Gaetan Baillargeon will in fact be joining Hearst council.
Tonight, at their second official meeting of newly formed council, the Town of Hearst will introduce its final councillor, Gaetan Baillargeon.
After being told last week that he could not be sworn into council without pledging allegiance to the Crown, Baillargeon says he was unsure if he would be able to take his seat on council.
At first, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Steve Clark said there were no exceptions to the requirement of being sworn in.
However, after extended talks through the week with Mushkegowuk-James Bay MPP Guy Bourgouin, Clark has changed his mind.
Baillargeon says Clark called him prior to the weekend to alert him that the province will provide him an alternate declaration to be sworn in without pledging allegiance to the Crown, but rather reflecting his views as an Indigenous person.
He says he is thankful for the minister taking the time to rethink his decision.
“I’m glad that the Minister took the time to really look at this and see that there were other places in government where this already existed and we were able to do this right away and it makes me feel extremely happy to be able to take my seat and represent the people.”
He says he has continued to push togetherness in the North, in order to show the province they mean business.
“During my campaign I’ve been telling everybody if we can bring all of the northern communities together and show to the government that they need us and not the other way around, we have all the natural resources here and when they start to realize that I think the government will take us alot more seriously.”
Baillargeon will be officially sworn in at a special council meeting taking place this evening.
