A public meeting on vital public services with a variety of officials will take place in the Upper Pontiac in mid-September. The region was hit hard by power outages during a cold snap in February that also knocked out the area's landlines. Combined with the spotty cell service, the event highlighted the safety risk posed by the poor communications and electrical infrastructure in the area.

At the MRC Pontiac council meeting in February, the mayors passed a resolution requesting a public meeting with Hydro-Quebec as well as compensation for those affected. While municipal officials have met with the different organizations and government entities involved, this is the first public meeting on the subject.

The meeting will take place September 14 at the Harrington Community Centre in Chapeau, and will feature representatives from Hydro-Quebec, the provincial Ministry of Public Security, MRC Pontiac's Public Security, the Sûreté du Québec and regional health authority CISSSO. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the public meeting will start at 7 p.m.

L'Isle-aux-Allumettes Director General Alicia Jones said that they had invited a wide range of participants, but the only one to decline was Bell Canada.

While the outages in February hit the Upper Pontiac primarily, Jones said that anyone from the region is invited to attend. She said that the attendees would be able to mingle with presenters between 6:30 and 7, and once each organization had a chance to speak, there would be a Q&A session.

The full interview with Jones is available below: