McLennan’s candidates for mayor present views

Kevin Laliberte
Smoky River Express

f The election race for the position of mayor in the Town of McLennan is heating up with two capable candidates vying for a spot at the municipal helm. They include incumbent mayor Michele Fournier and Don Regier, who announced his intention to challenge for the position earlier last month. Fournier, a teacher aide at Ecole Providence School in McLennan, is seeking a second consecutive term as mayor and is excited about the future direction of the community. “This is a very exciting time in terms of development opportunities which exist for McLennan. We’ve sold most of the lots on the south side and extended our water line infrastructure to service blocks one through four to meet the increased demand for growth opportunities,” she says. “We’re also looking at development of the Northern Lakes College block to provide further accommodations in the form of 23 single-family and multi-family dwellings.” Fournier – born and raised in McLennan – says the town also needs to come up with effective solutions to address the municipality’s aging water and sewer line services in the community, including funding options. “Our existing water and sewer line infrastructure will require replacement at some point in the near future and we’ll need to come up with effective ways to address the shortfall of funding for a major project of this nature.” Representing the town as mayor and being responsive to the needs of the community as a whole is something which Fournier takes tremendous pride in. It’s an attribute which is supported through her involvement on a number of boards and committees over the years, ranging from the curling club, McLennan Local Recreation Board, Summer Frolic Committee and Smoky River Regional Committee. “Being involved in municipal politics is a role which I enjoy and find extremely rewarding,” she says, adding that her leadership skills, patience, experience and dedication make her an ideal candidate for the position of mayor. Don Regier stresses planning and vision Planning for effective sustainable growth is the primary vision of McLennan mayoral hopeful Don Regier heading into this month’s municipal election. Regier unveiled his campaign portfolio this past week, citing a need for long-term vision as one of the most significant keys to the future success of the community. “While the potential for growth is there, the challenge for the next council is to ensure both short- and long-term planning is in place to realize that growth,” he tells the Express. “Council needs to have a shared vision of where we are going and how we intend to get there… and we need to communicate this effectively to our citizens.” Regier welcomes the opportunity to serve the community as its next municipal leader and stresses the importance of internal communication. “Working with council is a dynamic process and the responsibility of leadership is to ensure that all members’ views are respected and that quality information is readily available for good decision-making,” he explains. “I’m a firm believer in the value of healthy debate, recognizing that every individual on council possesses a unique level of knowledge and expertise that needs to be shared.” The mayoral candidate’s background includes 35 years of experience in education, two of which were in Africa where he initiated, secured funding for, and managed an irrigation project which increased production of a school farm. As Dean of the Community Learning Centres for Northern Lakes College, he worked collaboratively with collect staff and community representatives in providing quality educational programs and services to the community. “As a member of the senior management team, I was actively involved in college planning and programming while assuming major budget responsibilities,” he says. Regier’s track record also includes a previous term on McLennan town council in addition to time spent on the now defunct Smoky River Area Recreation Board, McLennan Local Recreation Board as the current president and representative on the Smoky River Economic Development Board. He points to a need for effective communications and proactive planning with industry/business as the keys to reducing much of the unpredictability surrounding future growth in the community and region. “We need to actively explore and research grants and others possible revenue sources which support our planning efforts for long-term sustainable growth,” he says, adding that part of that process involves working together with neighbouring communities and town councils as a unified voice to promote ‘small town’ rural communities as a whole.