In this week's latest installment of TVC22's new show "In Your Ward/Dans Ton Quartier", presenter Thomas Stockting meets up with Cité de / City of Clarence-Rockland's Councilor Don Bouchard - Quartier 4 / Ward 4.

Councilor Bouchard and Thomas have a light hearted chat on Clarence Island, at James and Marie Fox Park, about what drives Mr Bouchard to help his community. Knee deep in the snow, embracing the breezy conditions of the Canadian winter, Mr Bouchard explains his "half and half ward" which encompases a part of Rockland and extends almost all the way to Clarence-Creek.

Sitting his first term as a muncipal councilor, M.r Bouchard talks about his inspiration behind running for council; fullfiling a life long interest in politics which stems as far back as highschool thanks to the Forum for Young Canadians / Forum pour jeunes canadiens program.

With two bachelors degrees (one in Political Science), Mr Bouchard brings a breadth of experience and energy to his role as a Councilor whilst juggling a college professor position at La Cité, working within social work. as well as being a "father of three beauitful children". This energy and adoration for amelioration within the community leads to a passionate interest in standing up for the residents, changing the system and wanting to "do it better" . This is evident by one of Mr Bouchard's current passion project -- the way in which local residents are charged for their water a sewage.

After the break Thomas and Mr Bouchard head to Deschamps Park, in Morris Village, right on the border of the Councilor's Ward to discuss exactly what changes he is looking to implement. The current system charges residents a variable rate for your water bill (through the use of a water meter), a variable rate for your sewage bill (which is determined by your water use) as well as a fixed rate for sewage too (which is used to fund repair work to the water and sewage system, allowing the City to not have in increase local taxes when things break). Councilor Bouchard explains that, during the winter months, this system makes sense as most water consumption in the home goes into the sewers.

However, the issue that Mr Bouchard raises (which was brought to his attention by a resident within his Ward), is that during the summer, water consumption increases - with residents filling pools, watering gardens etc. - which creates a dispatiry as people are being charged twice for that water despite not using the sewers. This current method of billing is used by most municipalities as it is "the easiest" to use according to the Councilor.

Councilor Bouchard proposes a variety of changes to attempt to make the billing system "fairer". He goes on to say that even if the Council don't agree with his proposed changes, he hopes that this will spark further research into the system - and hopefully, eventually lead to a better system for all residents within the municipality.

Listen below to find out more. (note: this episode was filmed prior to the previous Cité de / City of Clarence-Rockland council meeting - Councilor Bouchard's proposed changes were rejected by all the council members and the current billing system will remain in place.)