Geneviève Lajoie, Mayor of Casselman, shares her experience seeking support from the Minister of Infrastructure for improving Casselman’s water quality at the AMO (Association of Municipalities of Ontario) conference and outlines the plans for utilizing the two new funds from the Trillium Foundation. 

Jade Laviolette - Local journalism initiative

Casselman’s water concerns
The mayor had previously announced her intention to seek funding from the Minister of Infrastructure to enable Casselman to tap into Rockland's water source. After making a request at the AMO conference, we followed up to see how it went. With much enthusiasm she shared: “I am a natural optimist, and I’m very positive about everything, so obviously I’m going to say it went well, and I’m confident that it’s- I feel that this is going to be moving forward.”
However, concerns about Casselman’s water extend beyond quality, as there have been multiple flood watches to have been issued. When asked about this issue, Geneviève Lajoie claimed: “We don’t necessarily have any flood concerns in Casselman.” explaining that Casselman’s flood warnings follow those sent by the South Nation Conservation.

Developing the town through funding
In August, the municipality of Casselman announced two new grants given by the Trillium Foundation aimed at advancing the town’s developments. The first grant consisted of 150 000 $ and was used to construct new pickleball courts. Geneviève Lajoie highlighted the success of this project, saying: “We have created our pickleball courts, we opened it, so we have a beautiful fence and lighting, and we have a very active pickleball community in Casselman.”
In addition to the pickleball courts, the Trillium Foundation provided a second grant, which will be placed into renovating the Paul-Émile Levesque community center: “The floors are going to be redone, [We’ll be] painting, and we’re going to be having an air conditioning unit, and it’s just going to basically be completely revamped.” said the mayor when elaborating on the use of this second grant.