The mayor of Coaticook, Simon Madore
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June 7, 2020
Updated June 8, 2020 at 10h35
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The MRC of Coaticook does she have a secret?
Jean-François Gagnon
The Forum
MAGOG — Only 13 residents have been affected by the COVID-19 in the RCM of Coaticook since the beginning of the pandemic. The MRC is therefore the one that is the least of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the eastern Townships. The inhabitants of the area were they a secret?
According to figures from the CIUSSS of the eastern Townships – CHUS, the MRC du Granit is the second largest in the Estrie region in terms of the number of cases with 16. Then follow the MRC du Haut-Saint-François and des Sources, which have each had more than 35 so far.
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Asked to explain the situation in the RCN, the mayor of Coaticook, Simon Madore, a few assumptions to provide. But he admits from the outset that his region has probably been more fortunate than some of its neighbors.
“At the beginning of the pandemic, one would have to have a large group of residents returning from a trip abroad with many people infected. But no. There are several people on the corner who have returned to the United States when all this began. They, however, had not the COVID. We were lucky from this point of view, ” said Mr. Madore.
Nevertheless, the mayor of Coaticook suggests that the rural character of the MRC of Coaticook has probably helped to limit the number of cases within this territory.
“We have less people who find themselves in the same places, if compared with larger cities. Our courses are also wider and so the people are from the start more distant from each other. It helps according to me “, ahead of Simon Madore.
In the aftermath, Mr. Madore suggests that the residents of Coaticook and the surrounding area were, in addition, well respected the instructions issued by the Québec public Health. “The people here are very aware of the pandemic despite the fact that we have few cases of COVID. They are rowing all in the same direction and do what is asked by the provincial authorities. “
Of interest
Regardless of the reasons behind the pleasing balance in the MRC of Coaticook, the agents of the building sector would receive a lot of calls from residents outside who are thinking of purchasing a property in Coaticook or in the periphery.
“There are people who want to escape the big cities. The agents of building and others like it have a lot of calls from people from elsewhere by the time that run. The population has tasted work from home, and several are more ready to get out of the more densely populated areas to settle in environments like ours, ” says Simon Madore.
The mayor of Coaticook note in this regard that the issue of access to the internet is usually quickly raised when residents of the outside to gather information in order to establish themselves in the soil coaticookois.
“There was always things to do to improve access to the internet, it is true. But we have a project that will enable the world to us to have the optical fiber in the short term. I think our forward-thinking approach will be well worth it, ” said Mr. Madore.
“No big impact “
Moreover, the chief magistrate says the City of Coaticook is expected to draw relatively well financially in spite of the impacts of the pandemic on the municipal setting. “We don’t have real public transport network, or revenues from parking meters. It limits our losses. It is not expected that the crisis has a huge impact on our budget. “
It remains, however, that some citizens may have trouble paying their tax bill or their electricity bill. “We are aware of this, and this is why we gave extra time to people. I want that they put bread on the table before any thing. “
All employees of the City of Coaticook are at work these days. In particular, they have prepared the baseball fields and the municipal swimming pool for the municipality to be ready quickly in case of reopening of this kind of venue, in Quebec, in the coming weeks.
