APELL - Municipal Election letters

TO ALL COTTAGE OWNERS IN THE MUNICIPALITY OF BLUE SEA LAKE:

Municipal elections will be held in the municipality of Blue Sea Lake on Sunday, November 7th. For property owners in the communities of Lac Long (Lake Latourelle) and Lac des Iles, polling stations will be at the Community Hall at 356 chemin du Lac Long, near the convenience store. For those unable to vote on Nov. 7th, advance polls will be held at the town hall on Sunday, October 31st. More details are available in the most recent municipal newsletter - Blue Sea in Mind.

Please, I urge you as a cottager, exercise your right to vote. Both days are Sundays, which provide you with ample opportunity to do so.

The current government in Quebec City has not made the task easy for cottagers to exercise their democratic right to vote. If your cottage is jointly owned, you must designate one particular adult among you to represent the family vote. If you are the sole proprietor of the cottage property, you must still register your desire to be included on the voters list of the municipality. One way or another, as a cottager, your right to vote must be specifically registered with the municipality prior to voting day to be eligible.

Of the approx. 1300 property owners in Blue Sea, 68% (approx. 900) are cottagers. Ours is a collective, significant contribution to the local economy. We are the bread and butter of the municipality. We potentially hold almost a 2 to 1 majority of voter rights. But that power is only good if you get out and exercise your right to vote.

You, as a cottage owner, have a clear opportunity to influence our elected representatives. This time around, you have the choice of electing a cottager to represent your interests on council.

Blue Sea Lake has serious pollution problems. Lac des Iles will probably be next on the list if nothing is done to reverse the trend. We need a strong, united Mayor and Council, sympathetic to environmental issues, to bring those beautiful lakes back to their original pristine beauty. We need them to represent environmental issues at the Gatineau M.R.C., and in Quebec City at the provincial level. And with the provincial authorities downloading more and more responsibilities and costs onto the municipal level, it is vital that we have a strong council to assess priorities and to hold the line on finances and on levels of taxation.

If you miss this opportunity to cast your choice, you will have lost the right to criticize the choice of others for the next 4 years.

Yours sincerely, Morris Richardson, your Candidate of Choice in Seat no. 4.
 

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN:

I ask for your support and confidence in my running for the position of Councillor, Seat No. 4. I have been a cottage property owner in Blue Sea for the past 7 years. I have a background in business and public administration, and have an active career as an accountant in my own firm for over 20 years.

My Accomplishments

• I have attended every single regular monthly council meeting during the past five years in an effort to familiarize myself with the problems and priorities of the municipality and to represent the interests of cottagers before council. I believe I have been instrumental in influencing council decisions on a number of issues.
• Prepared and presented a lengthy brief to the Quebec Municipal Affairs Commission on a possible merger between Blue Sea and Messines, where we took a very strong position against such a merger, since it did not benefit the ratepayers of Blue Sea.
• Successfully championed the case for a regular annual meeting between Council and the lake associations to discuss common issues.
• Successfully championed the cause of replacing a portion of the guardrails bordering Lac Denomme, in order to increase public safety for all the residents of Blue Sea.
• Undertook a number of preventative environmental measures and water quality analyses on Lake Long and Lake Morissette long before it became a public issue on Blue Sea lake.
• Took a strong verbal and written position over the past five years on many environmental and governance issues before Council.

My Involvement
 

• President of APELL (Association for the Protection of the Environment of Lac Long) and re-acclaimed to that position on 5 different occasions. (APELL website : www.geocities.com/RainForest/2562)
• Director of the Federation of Lake and River Associations of the Upper Gatineau.
• Member of the Committee to develop Mont Morissette.
• Member of the Civic Security Committee for the municipality of Blue Sea.

My Priorities
 

• Revitalize and develop the tourist sector of Blue Sea, while respecting nature and the tranquility of the area.
• Involvement of the cottagers in the daily life of the municipality.
• Good governance in municipal affairs.
• Controlled development of Mont Morissette, which respects the natural beauty of the site and protects nature and the environment.
• Favour the creation of business and commercial activity in the municipality to foster employment for the local population.

My Co-ordinates

My property in Blue Sea is located at 8 Lacasse St., in the Lake Long sector. My postal address is Rural Box no. 4, Lake Long Road, Blue Sea, Que., J0X 1C0. My telephone number there is (819) 463-1039. In Ottawa, I live at 305 Donald St, Ottawa, Ont., K1K 1M6. My home telephone number is (613) 745-1253, fax number is (613) 745-7235 and email address is richrdsn@magma.ca.

Yours sincerely, Morris Richardson, your Candidate of Choice in Seat no. 4.