Gatineau, Oct. 11, 2002 - Report on Strategic Choices workshops - City of Gatineau - By Julie Fine
I had the pleasure of being invited, as part of the leadership of the Outaouais, to the Strategic Choices Discussion Workshops hosted by committee chair Lawrence Cannon, held at the Palais des Congrès in Hull September17 and 24. This was an interesting meeting of around 150 community, business and government partners of the city of Gatineau, which received little coverage in the Citizen and that I think people should know about.
I would like to congratulate all the organizers who brought together a good cross-section of the community. The focus of the workshops seemed genuinely to be the input of the participants. The agendas were well thought-out, and the follow-up documents from day 1 added to the productivity of day 2. I have some optimism that the council will act on the findings of the workshops.
The session began with opening addresses and a short promotional video of the city's "selling points." But the real nitty gritty of what participants' hopes and dreams for the city, and baggage about its past, came out in the workshops afterward, where several groups of 20 people contributed their opinions on economic development, quality of life, governance, and "collectivité" the closest translation I can think of being our collective community interests. Each group had a facilitator and a recorder
For me it was a chance to share the perspective of the English-speaking linguistic minority in this city, which frankly I think hadn't occurred to many of the participants in my workshop. This is a rewarding aspect of my job: raising awareness in a positive and team-building spirit that the English-speaking community exists, and that as a linguistic minority it has certain needs, many of which can be met with simple courtesy and an accommodating attitude rather than additional expense and headache.
It was also an opportunity to hear some of the points of view of a sample of 20 leaders in the city from different sectors of activity. In my workshop for example there was a councilor, social service agency employees, civil servants from Quebec and federal departments, lobby group representatives, economic development types, a representative of the NCC, and employees of the city. Living as I do in our paradox - in an English milieu amid a French-speaking province - these are the points of view I am not often privilege to, simply because these are not the people I communicate with daily. There were some surprises I would like to share with you.
For example, Gatineau is one of the very few regions of Quebec projecting economic growth, over which there is an atmosphere of excitement and pride. And there is general acceptance that Ottawa's high tech boom is largely to be credited for Gatineau's rosy outlook. I say "Thank God!" for Ottawa's boom, if it means we get some of the benefits.
But I don't see that gratitude for the wealthy brother across the river, but rather bitterness at getting the scraps of Ottawa's boom. Gatinois would rather be the entrepreneurial genius behind their own boom. There is a perception of competition with Ottawa, rather than complementarity with it. There were two competing images of the economic "pie." Some want a bigger piece of the boom pie, while others say the pie was created by entrepreneurial Ottawans, and if Gatineau wants more pie it must make its own. I say pass the vanilla ice cream!
Secondly, I was surprised at the orientation that many participants hoped for in the city's future. Rather than look to building partnerships with the geographical if not cultural brother to the south, many of them emphasized the importance of growing ties to the rest of Quebec - thus, completion of highway 50 to Montreal is a panacea, although no studies outlining the effect on our region have been done. There is more interest in gaining a more prominent place within Quebec as the fifth largest city, and combating Gatineau's place in the province of the isolated westernmost outpost, than in gaining a strong foothold within the relationship of the National Capital Region. I found this understandable - to want to build ties to the cultural heartland - but counterintuitive. I encouraged a vision in our workshop of both cities across the river become increasingly bilingual and sharing their respective cultural assets with each other, which met with a lukewarm reception.
Also surprising were some stereotypes and myths that arose. One is that every English-speaking resident in the Outaouais is only here for a short time because of lower housing prices, and will return to Ottawa as soon as they can afford to. Evidently, the group of Anglophones who were the founding fathers of Hull and the families who have been here for generations are below the radar of many participants. I perceived an ambivalence about the cross-border house-shopping newcomers. There was no discussion about how to keep them here and prolong the economic benefits to the region. Rather, there is a tolerance for them while they're here, a mistrust of them that they're transient, and a dissatisfaction that they're anglophones. You can imagine the warmth of the welcome these new residents will likely receive may be somewhat arctic. No wonder these new residents may not end up staying in Gatineau! I think when they do return to Ottawa, it will be a missed economic opportunity in the name of saving linguistic homogeneity. Nor does Gatineau attract immigrants - 5% of population here are immigrants vs. 25% in Ottawa. This too can be seen as a loss of potential economic benefit for the sake of chauvinism.
Another false assumption was one that I had: that many of the francophones I see around Gatineau every day were born and raised here. In fact, if my sample of workshop participants tells me anything, almost all moved here from other parts of Quebec. The juxtaposition of these two stereotypes struck me.
There is some shame over admitted chronic social problems. Life expectancy is lower here than the Quebec or national average. There is a high dropout rate, a high rate of single mother homes and poverty. Young people start working instead of staying in high school to supplement their household income. The feeling that there is little entrepreneurial spirit here. There is a dependence on Ottawa. As in elsewhere in Quebec, many headquarters have moved to Ontario. While the level of conversation was generally elevated, there were exceptions, as with the guy who thought all Gatineau's weaknesses are the fault of English-speaking bosses historically who exploited the workforce.
Some sensible issues were raised, such as the need for "intelligent growth," that preserves the current strengths of each sector: heritage in Aylmer, shopping and agriculture in Gatineau, etc. The alternative is Gatineau's traditional posture of survival that ignores design. There was some openness and interest in the idea of a standing committee on language issues for linguistic minorities, although talk quickly turned to the needs of the Portuguese and Chinese communities, as if they too are one of Canada's official languages. The river and the train route were suggested as environmental alternatives to increasing trucking. Public transportation was discussed, although when the problem of getting people out of the cars they love came up, there were no bright ideas. Gatineau park is perceived as an important element in the future of city, and the quality of life here will be valued at a premium in the future - characterized by such delights as "museums in the morning, dogsledding in the afternoon".
Among other suggested projects, that the Universite de Quebec en Outaouais (formerly a Hull) should have more faculties and be bigger. Other universities don't want a faculty elsewhere of one they already have. Improving the Gatineau airport is another suggestion. I have mentioned 3 projects - Highway 50, expanding the UQO, and the airport - which entail massive capital investments and could be said to be duplications of existing services - the 417 to Montreal, the bilingual Universite d'Ottawa, and the Ottawa-Gatineau International Airport. All for the sake of self-sufficiency. It seems to me a high price to pay to create a Quebec universe of facilities parallel to those in Ottawa. The fact of few festivals, events, attractive restaurant areas to attract a village feel was bemoaned, while the examples of Chelsea and Wakefield were cited as the only successful touristic destinations in the area, although their English context was not alluded to.
Sadly, although 18% of the city in English-speaking, not a word was addressed to the assembled participants in English. At the beginning of the second day several workshop participants greeted me in English. And from my observation representation wasn't perfect: maybe 5 under age 40, maybe a third women, 1 visible minority.
There are two remaining days in this strategic choices process: Friday and Saturday, November 8 and 9, to which the public is invited. I encourage English-speakers to come out and participate. Firstly, because it is an interesting civic process which doesn't work without citizens' input. And also because the perspective of the English-speaking community is conspicuously absent at such events. If you anticipate an icy reception, don't: the respect you show your municipal confreres will be reflected back at you.