Everyone calls Hawkesbury the town of potential.
The real question is whether we are finally ready to believe it ourselves.
We sit along one of the most beautiful stretches of the Ottawa River.
We are almost perfectly positioned between Montréal and Ottawa, with millions of people within easy reach. We are proudly bilingual — a place where Québec and Ontario cultures meet every day.
Yet for too long, Hawkesbury has remained a town that almost became what it could be.
Census data from 2017 revealed a difficult truth: the Hawkesbury area had a median household income of about $42,000, among the lowest in Canada, and nearly 27 per cent of residents were living in low income.
More than a quarter of our population is over the age of 65 — one of the highest proportions in the region. Our retired community deserves respect. They helped build this town.
But for years local leadership has too often planned for yesterday and managed for today, while forgetting to build for tomorrow. That’s ironic, because Hawkesbury itself was built by people who believed in the future. In the early 1800s entrepreneurs harnessed the power of the Ottawa River and built sawmills on the islands between Hawkesbury and Grenville. By the late 19th Century, the Hamilton mills were among the largest in Canada, employing more than a thousand workers and shipping lumber across the Atlantic. Those mills built Hawkesbury — and the people who worked in them built a community.
Older residents remember when Main Street was alive on Friday nights. Workers finished shifts, families shopped, neighbours talked on the sidewalks. There was energy, there was pride.
And that feeling still exists inside Hawkesbury.
Every year the car show fills Main Street with visitors and reminds us of what this town can feel like when people gather. But, imagine building on that idea.
A country festival on Main Street.
A rock festival.
A jazz night echoing along the river.
Hawkesbury already has something extraordinary, the Centre Culturel Le Chenail.
If you have ever crossed the bridge into town and turned toward the river, you know the place. Tucked beside the water in that historic house on Île du Chenail sits what many consider one of the small miracles of our town — a cultural oasis where art, music, storytelling, and laughter come together week after week.
At the same time, other decisions quietly loom in the background — including the future of Hydro Hawkesbury and the proposed Alto high-speed rail corridor between Ottawa and Montréal.
If trains pass through our region, our communities should benefit — not simply watch them rush by.
Perhaps the real opportunity is to build destinations and infrastructure that connect Hawkesbury to opportunity, including cultural spaces that bring life back to the waterfront.
Groups like LLRC — La Ligue du Réveil Civique are already working on ideas to help awaken that sense of possibility.
Two hundred years ago the river powered the mills that built Hawkesbury.
Maybe now it can help build our future again — this time through culture, music and community.
Because a town of potential cannot live forever on potential alone.
Eventually, someone has to build the future.
Michael MacDonald
LLRC
