitants.

The story of the convenience store may seem trivial. However, it symbolizes what has been happening here for years: the development of a leading ski resort with the Massif, the construction of hundreds of second or tourist residences, but the stagnation of the old village heart.

The Municipality’s Special Planning Program (PPU) made an implacable observation two years ago.

“The problem can be summed up as follows: the village sector has not benefited from the recreational and tourism boom in the Massif over the past decades. On the contrary, it has experienced a commercial devitalization, despite a growth in vacationing on the territory of the Municipality ”, we can read.

An opportunity to seize

The opening of Club Med de Charlevoix on December 3 therefore represents for the two candidates for mayor and several citizens met in Petite-Rivière a golden opportunity to revive the village heart.

There are of course concerns. There is the small cul-de-sac road, with its steep slope, intended to accommodate more cars and coaches.

There is the tranquility, the tranquility of this little paradise by the river, which some are afraid of losing. There is the word “Tremblant”, heard a few times, especially in the mouths of those who dread this scenario.

But there is also the hope of attracting new residents and new businesses to this much-needed village.

“We need other businesses, we have to revitalize the village commercially. We need a lively village where people want to live, ”launches mayoral candidate Jean-Guy Bouchard firmly.

The 70-year-old man knows Petite-Rivière well. He was born there. And he was mayor from 1988 to 2009.

His time as mayor ended in some controversy since he had been declared disqualified from sitting by the courts. The former mayor had not withdrawn at the time of the deliberations on the installation of the water supply network and the sewers in an area where he owned land and real estate.

Mr. Bouchard has always claimed his innocence. And now he would like to replace the outgoing mayor, Gérald Maltais.

Lison Harrisson, owner of the village grocery store, wonders if his business will benefit from the windfall.

“It’s the unknown. We don’t know what it will bring. When we talk about a resort, we stay around the pool… Are people going to leave the resort? The employees will surely want to go out! ”

Housing that is scarce

The other candidate for mayor is an outgoing councilor who knows his files well. Serge Bilodeau also sees Club Med as an opportunity to be seized, with the 300 or so jobs he must create.

“The idea, we will not hide it, is that with the upcoming Club Med, we will need housing for workers. The goal is to have maximum retention, ”explains Mr. Bilodeau.

But housing for workers is scarce. Here, only 45% of residences are permanently occupied. The rest is made up of second homes and tourist residences.

Some 300 houses have been built over the past 12 years. Almost all are tourist or secondary residences.

Many of these new constructions were erected on the “plateaux” which overlook the village, near the 138, far from the rue Principale. Those who stay there often never set foot in the village. You can get to the ski resort without going through rue Principale.

The candidate for mayor Serge Bilodeau explains that projections from the municipality have concluded that if tourist residences were not better supervised, in the long term, nearly half of all the suburbs of the municipality would be covered.

“Yes, we are a tourist region. But we should not bet everything on it, ”adds Serge Bilodeau.

The municipality has since adopted a by-law to limit tourist residences. But the effect is not yet felt. Future Club Med workers are struggling to find affordable housing in the village. Many will also be housed in Baie-Saint-Paul.

Regardless of who wins on November 7, the two mayoral candidates say they are aware of the unique opportunity presented to them to revive the heart of the village.

And already things are better. The convenience store reopened in 2019 thanks to Lison Harrisson’s crush. The school service center is no longer talking about closing the school.

“15 years ago, we talked more about decline than growth in Petite-Rivière, notes the outgoing mayor, Gérald Maltais. Our population had dropped to 700; there, we are close to 900. It was in the plans of the school board to close the school of Petite-Rivière! ”

The 75-year-old man, who has served three terms as mayor, agrees that development “worries” a good part of the population.

” It’s certain. We must be very attentive to what is to come. It worries me, but it doesn’t panic me. I think things are well aligned for Petite-Rivière. ”