It’s no secret that it’s possible to get access to the key to the gate at the federal dock in North Hatley. In fact, according to rumors, you can request the key from the municipality of North Hatley. No doubt you have to be a citizen, which I am. I am a residential citizen and a commercial resident twice over. I know that a few people have access, such as Mr. Steve Percy, owner of Massawippi Marine, who needs to get in and out of the boats very often to inspect, repair, store, or simply launch them. This seems essential to his work. The same goes for dock builders and fishing guides on Lake Massawippi who need to get out on the lake earlier in the morning and stay out later in the evening (very often before 6 a.m. and after 9 p.m.).
In fact, since I started a fishing guide business on Lake Massawippi, I applied for a key to unlock the barrier at the federal dock to facilitate my daily operations.
J’ai fait ma demande auprès du directeur général. Sans doute la meilleure personne pour m’orienter. J’ai envoyé une demande par courriel au directeur général. Bonne nouvelle, ce dernier m’a répondu dans un délai de 2 jours ouvrables. Ce qui est très raisonnable. Bon, ce n’est pas le cas dans mes demandes d’accès à l’information. Et heureusement, mon courriel n’était pas dans les spams du directeur!
I submitted my request to the CEO. He was undoubtedly the best person to guide me. I sent an email request to the CEO. The good news is that he replied within two business days, which is very reasonable. Unfortunately, this is not the case with my freedom of information requests. And luckily, my email didn’t end up in the CEO’s spam folder!
My request to the CEO on May 30, 2025: 10:02 a.m.
The CEO’s response on June 3, 2025: 11:07 a.m.
I have been informed that my request will be presented to the board at the next working meeting.
Obviously, access to the boat ramp must be properly managed to avoid problems. But who has the right to use it and who does not is up to our elected officials to decide. In fact, I believe that granting access to the public boat ramp is in the public interest.
- Is the list of people who have obtained keys public?
- When were these people given a key?
- Where can we find the meeting minutes that prove these keys were given to these people?
It is July 11, 2025, and I still have not heard back from the general manager of the municipality of North Hatley. Do you know when the working meetings are held? It has been almost a month and a half, and I still have not heard anything.
In addition, I have also requested the minutes of the working meetings that led to the decision to grant other citizens a key to the boat ramp gate. In my opinion, such a decision should be made public.
My request for the minutes of the working meeting that authorized access to the North Hatley boat launch key – June 3: 12:39 p.m.
Unfortunately, my request for the minutes of our elected officials’ working meetings has remained unanswered since June 3. No doubt searching through the minutes of elected officials’ working meetings takes a lot of time…
Finally, my research indicates that it is not mandatory to take minutes during elected officials’ work meetings. However, I also note that no official decisions can be made during these meetings. All of this is very contradictory to the municipality’s response. Am I being misled, or is this a mistake, since it seems that elected officials cannot make such a decision in a working meeting?
Despite everything, I remain hopeful that I will obtain the minutes of this working meeting of our elected officials or other minutes that allowed keys to the boat ramp gate to be granted to other citizens.
I am also hopeful that I will obtain a key to the North Hatley boat ramp gate, just like my fellow fishing guides on Lake Massawippi.
That said, I remain confident in the goodwill and impartiality of the director general and elected officials in my situation.
