Last Monday afternoon, ElliotLakeToday had an opportunity for a conversation with councillor-elect, Helen Lefebvre at our local Tim Horton’s.
As a talking point, we took along a hard copy of the vision for Elliot Lake that Lefebvre shared before the election, Oct. 24, 2022. That vision is here.
ElliotLakeToday: So, this is what you had written before the election, and I'm just wondering if there are any items on here that spark your thoughts now?
Lefebvre smiled as she turned the pages. “Yes, it's funny. When I put all of this together, I spent a lot of time listening to people. To me, I'm the voice of the people. So, a lot of the input that was put in here, a lot of it was some of my thoughts coming into it, and a lot of it was reaffirmed after having spoken to a lot of people."
“That's the reason I took the time to put that strategic plan together and put colour to it, so that people could relate to it and say, ‘Yes, she heard us. This is what we need.’”
“Someone had asked me, has your vision changed? And I looked at it and I went, ‘Actually, no. It's still the same.’”
ElliotLakeToday: As you approach your work on council, how do you see applying that? What do you think that's going to look like? What obstacles do you see?
Lefebvre: “I honestly don't see any obstacles. I've been able to work with anybody over the last 30 years in my career. I get respect from people once they know that I can do what I say I can do. That makes it easier to work with people.”
“I'll be able to work with council, and I hope I will have a voice. I have to wait and see when I get on, because things work very differently on council. So, my goal is to listen and take it from there.”
ElliotLakeToday: “What do you feel are the main things ahead for Elliot Lake – things that you're hoping council is going to pursue?
Lefebvre: “Elliot Lake is a very tough community for business. We did our demographics. You're in a community that is pretty much fixed income. They don't have a lot of spare money, and you're vying for that piece of the pie and it seems to come only on certain days of the month."
“I know a lot of people in this town keep saying, ‘We need more stores, we need more stores, we need more stores.’ But for stores to come here, it has to be profitable for them. And in this market, we have to do something.”
“We're not a retirement community anymore. We're an affordable living community. A lot of people move here because it's affordable.”
“I've seen the shift in demographics. It's not seniors - it might be people in their 40s and 50s who may be on a disability. And then you're starting to see the shift of the younger families coming in with their children because they simply can't afford to live in the cities anymore. But again, if that's the reason they're moving here, it's limited income, yet again.”
“So, we have to find a way to generate and get more income into this town. To me, that's through tourism.”
“I think that with the Kraft Hockeyville campaign that happened - we need to ride that wave. We need to push for tourism in this town. We need to do a lot more this summer because we now have Canada-wide coverage that we could easily start advertising and people would start noticing it - and they would.”
“I’ve met so many people who had so many great ideas on tourism. Even I stood back and went, ‘Wow, that's a great idea. We should be doing that.’”
ElliotLakeToday: How did you feel about the drag race being ended?
Lefebvre: “Well, for me, it's mixed emotions. From a tourism perspective, it brings people in the town, but does it really help our local businesses?
“I spoke to a lot of local businesses when I was running, and they all said the same thing. ‘These tourist events bring nothing for us as a business owner.’”
“People are coming to the drag races but 'this business, the business next door,' may make some money, and the restaurants down there may make some money, but that's about it. Nobody else makes business.”
“So, I don't know. I'm caught on that one.”
ElliotLakeToday: “What do you want the citizens of Elliot Lake to know? What are some final thoughts you could share?”
“For me, I stand on integrity and transparency. I stand on teamwork, and I stand on getting things done. Anything I can do to help move that along, I will definitely be doing.”
“I will always take the community's opinion in mind when I make a decision.”
“So, the one key message I do have for the people of our community is, ‘Continue voicing your opinions, because I listen to the people of our community, and I want to know what your opinion is.’”
Helen Lefebvre will be sworn in as a member of council at tomorrow’s council meeting, Item 1.1 Swearing-in of Helen Lefebvre.
Council Meeting, Mon. Apr. 8 - 7 p.m. at City Hall
Open to the public
Broadcast on Eastlink channel 11. Livestreamed from the City website here.