Citizen of the Year

Marc Henrie

Who doesn’t know Marc Henrie - a young, dynamic visionary who is very passionate about his community’s development!  This 21 year old is the president of the Saint-Paul-de-Kent Local Service District and has been since May 2006.  He is an École Clément-Cormier graduate and is presently a fourth year student at the Université de Moncton in marketing, with a minor in political science.

He has already had many impressive real-life experiences, even at this early stage of his life.  He represented the Kent region at the Fédération des jeunes francophones du Nouveau-Brunswick in 2003 and 2004.  He was then elected president of this Federation for  eight months in 2004. Marc is also a member of the New Brunswick Youth Advisory Council since 2005.  This is quite an accomplishment when you consider the fact that only the Premier can appoint a member to this council.

Marc Henrie’s involvement in the community all started with the volunteer firefighters.  He began by becoming a junior firefighter in May 2000 and was later promoted to the official Saint-Paul-de-Kent brigade in 2004. “You acquire great life skills. You become a team player and you learn to learn”, states Mr. Henrie who has developed a real passion for the important work of volunteer firefighters.

As for committees, Marc joined the recreational council at a very young age.  It was the thing to do for many youth in Saint-Paul-de-Kent. Age was certainly not a factor. “I loved skating and playing hockey. In order to play, I had to contribute”, comments Marc who was in charge of leveling the ice surface using his father’s tractor.

Marc Henrie, as president of the LSD in Saint-Paul-de-Kent, is currently actively involved, with the help of many volunteers, in organizing festivities related to the parish’s 125th anniversary, which will be celebrated in 2008.  He has also initiated one of the first press conferences in the history of Saint-Paul-de-Kent in September 2007 to inform citizens about the events related to the anniversary.

Marc Henrie admits that his community is very close to his heart.  He considers himself very lucky that he realized at a young age that he had social and civic responsibilities.  In his opinion, if a citizen, say in Moncton, doesn’t get involved, the city will manage without him, but in a small town like Saint-Paul-de-Kent, this isn’t the case.

As the last federal census indicated a population decrease, this prompted Marc Henrie to repatriate former citizens and to attract new families to his community.  According to him, Saint-Paul-de-Kent has the best of both worlds:  country living with the commodities of the city only 20 minutes away.

Among his many accomplishments, Marc is particularly proud of the recent hiring of two professional consultants who will establish a strategic plan for the LSD of Saint-Paul-de-Kent. The goal of the strategic plan is to make his village a model rural community in which to live, outside of Moncton.

Marc Henrie is also very proud of having had the opportunity to help restructure the Fédération des jeunes francophones du Nouveau-Brunswick to ensure its continuity by creating a link between the schools and regional representatives.

This young man, who is very knowledgeable in physics, accomplished quite a feat as a volunteer firefighter. He set up an extremely fast method to fill the tanks. This system is now being used by most of the fire stations in the region.  With a larger pipe that reduces the water’s friction, the amount of time required to fill the tanks is reduced by approximately half.

When asked what challenges he faces in his community involvement, he answers that age is not an obstacle, but trying to convince people that making changes will be in their best interest is not always an easy task. There is often resistance and addressing concerns is a must. 

It is very apparent that Marc Henrie is a very busy young man with all his volunteer work and studies. In addition, he also manages two small businesses, JHM Marketing Consultations and Development and Prevention Source with another local volunteer firefighter, Mathieu Vallée. In order to juggle everything and stay healthy, he does weight training and runs regularly to stay fit. He also participates in firefighter competitions.

Congratulations Marc Henrie, Citizen of the Year, and who knows, maybe future premier!