André Roy will not seek another term on Champlain Township council.
Roy has shared the responsibility of representing Ward 2 L’Original with fellow councillor Michel Lalonde for the past two terms. He noted during a phone interview that his decision not to seek a third term is made with some regret.
“I would have liked to continue but it is not possible,” said Lalonde during a phone interview from Sarasota, Florida.
Lalonde is one of the dwindling number of Canadian “snowbirds” who still maintain a residence in Florida and he feels now that dividing his time between living down south and in the L’Orignal area is not fair for his constituents in L’Orignal. If they cannot get in touch with him easily with their concerns, Roy indicated, then it would be better for him to step aside and let another person take on the responsibility.
Roy recalled that when he first decided to run for council, he was the executive director for the Employment Services Centre in Hawkesbury. At the time, he said, he was under the belief that all municipalities had “top notch” computerized working setups for their staff. But he found that was not always so for smaller municipalities like Champlain Township that have more limited budgets for all the office resources they might want or need to provide up-to-date support services for residents.
During his first term on council, Roy noted, he focused much of his efforts to getting more training for staff in computerized municipal management programs and services and ensuring that the municipality’s digital setup was more up to date and had the essential skills resources available.
His second term, he indicated, was refocused more on the needs of L’Original and he expressed satisfaction with what he and his fellow councillor have achieved for Ward 2.
“We worked hard for L’Orignal, and see the results,” said Roy.
He cited a variety of improvements made to L’Orignal Park and the L’Orignal Beach area, along with formation of an advisory committee to help future councils with planning improvements for the village’s community park.
He noted that there is now a long-term strategic plan for L’Orignal Park, that was created with extensive public input.
“Now we will know where we are going in the five, 10 or 20 years,” he said. “Now, when we have the money to start these projects, then we’ll see a lot more changes at the park.”
Roy expects he may be spending more time down in Florida. He noted that most of the Americans he encounters down there, when they understand that he is Canadian, tend to apologize first about the behaviour and attitude of their President Trump towards Canada.
