Former St Pierre-Jolys councillor looking to return to council chambers

A former Village of St Pierre-Jolys councillor is looking to come back into politics as she makes a new bid to sit in chambers.

Maureen Sicotte is running again after quitting her first term as councillor last year. She said she is running again after receiving encouragement from people in the village.

“I decided after some reflections and a lot of encouragement from people when I’m out on my bike rides or walking, who wanted me to return and want me back at the table. They were quite sad that I had resigned,” she said.

Sicotte said she left council because of the leadership of Mayor Raymond Maynard and her losing her voice on council. She felt the only way she could get her voice back was to resign.

“What would be different this time is you learn. And I know, or I can see where things need to be addressed properly. And with proper leadership, there wouldn’t be an issue,” she said.

Should the mayor be re-elected, she said she would have “serious conversations” with him in order to have her voice heard if she feels she was being silenced.

Sicotte said the biggest problem facing St Pierre is that the village is being run by the CAO and not council. She also claims the CAO is not giving council all of the information they need to make the right decisions on matters before them.

“To address the issue, I’m thinking that if they looked at the personnel policies in different areas to see what they are supposed to be doing and follow it, it would be addressed in that way,” she said.

While on council, Sicotte was on the Rat River Health committee and was instrumental in restarting the stakeholders meetings, which consisted of members from Southern Health, managers, doctors, nurses, the two school divisions, and surrounding municipalities. She said housing around the hospital for staff was a concern, as it was for school division staff. She thought it would be a good idea if they were notified about any housing projects in the village so that staff wouldn’t have to commute.

“We still need a lot more housing here though. But they did do the six-plex and then the 36 (unit) apartment on Main. So that’s a good start because now when they’re trying to hire people, (the) school divisions and (the) hospital, they have housing for them to come and live at instead of commuting if they choose to,” she said.

Should she be re-elected, Sicotte would like to see a council governing with proper transparency, accountability, respect towards residents, integrity, and ethics.

“Basically, when you’re on council, you’re not there to serve yourself. You’re there to serve the people and you’re there to hear them and hear what they’re looking for and actually see what they mean and act on it, not just hear them and, ‘Oh yeah, OK.’

“Everyone’s entitled to their opinion. They are the people that are paying for everything that happens here so they should have a good say.”

She envisions a council that “operates as a genuine team, one that collaborates openly, respects diverse perspectives, and places the community’s best interests at the forefront.”

She believes leadership should be grounded in the foundational needs of the community such as housing, infrastructure, and responsible planning before advancing large projects.

The largest project for St Pierre currently is the $25 million Le Rendez-Vous recreation and cultural campus that last year received $5 million from the province to begin work on building the first phase of a three-phase project.

“My thoughts on that are the housing infrastructure needs to be in place. We need the tax base to afford it because right now, we don’t have the tax base.”

Sicotte said people are concerned with the cost and wondering if the project is necessary. She compared funding for the campus to the Grunthal Arena that is currently in renovations. She said support from farmers, businesses, and residents, have raised $1.5 million of a $2 million goal for the Grunthal Arena and that there is no support like that in St Pierre for Le Rendez-Vous.

“I’m not so sure that the interest is there for this building, because they announced it three years ago and the donations and money is not pouring in,” she said, noting the lack of support for the project.

“And then how do you maintain that and sustain it on a small little village? What do we have here? 450 houses maybe? Maybe 500? It’s not sustainable.”

Sicotte came to the St Pierre area 35 years ago and has lived in the village for the last 20 years. She grew up in the Winnipeg suburb of St Boniface. For 22 years she worked as an administrative assistant at a care home and was a school trustee for 19 years. She is currently retired.

She said she and her husband moved to St Pierre to get space from family and to provide her children with schooling that wouldn’t require them to move to different schools as they went up in grade levels.

“It’s a beautiful little town. It’s a great community. We have the best bakery and the best pharmacy ever, among other things as well. There’s nothing you can’t get here…it’s just a beautiful place to be.

“We actually thought about moving years ago, my husband and I and we drove around to other little towns and ended up coming home saying, ‘nope, we’re staying right here.’”

She said what makes St Pierre special is the people. She said villagers are very friendly and stop to talk with her or wave when they see her on the street.

“Everyone’s very friendly and jovial.”

She said people should vote for her because she’s respectful, ethical, and has integrity.

“I’m not a person that will push things off on the table just to pass them through. And I ask questions,” she said.