On Oct. 3, Quebecers headed to the polls to cast their vote in the 2022 provincial election. 

In Brome-Missisquoi, Isabelle Charest, candidate for Coalition avenir Québec, was officially sworn in as the region’s Member of the National Assembly (M.N.A.) and  as the Minister of Sports, Recreation, and Outdoors. 

Heading into her second term as Brome-Missisquoi’s political representative, Charest follows-up with CIDI on her first steps as M.N.A and the projects and initiatives that her team have in the works. 

“I keep saying this is the best county in the province. It feels very special to be representing the citizens of Brome-Missisquoi and to pursue the work we started four years ago. We are very thrilled about this mandate,” said Charest. 

Charest emphasized that she is happy with the way she and her team have been present in the territory. 

“We’re so accessible and it’s been noticed. It’s been said many times that people recognize that. So for sure I am going to pursue that and make sure that we’re available for citizens, for municipalities, for promoters, for enterprises in the county,” she said. 

We’ve had two years of pandemic that kind of put a hold on stuff that we were trying to develop, explained Charest, but now we’re heading into a new mandate. 

“We have challenges with many things. We are still working on the access to a doctor with the Primary Care Access Point. We are working on making sure it works well, that people have access to a doctor, and that their health problems are taken care of,” mentioned Charest. “We are still working on daycare services, the water problem that we have in the region, and again working on high-speed internet that we have problems to access.” 

One of the projects that Charest highlighted is the new daycare at Brome Lake’s community centre launched under the provincial governments new pilot project, which encourages municipalities to find a space to serve as a daycare. 

“This is very interesting and I’m interested in seeing how it develops because this is something that has been asked for by many citizens. It’s going to help the labor shortage as well because if families have access to a daycare they can go back to work. This is something that we are working on in the region,” said Charest. 

We have a project with the community centre in Sutton for instance, she added, and in Cowansville we have a new residence for the community, and a bunch of projects that we’re working on.  

Also delegated as the Minister of Sports, Recreation, and Outdoors for Quebec, Charest said there are plans to develop Mount Orford in Magog and to preserve more green spaces. 

Over the next few years, she hopes to see more sport infrastructures come to life in her riding after Coalition avenir Québec pledged $1.5 billion to help make this possible. 

“I’m also going to be working on the reform of the law on security in sports. That’s something I am very active on to make sure that athletes have access to a safe sport environment,” she added. “We are still working on making sure that the sporting experience is positive for everyone because we know how important it is to be active, to be healthy, physically healthy and mentally healthy.”

She encourages citizens of Brome-Missisquoi to reach out to her office with their questions and concerns. 

“We’re there for you and we are there to provide information and help for whatever issues you may have,” she said. 

Address to office: 170 Rue de Sherbrooke, suite 205, Cowansville, QC, Canada, Quebec

Phone number: (450) 266-7410

E-mail address: brome-missisquoi@coalitionavenirquebec.org

Listen to the full interview below: