SAINTE-ANNE-DE-BELLEVUE – Dozens of students packed the Agora at John Abbott College for a chance to ask questions to the federal candidates running in the Lac-Saint-Louis riding.
Liberal candidate Francis Scarpaleggia is the incumbent hoping to get re-elected for a fifth term.
NDP candidate Ryan Young and Conservative candidate Éric Girard are challenging Scarpaleggia in the Liberal stronghold.
National issues dominated the Q and A period but closer to home, the mayor of Sainte-Anne’s is raising questions about the condition of the locks and adjacent grounds.
Paola Hawa told Global News on Monday that the property, owned by Parks Canada, is in need of a major overhaul.
Get breaking National news
Hawa said crumbling walls need to be repaired, dated picnic tables replaced and the entire area needs a major facelift.
Last August, the federal government announced $4 million will be spent to improve the locks, but it’s unclear where specifically the money will go.
Young, who is also a Sainte-Anne’s councillor admitted more needs to be done.
“I live in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, I’ve grown up in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue and, yes the locks are in bad state and they need desperate work,” Young told Global News.
Scarpaleggia promised a Liberal government will spend billions of dollars on infrastructure improvements across the county and expects some of that money to be filtered down to the locks.
- Most Canadians now want early election as Trudeau support drops again: poll
- NDP will vote to topple Trudeau and propose confidence vote, Singh says
- This Canadian is his school’s first medical student in a wheelchair. He’s thinking big
- National Bank gets final approval for Canadian Western Bank takeover
“Every now and then you need to spruce it up a bit. It’s just like owning a house. Every now and then you gotta make some kind of renovation,” he told Global News.
Conservative candidate Girard, who is running for office for the first time, said it’s a file he will look into if elected.
“I can only make a difference if I’m elected and I think we’re already committing $4 million so that’s quite a substantial investment,” Girard told Global News.
The locks opened in 1882 at their current location in Sainte-Anne’s and are the busiest in Canada.
More than 16,000 recreational boats pass through every year.
Comments