July 16, 2024 - CAPE President Nathan Prier met with Maude Marquis-Bissonnette, the new Mayor of Gatineau, to congratulate her on her victory in the recent mayoral byelection and to discuss their shared vision for more complete cities.
Mayor Marquis-Bissonnette described her priorities for complete cities and her goals to continue making Gatineau a welcoming and inclusive city. She discussed her current priorities including improving transit infrastructure and moving forward with the Gatineau tramway, creating more housing with a focus on affordability, and finding opportunities to green the city and protect parkland, particularly in the downtown core. Mayor Marquis-Bissonnette noted that building complete cities is a long-term project but one that promises to deliver benefits for many generations to come.
Mr. Prier discussed CAPE’s telework campaign and articulated his vision of repurposing and rebuilding downtown buildings to diversify and reinvigorate city centres, creating vibrant downtowns that are no longer dominated by office towers to the exclusion of housing and other community uses. He indicated that he shares the mayor’s goals for greener and more diverse cities. He noted that CAPE members are interested to see more housing in downtown cores, a wider range of services for all ages, and improved public transit, all priorities shared by CAPE and the mayor.
Their meeting highlights the importance of engaging stakeholders with shared visions and values to ensure that CAPE members, many of whom reside or work in Gatineau and the National Capital Region, enjoy the highest quality of life that our region can offer.
Meeting attendees:
Maude Marquis-Bissonnette Mayor of Gatineau
Antoine Cremer Political Advisor
Nathan Prier President, CAPE
James Hutt Senior Advisor to the President, CAPE
Laura Shantz Senior Advocacy and Campaigns Advisor, CAPE
