Islands on the Air
1172, chemin Lavernière G4T 1R3

Following complaints from the community and the experience of its own staff over the past few weeks, the Municipality is demanding that Canada Post explain the delays in mail delivery. The Mayor of the Islands explains that following the adoption of a resolution at Tuesday's meeting, the council intends to send an official letter to Canada Post in addition to calling on the federal Member of Parliament for the region, Diane Lebouthillier. According to Jonathan Lapierre, mail ...destined for the archipelago is systematically blocked, often for several weeks, at the distribution center located in the Quebec City area, thus exceeding the standard delivery times for the province of Quebec. Jean-François Lefebvre, dentist and vice-president of Sofilm Cinéma Parallèle, testifies to the difficulties caused by the delays, which vary from several days to several weeks, since at least last February. Not only does he no longer give appointments for the fitting of prostheses manufactured in large centers because of delivery delays, but he adds that the cinema is often unable to respect its screening schedule. At the time of writing, Canada Post had not yet responded to our request for information about delivery times to the Islands.

Since last June, the Fonds d'Aide aux Initiatives Sociales funded by the office of MP Joël Arseneau and the Réseau des partenaires en développement social has disbursed $105,000 for 35 local projects. Following the increase in the discretionary budgets of Quebec MNAs for the support of volunteer action in 2020, the two partners each injected 50 thousand dollars to help organizations that help vulnerable people in times of pandemic, especially to break the isolation of seniors.... According to MNA Arseneau, the archipelago is the only place to have created a leverage effect in the funding of new initiatives led by local organizations that were accompanied and coordinated by the Social Development Network. He emphasized the demonstration of mutual aid by the organizations in order to maximize the benefits of FAIS. For her part, Véronique Chiasson, coordinator of the Réseau des partenaires en développement social, is satisfied with the results. She does not rule out the idea of continuing this form of support for specific projects, whereas her organization usually focuses on the development of large collective projects. It will be necessary to wait for the confirmation of a renewal of the envelope for the support of voluntary action by Quebec before possibly relaunching the Fonds d'Aide aux Initiatives Sociales, which could also take another form. https://cfim.ca/bilan-positif-pour-le-fonds-daide-aux-init/

With the exception of tourist seasons, Air Canada does not plan to offer its services on a permanent basis to the Magdalen Islands. This information was confirmed by the company and by the federal Member of Parliament for Gaspésie-Iles-de-la-Madeleine, Diane Lebouthillier. However, the national carrier plans to serve the region through interline connectivity agreements with other aviation companies specializing in regional services.... Pascan confirms that they are currently in the process of integrating the reservation systems to allow, as of June, to travel from the Islands to all destinations offered by Air Canada by making a single reservation. MP Diane Lebouthillier says her government will also support regional carriers and that her phone is always open. For his part, Mayor Jonathan Lapierre, who is responsible for air transportation at the Fédération québécoise des municipalités, is not surprised by the announcement. However, he is concerned that the sums granted by the federal government, although necessary to save Air Canada and demanded by the FQM, will encourage a price war that will hurt small carriers, as has been the case in the past. Finally, Joël Arseneau, Member of the National Assembly for the Islands, is asking the Minister of Transportation, François Bonnardel, to table his intervention plan as soon as possible to ensure the stability and sustainability of regional routes. Minister Bonnardel's attaché, Florence Plourde, said that the Quebec Department of Transport hopes that Air Canada will follow through on its commitments, even if the agreement between the company and the federal government does not entirely resolve the issue. She adds that her government's intervention plan will strengthen regional air coverage and that it will be presented shortly.

The École des langues et des sports will offer, in collaboration with the Council for Anglophone Magdalen Islanders, two drop-in centres in the Eastern Magdalen Islands to meet the needs of parents during the fishing season. The area is currently undeserved with only one family daycare service that can accommodate 6 children. As of April 19, children aged 0 to 5 will be able to learn a second language while becoming familiar with physical activity, which is at the heart of th...e school's mission. Kimberly Thériault, the school's director, explains that mixed groups are very important. For the 14 weeks surrounding the fishing season, both services are fully booked, reflecting the great need. However, it will be possible to respond to urgent and temporary situations by rearranging some groups. Registration is flexible and the fee is per day is at a cost of $35. The project has been carried by the School of Languages and Sports since January 2021, after the CAMI organization, which will officially own the two drop-in centers, signified the importance of offering this service. In Grosse-Ile, the drop-in centre will operate on an annual basis. The Étang du Nord day camp will also offer the drop-in daycare service. This is the first project of its kind on the archipelago.

The Centre de services scolaires des Îles closed the École Centrale de Havre-aux-Maisons on Tuesday morning for a period of 48 hours. According to the Service Center, it is a student who was in close contact with a person who presented a low but positive viral load to the COVID-19 following a first screening test. Public Health initially suggested confining only the student's classroom bubble, but since the child was attending the school's daycare on Monday, the School Servic...e Center took no chances. Public Health is currently working on epidemiological investigations, pending a second test result for the person who initially showed flu-like symptoms, which may ultimately prove to be negative. source: CFIM, la radio des Îles de la Madeleine