Wash-out
Reluctant
richard.mahoney@eap.on.ca
campaigner?
S T -E UGÈNE
newsroom@eap.on.ca
Spring run-off has taken a toll on area roads, carving a hole
O TTAWA
“the size of a bedroom” in one Prescott-Russell county road in
East Hawkesbury and inundating other routes in the
For the third time in five years,
Plantagenet and Fournier districts.
“We did not expect to have a tough spring because therewas
Glengarry-Prescott-Russell politicos are
not all that much snow,” observes Guy Cayer, roads manager
preparing for a federal electioncampaign.
Incumbent Conservative MP Pierre
with the united counties of Prescott-Russell. However, water
Lemieux, who has waged successful
levels rose rapidly last week and crested on the weekend.
campaigns in 2006 and 2008, says he is
As expected, floodingoccurredalong theSouthNationRiver,
reluctant to hit the campaign trail again.
temporarily blocking roads near the villages of Plantagenet and
“Ihopethatthereisnoelection,”Lemieux
Fournier. But nobody anticipated that a ditch could cause so
said during a phone interview last week.
much trouble near St-Eugène. At about 10 p.m. last Friday, a
Photo Richard Mahoney
“We are the government, we are happy
culvert under County Road 14, about a kilometre north of the
Asectionof CountyRoad 14 northof St-
being the government, and Canadians are
village, succumbed to pressure from rushing water. “There is
Eugène has reopened.
happy with us as the government. We see
always some flooding in the fields, but this is the first time the
that in the poll results.”
water got so high that it took out a culvert,” says Prescott-
But the Opposition believes that Prime
Russell Public Works Department Director Marc Clermont,
Minister Stephen Harper has been itching
who was raised in St-Eugène. “My brother-in-law called me to
foranotherelection,claimingthatTuesday’s
say that there was a hole the size of his bedroom in the road,”
budget was another sign that the Tories
relates Clermont. There were no injuries reported, however, it
were inflexible and did not want to make
is believedadrivermayhave struck the holewithavehicle.Half
the minority government work.
of the cavity has since been filled in. But traffic will be reduced
With the Opposition parties poised to
to one lane at the culvert for at least a month.
vote down the budget and bring down the
government, a May 2 election seemed
probable.
The Conservatives and Liberals have
been running election-style campaign ads
in the national media during the past few
weeks.
“That doesn’t mean that an election is
coming,” Lemieux said, referring to the
Tory ads, some of which are attack-style
RED TAG DAYS BIG ARE BACK AND IT’S $ 0 DOWN PAYMENT ALL-IN-LEASE CHOOSE FROM:
ads focused on Liberal leader Michael
Ignatieff. “The ads don’t mean we want an
election. They’re saying what we think of
Ignatieff.”
Lemieux said he’s had positive
commentsfromconstituentsduringhistwo
terms so far as MP for Glengarry-Prescott-
Russell.
“People are happy with me as their MP.
I don’t see a need for an election. The
feedback I’ve gotten is people don’t want
an election.” Liberal candidate Julie
Bourgeoisbeganplacingadvertisements in
papers this week. Her theme is “Ensemble,
nous pouvons faire mieux – Together, we
can do better!”
Theotherpartieshavenotyetnominated
candidateswhowillbevyingforthesupport
of the approximately 78,000 eligible voters
in the riding that stretches from the eastern
limits of Ottawa to the Québec border.
In 2006, Lemieux became the first
Conservative in 44 years to represent the
riding in the House of Commons.
Progressive Conservative Osie Villeneuve
succeeded in 1957 Liberal MP Raymond
Bruneau, who had been elected in 1953.
The Liberals’ winning string began in
1962,with the electionofViateur Éthier.He
was succeeded by his brother, Denis, in
1972. Éthier was succeeded in 1984 by Don
Boudria, who stepped down in 2006.
Lemieuxwaselectedin2006byanarrow
margin, getting 22,990 votes, or 41.6 per
cent of the popular vote, edging Liberal
René Berthiaume, who got 22,787, or 41.2
per cent of the popular vote.
In the last election in 2008, the
Conservative enjoyed a more comfortable
margin of victory. Lemieux polled 25,659,
or 47.3 per cent of the popular vote, while
Liberal candidate Dan Boudria got 19,997,
or 36.9 per cent of the popular vote.
Salute to firefighters
newsroom@eap.on.ca
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Flags were flying at half-mast at the
Hawkesbury fire hall this week as the
department paid tribute to two volunteer
firemen from southern Ontario who were
killed last week.
Members of the fire department planned
Jacques-Yves Parisien
Sandra Sauvé
Gerry Miner
Richard Lefebvre
Art Jones
Normand Pilon
Pierre Charlebois
Alain Parisien
to attend the funeral Thursday for theNorth
Perth firefighters Kenneth Rea, 56, and
RaymondWalter,30,whodiedlastThursday
while fighting a fire a store in Listowel.
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