Iroquois Falls has a new town councillor, filling the vacancy left by the resignation of Colin Kennedy. Ben Lefebvre says he can help council move into the future instead of being stuck in the past.
“Ever since the mill shut down in 2014, Iroquois Falls has gone through some pretty difficult times,” he remarks. “But we’ve also been spinning our wheels a lot. So I think that I can contribute to helping that along.”
Lefebvre acknowledges that there isn’t much time left before the next election in the fall of 2022 – in which he won’t yet commit to running. But he says he’s hopeful to help get things set up for the next term.
He says the Strategic Plan needs to be reviewed and the Official Plan updated. The latest Official Plan was finished in 1984.
“We were still talking about Abitibi at the time and how it was the cornerstone of our economy, which of course is no more and it’s already been seven years this fall since the shutdown. So there’s a lot of things that need to be done.”
Lefebvre hopes to engage the large volunteer base in the Falls to draw on its experience.
He previously served a three-year term as a councillor. But he didn’t run for re-election in 2000 because he had just helped organize the union at Kidd Creek, and became its fulltime unit chair.
