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Louis Courcelles is running for another term on council for the RM of De Salaberry.
As he nears the end of his first term representing the Otterburne ward, Courcelles is most proud of the work he has done as a member of the fire department committee.
“We have two amazing fire departments that serve our communities, but we haven't always provided them with the proper equipment to do their job in the past," he says. "We had some catching up to do. And through their fundraising and grants and a commitment from council, we've been able to modernize the fire departments, by and large, to where they’re pretty well set up now.”
Courcelles appreciates the work of their chief administrative officer in setting up an Asset Management Plan which will make sure council can provide for the future needs of the fire departments.
There are a few key projects underway that Courcelles says he is excited about.
“For the entire municipality, we're working along with St. Pierre on a (recreation) master plan to help us determine what our citizens want to see us provide for them in the future and how we're going to fund it," he says. "That's something I'm personally looking forward to, if I'm lucky enough to get re-elected.”
Courcelles says he is a strong believer in working together with other councils in the region and feels there is a commitment from others to continue regional planning. He notes that a solid relationship between De Salaberry and St. Pierre has proven beneficial to all residents.
“For example, the fire department... we share the regional libraries, we have a Red River Rec Commission, the master plan that I talked about. Those are all things that we've worked on with the village," he says. "I’m also on the board with a couple of representatives from the R.M. of Ritchot and it's a lot of fun working with like-minded people. I’m very lucky. They're good people and they're fun to work with, and it makes us better by working together regionally.”
Courcelles has served the Otterburne ward for the past four years and is eager to continue. De Salaberry council consists of two councillors from each of the three wards; Otterburne, St. Malo and Dufrost.
Nominations close at the end of the day on Tuesday, September 20th. Voters head to the polls on October 26th.