Almost two years after proposing their controversial first plan for a potential development project for St. Paul’s Anglican Church in Knowlton, Reed Bousada, promoter and developer of the project and his team recently presented a new plan to citizens with the goal of better addressing their concerns.

At a time where a number of churches across the province are closing their doors, St.Paul’s has been evaluating its assets over the last couple of years to see what it can do to ensure that it has a financially viable future. The church looked into several possible projects that it could develop on its piece of land - about 4 acres in total - to generate income, including affordable housing. It eventually signed a sales and purchase agreement with Bousada to sell the land at $1 million.

After a successful first year, Conservation Lac-Brome and Faisons Nôtre Part - a group of divers and volunteers that work together to clean Quebec’s water bodies - partnered up once again to clean up certain areas of Lake Brome last weekend. For this year’s initiative, the groups collaborated with the Knowlton Boat Club and concentrated their efforts around Douglas Beach, in front of the boat club, and around Eagle Island.


Last year, Conservation Lac-Brome worked alongside Faisons Nôtre Part to clean up the lake nearing Camping des Érables, where they collected around 500 kilos of waste. Recognizing that other areas of the lake could use a helping hand, Conservation Lac-Brome decided to invite Faisons Nôtre Part to come back for a second clean-up.

Brome Lake, Frelighsburg, Farnham, and Sutton are just some of the Brome-Missisquoi villages that have officially launched their farmer’s markets for the summer and early fall season. The farmer's markets in the region have been slowly opening up since the beginning of June and participants are now set to welcome the hustle and bustle they bring to their villages. 

Farmer’s markets are known for being a place where people can stock up on fresh local goods and support farmers and producers, but over the years they have grown to be an important platform that builds a sense of community around food and a relationship between producers and consumers that allows small-scale farming to thrive in the Eastern Townships. 

Since the beginning of June, Quebec has been battling wildfires, most of which are concentrated in the the western and north-western parts of the province. The fires have resulted in thousands of people being evacuated from their homes.

There has been a total of 455 fires and 915 771.6 acres have been affected since the start of the season, surpassing the ten-year average of 229 fires per year and 2 241.5 acres affected, according to the Société de protection des forets contre le feu (SOPFEU) website.

The CIUSSS de l’Estrie - CHUS, the health authority that oversees the Eastern Townships, has announced the closure of 175 beds and a number of operating rooms in hospitals across the region, including the Brome-Missisquoi-Perkins Hospital, as a result of expected staff shortages for the upcoming summer.

As Quebec’s health care system faces immense pressure due to challenges with staff retention and a high demand for healthcare services, the situation will grow more challenging with healthcare professionals taking vacation time, according to Robin-Marie Coleman, president adjoint-directeur general of the CIUSSS de l’Estrie-CHUS. 

As the summer season quickly approaches, Tourism Lac-Brome - in collaboration with its community partners and tourism stakeholders - unveiled a programming filled with different activities and cultural opportunities to keep residents and visitors busy while exploring Brome Lake. The Beach Party at Douglass Beach, Festive Fridays, and the Knowlton Film Festival are some of the main events returning to Brome Lake this year, but Tourism Lac-Brome also has some new announcements in store. 

On Tuesday, Tourism Lac-Brome announced its new Tourism Ambassadors Program - a project that will see merchants and community figures take part in the area’s touristic development - and the return of a popular event that was put on hold during the pandemic known as the Grande Tablée - an enhanced gourmand experience that supports the work and expertise of the area’s producers. 

Theatre Lac-Brome has (TLB) announced its new partnership with Infinitheatre - one of Quebec’s renowned English theatre companies - to bring English theatre productions to Brome Lake, a partnership that will go into 2024.

TLB has a long history of putting on summer plays and providing an equal number of entertainment and cultural opportunities to the English-speaking and French-speaking communities of Brome Lake, according to artistic director of TLB Anne Dubé, but it has recently faced challenges in finding an English theatre company in Quebec that tours with its productions. Dubé says that they've had many requests from people in the community to present plays in English at the theatre.

A group of water advocates and dance lovers are coming together to perform a choreographed piece in Brome Lake as a part of the Global Water Dances 2023 with the objective of raising awareness for clean water for all. 

The Global Water Dances is an international 24-hour movement to inspire collective action and collaboration on water issues. The Global Water Dances organization was initiated by an international network of dancers and non-verbal communication experts certified by the Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies (LIMS) whom support and connect a community of dancers and choreographers from across the globe. 

A group of seven co-owners of a 53.5 acre plot in Pigeon Hill have donated their property to la Fiducie foncière du mont Pinacle (FFMP) - Mont Pinnacle Land Trust- with the goal of protecting the property from land speculation to conserve the natural environment for future generations and to give access to people of all ages who have small-scale regenerative farming projects.

The ecological value of the land was studied by biologists from conservation organization Appalachian Corridor and an application for recognition as a nature reserve for half of the area, 10 hectares (25 acres), was submitted to the Ministry of the Environment and the Fight against Climate Change in 2021. The remaining 11 hectares are conserved for regenerative agriculture, permaculture, and small-scale ecological and sustainable livestock farming projects.

The Campus Brome-Missisquoi (CBM) and GE Aerospace have aunched a new training program for students who wish to obtain a Diploma of Vocational Studies (DEP) in Production Equipment Operation to help meet the needs of the Bromont-based company and to provide adult education students seeking a DEP with a unique set of skills and expertise that better prepares them for the workforce.

Running a total of 870 hours and taking less than a year, students alternate between classroom studies, training in CBM’s machine shop, and on-site learning at GE Aerospace. During this half year of training, CBM initiates the students in machine equipment operation for production by including the theoretical notions and the practical knowledge needed before arriving at the company. The stage portion of the training is completely paid by GE Aerospace in collaboration with the Commission des partenaires du marché du travail (CPMT).

The Fulford Community Club is rebooting the “Fulford Street Dance” for the upcoming summer, with a few changes to the format, to bring a sense of community back to the village. 

The “Fulford Street Dance” holds historical significance in the community. The event was started in the 1960s by what was then known as the Fulford Recreation Club and it’s been described as a community favourite. Friends, family, and neighbours came together to dance along Davis Street to the sounds of whatever band or musician decided to take centre stage beside the road, all while enjoying some canteen food served out of a basement at 59 Davis. Stories of the “Fulford Street Dance” have been passed down through generations of some of the first families to settle in the village. 

The results of Conservation Lac-Brome’s water sampling project, which was conducted last year, raises concerns for the group due to the amount of sediments found at the bottom of Brome Lake and it is encouraging citizens and visitors to develop eco-responsible practices while in and around the lake.

Conservation Lac-Brome presented the results of its water sampling project at its 2023 Annual General Meeting at the beginning of May, which studied the thickness of the sediments found at the bottom of Brome Lake and the nutrients found in these sediments. It is the first study to be conducted since 2006. What stood out from the results of these water samples was the amount of phosphorus found within these sediments, which can contribute to the growth of cyanobacteria.

As accessing services in English grows increasingly challenging in Quebec, the Société Alzheimer Granby et région is in the process of developing services for the English-speaking communities of Brome-Missisquoi to ensure that individuals living with a neurocognitive impairment and their caregivers have access to the support they need for a quality of life. 

After being approached by Brome Lake community members Louise Penny, Judy Martin, Joan Westland, and Cynthia Wilson last year, the Société Alzheimer Granby et région learned that services and programs for English-speaking Brome Lake citizens living with a neurocognitive impairment and their caregivers essentially didn’t exist, but that the need was significant. 

As of Monday, Sutton’s softball field at Goyette-Hill Park will forever be known as the “Pauline Paul Softball Field,” named after Sutton resident and long-time volunteer Pauline Paul. During a time where volunteerism is declining, the Town of Sutton deemed the recognition as an important step in encouraging and inspiring others to get involved in their communities. 

After years of discussion at the municipal level, Mayor Robert Benoît said that it was finally time to name Sutton’s softball field in her honour as it’s people like Paul that help keep the village alive and better meet the needs of citizens, particularly youth. 

Parents, students, elected officials, and concerned citizens gathered in front of the Centre de Services Scolaire de Montreal on May 19 to demand that the provincial government take immediate action after an investigative piece published by Le Devoir exposed allegations of sexual violence at Louise-Trichet High School in Montreal and Massey-Vanier High School-English (MVHS) in Cowansville.  

La voix des jeunes compte, a collective with the mandate to fight sexual violence in Quebec’s schools, coordinated the press conference after working to get a framework law adopted at the provincial level to prevent and properly address sexual violence in primary and secondary schools for the past five years. A framework prevention law was adopted by the provincial government in 2017, but only for CEGEPs and universities. Known as Bill 151, the law determines the elements that a school’s policy must set out, such as rules for student social or welcoming activities, safety measures, mandatory training, a complaint procedure and reception, referral, psychosocial and support services.

Locals to the Eastern Township and people from outside the region are coming together to put on musical performances behind Pettes Memorial Library to raise funds in support of the upkeep of Knowlton’s United Church to ensure that it remains a part of the community. 

The United Church has been a part of Brome Lake for 225 years and it makes its space accessible to various community groups and non-profit organizations in the area to help carry out their mission. However, its attendance has been declining over the years, which has put the United Church in a more difficult situation financially.

The Town of Brome Lake has launched its visual “Share the Road!” campaign for Quebec’s Mois du vélo (Bike Month) to encourage road sharing between cyclists and motorists. With Brome Lake being a popular destination for cyclists near and far, the safety of those on the road is an issue of concern for the municipality, which is why it decided to raise awareness around the importance of road sharing while reminding the community that cyclists are also parents, teachers, friends, and not just strangers on the road.

The municipality collaborated with Brome Lake residents and active cyclists for the campaign to create billboards that will be displayed throughout Brome Lake to sensitize the population on road sharing, according to the Town of Brome Lake’s press release.

As Quebec’s CAQ (Coalition Avenir Quebec) government draws criticism from the province’s English-speaking minority communities over its new language law Bill 96 and Bill 40 - which abolished school boards and replaced them with school service centres - Minister of Education Bernard Drainville introduces Bill 23, an “Act to amend mainly the Education Act and to enact the Act respecting the Institut national d’excellence en éducation.”

According to documentation of the National Assembly of Quebec, its newly proposed Bill 23 will give the Minister more powers over Quebec’s school service centres, including the power to appoint directors and the power to reverse a school service centre’s decisions. 

During a time where Quebec’s English-speaking minority is concerned about its access to government services in English, two speech-language pathologists from the CIUSSS de l’Estrie- CHUS will now be collaborating with some of the local CLSCs across the Eastern Townships to provide speech therapy services to English-speaking toddlers. Rosemary MacKinnon and Myriam Fisch, the speech-language pathologists providing the service, officially announced the new initiative last week. 

According to MacKinnon, the goal behind the initiative is to make speech-therapy services accessible across a larger territory within the Eastern Townships and to the English-speaking families of the region by working with some of the CLSCs that “are in the larger pockets of the Anglophone communities.” 

Brome Lake resident Jennifer Hopkins is holding a book drive to raise awareness around sexual assault after students from Massey-Vanier High School-English (MVHS) came forward alleging instances of sexual violence earlier this year. Following an investigation by the Sûreté du Quebec (SQ), it’s been reported by other media outlets that a minor has been arrested and charged in the case.

In late March, students and parents gathered outside of MVHS to speak out on the allegations of sexual violence and claimed that MVHS and the Eastern Townships School Board (ETSB) failed to its protect students. At the time, Chairperson for the ETSB Michael Murray told CIDI that the school board “tries to ensure that every complaint is treated as serious.” Following the demonstration at MVHS, the Sûreté du Quebec (SQ) launched its own investigation into the claims.