Residents of De Salaberry got to hear from their candidates last Thursday at an all candidates forum in St. Malo.

St. Malo Chamber of Commerce Acting President Vincent Dureault says as a chamber they believe it’s important for residents to have the opportunity to meet their candidates and ask them questions. Infrastructure and roads were among some of the main topics discussed as well as economic development, specifically in the community of St. Malo.

"Here in St. Malo, we have a unique situation with the provincial park, the lake, camping area. The economic development that could also be encouraged a lot more," Dureault indicates.

Dureault says they believe the municipality would greatly benefit by hiring an Economic Development Officer.

"We believe that if we had an economic development officer that would work on encouraging businesses, making sure that the council knows what kind of infrastructure these businesses need so that when they show an interest, not only are we going to say ‘what do you need?’ We can say ‘we’re ready for you, come on down.’"

The forum was open to all reeve, council and LUD candidates for the RM of De Salaberry. Three of fourteen candidates were absent for Thursday night's forum. Reeve candidate Marie Lefevre was present in the gallery of residents and answered one question but left before the forum was over.