At a special meeting of the municipal council, Coteau-du-Lac's elected officials decided on the question that has attracted the most media attention in recent months: would the town join the Régie intermunicipale de gestion du Centre sportif Soulanges? On Monday June 10, the six councillors accepted a resolution to this effect, much to the delight of the forty or so citizens in attendance. 

In the room were parents of players, stakeholders in the local sports scene, interested citizens and even former elected officials like former Soulanges MNA and former Minister of Rehabilitation, Youth Protection, Public Health and Healthy Living from 2014 to 2018, Lucie Charlebois. 

“We wanted to hold a special meeting to discuss this item, as it was not on the agenda for the regular meeting on Tuesday June 11,” explained Mayor Andrée Brosseau at the opening of the meeting, which took place at 7:30 pm. It should be noted that security guards were present at the public meeting due to the intimidation suffered by elected officials at recent meetings where the subject of the Soulanges Sports Center was raised.

After District 2 Councillor François Vallières had called for a vote on the matter, each elected official was called upon to speak. 

District 1 councillor Alain Laprade was the first to speak. He was keen to emphasize the public's involvement in the dossier. "I'm happy to see so many committed people here tonight.I'm glad we took the time to meet with one last stakeholder in the last few hours, and that we took the time to analyze the situation properly before making a decision.With the answers we got today, I'm satisfied and I'm going to vote for the resolution,” he said. 

For his part, François Vallières, also noted the mobilizing side of the issue. "I'm happy to see that there are still issues that get people out and attending municipal meetings. If people showed up in such large numbers for every interesting topic, it would be great to see,” he began, before getting to the heart of the matter. 

"My main concern was to know how many votes we would have at the Régie table, since Coteau-du-Lac is the 2nd city to pay the most within this group. I also wanted clarification on how the call for tenders would be drafted to determine the work to be done and the amounts involved. After the meeting of the last few hours, I can say that my questions have been answered, even if it's not the ideal scenario, but I can live with the situation. I feel comfortable moving forward. I'd like to thank people for putting pressure on me and for doing it respectfully. You contacted the right people respectfully. That helped. It sped up the process and allowed us to make a decision and get answers faster."

District 3 representative André Legros reiterated the same position he took during his recent election campaign, namely in favor of the City of Coteau-du-Lac joining the Régie intermunicipale. "I've always said it was important for us to join, so I won't change my mind.I'm voting for it."

For her part, Isabelle Lemay of District 4 agreed with her colleagues. "Thank you,” she said. Those who know me know that sport is an integral part of my life.It's important for young people to get moving and keep active.In a region, that requires infrastructures that enable them to do so. A number of points needed to be clarified, and the meeting we attended in the last few hours was reassuring.The agreement will be in force for many years, and we probably won't be any more .So I'm in favor of the resolution."

His colleague Christine Arsenault agreed. "I agree with my colleagues. Public pressure helped a lot to move the file forward and get the information we wanted more quickly. However, intimidation has no place. There never is. That's why we opted for the presence of security guards tonight. I'm for it and for the right reasons."

Finally, District 6 Councillor Patrick Delforge also said yes to the resolution. He assured us that the six councillors had worked very hard on the file and that none of them had been against the project. 

"We were concerned,” he said, ”because the town will pay a lot of money to be part of the Régie. "We wanted to evaluate all our options before saying yes.We were reassured by the answers we got, and that's why I'm in favor."

The resolution was adopted to a round of applause.The microphone was then handed over to the people in the room.The first to break the ice was former Liberal MP Lucie Charlebois. 

 "I want to congratulate you on your decision. When young people get moving, they're not hanging out in parks consuming all sorts of substances."

France Brabant, resident of 348 chemin du Fleuve, asked the elected officials about the reassuring answers they had given earlier today. 

What were they, and why did they contribute to the elected officials' about-face? "I attended the 2nd meeting with the NPO's stakeholders and I was worried because we were talking about injecting $900,000 into the redesign of the parking lot.People wanted to play field hockey, not have the parking lot redone at great expense.We want to renovate the arena so that young people can play. We were scared and I asked questions about it.The answers I got were satisfactory,” admitted Councillor Delforge. 

For his part, François Vallières indicated that his concerns were linked to the number of votes Coteau-du-Lac would hold at the Régie intermunicipale table when it came time to vote. "I would have liked a proportional vote at the time paid per year, but that's not how it works.We'll have two votes out of thirteen. It's not perfect, but it's still good."

Mélanie Bossé, mother of a field hockey player who attends the Centre sportif Soulanges, congratulated the elected officials on the time they had invested in understanding and mastering the issue. She said she was disappointed, however, that it had taken the mobilization of citizens to bring about a positive resolution to the issue.She expressed the hope that the situation would not recur in the future. 

Instigator of a survey designed to take the pulse of Coteaulacois on the issue, she unveiled the results.

Out of 350 respondents, 200 live on municipal territory. Of these, 196 agreed that the town should join the Régie intermunicipale.Of these, 47% were non-users of the premises. 

Welcome news 

The news that Coteau-du-Lac had joined the Régie was welcomed by many, including Luc Isabelle, president of the NPO that currently manages the Centre sportif Soulanges. 

"The Board of Directors has made great efforts in recent years to reduce the costs of maintaining and managing the CSS. Thank you for the young people.The arena is used to full capacity,” he told the elected officials. 

He later told Neomedia that he was very happy with the decision."The Board of Directors has been working hard to ensure the sustainability of this regional sports facility for a long time. We're delighted that the facility will be able to continue its activities.Next year, the ice hours available for rental are after 10 p.m., a sign that the site is very popular with field hockey players of all ages, figure skaters and free skating enthusiasts."

Finally, Jean-François Beaulieu of the Association de field hockey mineur de Soulanges was relieved by the elected officials' decision."We were worried about Coteau-du-Lac's refusal to join the Régie intermunicipale in the first instance.Today, we're very pleased with their support for the group, and we're ready for the next stage.Our players have been very mobilized over the last few months to save their arena. They've joined us in our efforts to make their voices heard."