Our Vision

What do we believe in? What do we want to leave behind? How hard are we ready to work and make our wishes come true?

I want to take the road that leads to a stronger Glengarry-Prescott-Russell, more innovative, more diversified, fully sustainable. Let’s work together to make it a reality.  

Here is a roadmap. I hope it inspires you to travel with me.

Glengarry-Prescott-Russell is a community, a place where people have bonds to each other, share a long and rich history, and have a future to build together.

A community is as healthy as its people, business, culture and environment. Glengarry-Prescott-Russell is not an island, but the gateway to the National Capital Region, the soil from which are grown the produce its residents consume every day.  Here, towns and cities offer a healthy living, promise prosperity to their residents.

The region is well connected to both Ontario and Quebec and beyond its borders to the whole Country. 

In fact in Glengarry-Prescott-Russell we are part of our World, part of the global prosperity and development equation.  We play a role at the World Trade Organization to ensure that the final agreement reached at the Doha Development Round enables our supply management commodities for milk and eggs to remain internationally competitive. We have a say, as well, in deciding whether Canadian soldiers should be put in harm’s way and sent on faraway missions.

Glengarry-Prescott-Russell deserves to be a truly sustainable community. For that, it needs a strong and resilient local economy; an economy where everyone is able to play its role, and make his and her contribution.

This vision starts at the farm and with the service industries that support our agricultural base. As a rural community, Glengarry-Prescott-Russell succeeds when its agricultural sector thrives.  We can make our local economy successful by making it fully relevant to our region, even in the context of a difficult economy.

This vision is built on putting people first.

Canada is a good country, foremost for the quality and values of its diverse people, dedicated women and men, from the early pioneers and settlers on, who generously share the fruits of their labour. So our prime responsibility is to keep investing in people, caring for people, bringing people to participate actively in the community.  Think of giving priority to education, vocational training, unemployment assistance and job retraining; think long-term health that extends to the very sunset of our lives; think programs to facilitate the inclusion of new Canadians.

In terms of people, we should always consider a long-term approach. Whether for health, employment, welfare, old age, we should of course solve problems as they arise. But we must also look ahead. Prevention is often a better choice and it usually pays to keep an open mind for more efficient alternatives.

Finally, we must focus on our youth, encourage them to imagine the future they want for themselves, and make sure we never betray their dreams. They should be able to say “my folks stood up for my rights”, rather than “my parents wasted our resources and foreclosed my future”.

This vision is built on making a positive contribution to society.

We spent a central part of our lives working for our families and community and find tremendous meaning in the effort we made and result we achieved. The work we do, the job we have, says a great deal about who we are, where we stand, how our friends and neighbours esteem us.

But, as a society and government, do we pay sufficient attention to this? Not when unemployment creeps up, when innovation and entrepreneurship are stifled, or big business is allowed to chase out all the local producers and retailers out of the market.

Good economics start at the local level, with programs and services to encourage the creatives and risk takers. With markets that recognize the importance of neighbourhoods and regional communities.

A good, prosperous society is built from the ground up, from the energies and aspirations of the people who live on the land and feel bound to the community in which they live.

This vision is built on human connections and culture.

When they want to measure development, major countries go beyond the Gross National Product (GNP) and examine social and culture parameters such as life expectancy, literacy, education, well-being, child welfare, which make up the Human Development Index (HDI).

Historically, Canada ranked among the first, but has been slipping down in recent years. We can and should do as well as anyone else to maintain a vibrant culture and protect our languages and a rich and diverse heritage which encompasses the English, the French and the Indigenous Peoples..  We should further set as our goal the high human, cultural and social standards that correspond to the high speed, broad band, and densely networked world we now inhabit.

This vision is built on our connection to land and country.

Lest we forget, we were born of this good earth. All of us possess a deep, emotional connection to the land, its fields and meadows, lakes and forests, its animals and vegetation. The air we inhale every 5 seconds or less, the food we share , the water we drink, splash in, or use all day long, everything we wear, have in our house, carry in our cars originates from the fertile ground and the rock below. We stand on this earth in more ways than one. We rely on it for everything we have and are.

And so we should, we must, take good care of it. No society will endure, save that of good custodians. Whether we call it ‘The Environment’ or the ‘Good Earth’, this small blue planet is the gift we were handed down, the gift we are honour bound to pass on to the next generation.

My pledge as candidate:

I will work tirelessly on your behalf,

I will work with others, from all parties, without prejudice or preconceived ideas,

I will work for the good of this country,

I will work towards the accomplishment of universal goals, as they relate to the community of Glengarry-Prescott-Russell, to the region and country, and to the world at large.  Canada has long been a peace-keeper and peace-maker. Those are ideals that deserve to be upheld.

As your MP in Glengarry-Prescott-RussellI pledge to be the voice of our region, of our cities, townships, and communities, the steward of our interests, and the defender of our rights.

Sylvie Lemieux