Alain Riel

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Alain Riel is a Quebec municipal politician in Gatineau, Quebec. He is the councillor of the Deschenes district in the Aylmer sector.

Riel studied at the University of Ottawa and obtained a bachelor's degree in history and geography and a master's degree in physical geography.

After being a teacher and president of an animal shelter called the SPCA in Aylmer, Riel entered politics by running for the councillor position in a municipal by-election in 2002. Although he lost, he was again a candidate in the 2005 municipal election against Alain Roy and Jerry Alarie and was elected in replacement of Richard Jennings who did not seek a re-election. Riel was named in the Environmental Committee by mayor Marc Bureau shortly after as Riel cited environment as one of his top priorities for his first term.

In 2006, Riel was criticized by local residents including former councillor candidate Jerry Alarie on a planned joint project by the city of Gatineau and a non-profit organization on the implementation of a new composting plant on Cook Road in the sector's rural north end. The planned location was formally home to a landfill site under the former city of Aylmer which was shut down. Residents told a two different meeting that they were not informed of this proposal and were opposed to it due to health concerns. Tensions rose a City Council Public Meeting, when Riel received threats from some residents. Mayor Marc Bureau later added that the city will consider other options but that the Cook Road location was the best option.

In February 2007, it was reported that Riel planned to create a new foundation that would protect green spaces such as the Boucher Forest in the Aylmer sector including plans of acquiring space that are propriety of private firms.^[1]

On December 9, 2007, Riel criticized the Société de Transport de l'Outaouais transit company for omitting a rapid-transit corridor along the Boulevard des Allumettières corridor towards Aylmer as part of the Rapibus project slated for completion by 2010 connecting downtown Gatineau to the eastern sections of the city. He also did not ruled out the introduction of a former proposed transit corridor called Via-Bus that was intended to run along a former defunct railway corridor south of Chemin d'Aylmer to downtown Hull but was abandoned due to fierce opposition by residents of Val-Tétrault in the Hull sector. ^[2]