1. Why are you running?
The simple answer is I love my community and believe that I can make a difference. I believe that I am approachable and always willing to advocate for others. Serving as a councillor will allow me to use the skills that I have developed both academically and professionally to make our municipality a place people want to live. As a life-long learner, I believe that I bring both an open mind and willingness to dig-in to the issues facing our municipality, which include the issues I have described in my answer to the next question. I want to foster a sense of inclusion for all members of the municipality, whether they be lifelong residents or new arrivals. Council should be approachable and should not just to listen to, but needs to act on, different perspectives. These are qualities that in my experience as a resident, have been lacking in the past.
2. Are there any steps municipalities can take to help ease cost of living concerns?
I believe that the answer to this question is directly related to question on development and directly related to are main challenge as a community, that being attainable housing and the supporting infrastructure. With increasing costs of living, this is not a unique challenge to our municipality. Solutioning this issue will require us to forge partnerships with both governmental and non governmental organizations.
The Association of Municipalities Ontario (AMO) published “A Blueprint for Action: An Integrated Approach to Address the Ontario Housing Crisis” in February 2022. This report outlines federal actions, provincial actions, municipal actions and development sector actions required to address the issue. I believe that we should be considering and debating many of these recommendations. Without collaboration between both governmental and non-governmental organizations such as the private sector we cannot solve the problems our municipalities and province are facing. Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as creating new housing as development requires both hard and soft infrastructure to support new housing installments. Infrastructure is expensive, particularly when you look at the requirements of the Provincial Policy Statement (PPS) which includes sewers, water, schools, health care, transportation, etc. This presents a significant challenge for rural Ontario municipalities where the costs associated with implementing such infrastructure are higher and require ‘ongoing investment from all levels of government’.
The other major thing that the AMO acknowledges is that we should not be forced to a ‘once size fits all’ solution that forces urban solutions on rural communities, similar to the PPS. This problem is not going to go away and we need to find innovative solutions with our neighbouring municipalities. This has become even more important to me as I see the presence of homelessness in our community which is something I had previously perceived as a largely urban problem.
3. What are your ideas for economic development in your municipality?
The municipality needs to be positioned to leverage potential development opportunities. I believe the recent organization changes which reduced the internal silos for inputs will dramatically increase our ability to respond quickly to inquires and solve problems that may arise. The municipality needs to be prepared to work with the local Chambers of Commerce and Business Improvement Area (BIA). Additionally, I think that it is important that we look for varying levels of economic development across the municipality as we have more and more population growing in the areas neighbouring the town of Kincardine. I’d like to see the town providing a concierge service to new businesses using the Community Economic Development Coordinator. I’m particularly interested in the Business to Bruce program which attracts entrepreneurially minded individuals and connects them with local entrepreneurial leaders including business support, free seminars, networking and grant opportunities. The other program of interest is the Bruce Community Futures Development Corporation, which provides assistance to small businesses through mentoring, counselling, business financing, workshops and loans.
4. Do you think the municipality has a role to play in the recruitment and retention of physicians and other healthcare workers?
I believe that the municipality has an important partnership role to play with both the province and community groups when it comes to the recruitment and retention of physicians and other health care workers. Recent closures of the Kincardine and Chesley emergency departments due to critical staffing shortages and the growing orphans list of our constituents are very alarming. I am happy that the Physician Recruitment and Retention Committee was created and hope to participate on this committee moving forward. In addition to lobbying for increased provincial support, I believe we should be supporting the Kincardine and Community Health Care Foundation’s new Capital Campaign Committee, ‘Building Health Care for Generations’ which looks to raise $12Mfor the Kincardine hospital over the next four years. This initiative has sought support both from Kincardine council and Huron-Kinloss council in the amount of $600,000 per year over the next four years, which I hope is adopted by both councils and serves as a basis for joint initiatives/cost sharing between neighbouring municipalities moving forward.
5. What would you like to see in Kincardine for growth-related development?
In addition to my response provided in the earlier question, I am aligned with the green belt and Anna Shortly’s research around ‘supporting the development of complete communities including in settlement areas within rural municipalities.’ Complete communities meet all the needs of the people living in said communities, including various options for employment, services, housing and transportation. This can be a challenge in rural communities because development needs to be conscientious to ensure that we do not fragment prime agricultural lands or natural features.
6. What would you like to see included in the Waterfront Master Plan?
I have not seen the draft Waterfront Master Plan, as I believe the municipality is still collecting data inputs. That being said, based on the information provided to the public, the focus appears to be on creating a snap shot of the ‘biophysical, circulatory and social conditions of the Kincardine Waterfront’ and acknowledging/planning for the challenges of waterfront development pressures.
Key considerations were given to multi-season usage, dynamic nature of the beaches and natural hazards and sand dunes. I think that all these things are important, but the sole focus of this report appears to be on Dunsmoor Park, MacPherson Park, Reunion Station, Station Beach, Reunion South (all in the town of Kincardine), while ignoring the other beaches, which comprise this municipality and should be given equal consideration.
For me, a crucial element of this report will be the safety and preservation of the dunes. I’m particularly interested in discussions around infrastructure changes to deviate activity from the harbour, thus reducing people accessing the area where the rip-tide is strongest.