French speaking students in Mattawa have to travel to North Bay for high school. That was the case until Friday  when two new schools were opened. Ecole Secondaire Catholique Elisabeth-Bruyere is for students in grades 7-12. Ecole elementaire catholique Sainte-Anne is for junior kindergarten to grade 6. Cynthia Roveda is the director of education for the French Catholique school board. She says the two schools are sharing one building. While each administration has it’s own entrance they do share several facilities. Those include a large gym, and a library over looking the Mattawa and Ottawa rivers. Roveda explains the old Saint-Anne needed repairs and it was cheaper to demolish the old school and rebuild two new ones.

The new Pautois Bridge had its official opening in Mattawa Friday morning.  Nipissing-Timiskaming MP Jay Aspin attended the official opening of the newly constructed bridge, which received more than $300,000 in funding from the federal government.    The new, two-lane bridge replaces the old one-lane bridge, which experienced traffic flow issues in the past.  The Ontario government also contributed more than $300,000 in funding for the new Pautois Bridge, with the municipality of Calvin contributing the balance.