The mayor of The Nation shares some of the new developments in the community, notably the opening of a new commercial lot and the upcoming review of the Nation’s strategic development plan. 

Jade Laviolette - Local Journalism Initiative

Francis Brière, the mayor of The Nation, gave more details about the development of a new commercial lot, as well as the announcement of a new Pétanque court built by the community. Furthermore, he went on with the review of the 5-year strategy plan and some of the changes he would like to implement.

Great developments
When discussing the recent announcement of the new pétanque court located at the Village Gagnon park, Francis Brière proudly announced that this new court was a community initiative: “There’s people that have a strong sense of belonging to that park and volunteers, they took it upon themselves [to build the court].” He further explains that the municipality itself played a very little role in this initiative, stating that the funding came entirely from the community.

In addition to this new pétanque court, the announcement of a new commercial lot means great things for The Nation's infrastructure developments as Francis Brière says: “It’s jobs pretty close to home, [that’s] number one. Number two, it really comes down to taxes, [...] commercial taxes and industrial taxes are kind of where the money is made.”

New year, new plan
As the year comes to an end, the 2014 strategic plan is supposed to be up for review for the second time since it’s initial development:  “I had a meeting this morning with our new CAO (Chief Administrative Officer) and that’s something that’s going to be in the forefront of next year's budget, and we’re going to try to squeeze that in because it’s going to be our roadmap going forward.” The mayor shares with us.

However, with the plan coming up for review, there are some things Brière would like to alter. Giving us a glimpse at some possible changes, he tells us: “I know, in the west, recreation seems to be the pressing need [...]  there’s also the firefighting services, [...]  because of varying situations throughout the municipality it’s something that we have to plan for. “