Wellington North candidates were focused on the future on Oct. 17 as they addressed a sizeable crowd at the Mount Forest Victory Church.
Moderating was Pastor Harry Engel, who kept the audience entertained and wasn’t afraid to hold candidates accountable if he felt they hadn’t answered a question completely or in enough detail.
Discussion topics on Oct. 17 included federal and provincial downloading, the relationship between Arthur and Mount Forest, foreseeable budget cuts, and promoting Wellington North to attract newcomers.
The first question posed to all candidates was how they planned to deal with the increase in federal and provincial downloading.
Incumbent mayor Ray Tout said the biggest problem the municipality faces is having to repair provincial assets while receiving less money. Like many of the candidates, he cited the Rick Hopkins Memorial Bridge in Mount Forest as a problem area.
“We all have issues with bridges. Every town around here is built on a river and it is an average cost of $2 million per bridge,” Tout said. “We cannot shut bridges down because it shuts businesses down, which knocks out employees.”
Ward 3 councillor candidate Ross Chaulk said the Farm Tax Rebate instated in 1998 is partly to blame, as it has taken money away from municipalities, while Ward 2 contender Bob Mason suggested the township plan ahead so “when grants are available, we have projects that are shovel ready.”
Ward 1 candidate Dan Yake said lobbying the government or “complaining” will not solve the problem and councillors would be better off dealing with it on their own.
“I don’t think complaining about it is a strategy,” Yake said. “They won’t listen, so we need to come up with a new approach and develop a way of coming up with the money and doing the job – if we have to do it ourselves, we have to do it ourselves.”
Mayoral candidate Andy Lennox agreed with Yake, stating as cumbersome as it is, many of the services are still a shared responsibility.
“The difficulty is (these services) benefit our community and we should share that cost – but the benefit goes way beyond our borders so is it justified to have to pay for that?” Lennox asked.
“We need to make a plan, we need to know how much it’s going to cost, how to finance it and how to move forward on our own – we are responsible for our residents to make sure their businesses and lives work well.”
Ward 4 county council candidate Stephen O’Neill said he doesn’t see an end to it any time soon.
“Until the province sees any negative consequence to downloading, they’re going to continue doing it,” he said. “There’s no downside to them dumping on the county and the township.”
O’Neill’s opponent, incumbent Ward 4 county councillor Lynda White, said not all aspects of the downloading have been negative.
She specifically cited the province transferring responsibility for many local amenities to the county, which she says has resulted in a more close-to-home approach and residents receiving a better quality of service. She said the only problem is municipalities aren’t receiving more money to provide these services – so going forward, budgeting will be key.
“The services have been downloaded, but the dollars haven’t been with it,” White said. “People are better looked after, we just need to make sure we plan for the dollars so we can continue to provide these services because the province is not going to give us that money.”
The next question, posed to mayoral candidates, dealt with how the disconnect between Arthur and Mount Forest might be remedied to make the township more unified. This was met with a number of chuckles across the panel.
Lennox compared the relationship between the two villages to a marriage.
“In a marriage, you have differences initially, and these may carry on for some time. You also have shared interests. We need to work together on our shared interests and try not to dwell on things that irritate us,” he quipped.
“Since I don’t live in either (town), perhaps I can be an ambassador, look for our shared interests, bring us closer together and make this marriage work.”
Tout said he felt it would take another generation to bridge the gap, but the amalgamation of the fire departments is a step toward unity.
“I believe that each town should have its own identity, every town is unique in its own special way, but we are one and I still will promote it as your mayor that we are Wellington North.”
It was back to the topic of limited funding next, as candidates were asked about the amount of township money that goes toward recreation and in what areas they could make sacrifices in order to save.
It was almost unanimously agreed across the board that recreation will always cost more than it gives back, but it is a service municipalities have a responsibility to deliver.
“There’s always going to be a cost – we have a swimming pool in both Mount Forest and Arthur and both of those pools run a deficit every year,” said Yake. “But you can’t charge kids 10 or 15 bucks to going swimming. It’s our responsibility to supply recreational facilities and make it affordable for kids and seniors to use.”
Ward 2 council candidate Sherry Burke said recreational programs are part of what people look at when moving to a new community – and they also draw in kids from other municipalities.
“It promotes the lifestyle that we have here in Wellington North. If we want to grow and prosper, we need to offer these things to people who want to relocate here,” she said. “For groups such as minor hockey, their borders aren’t defined by Wellington North. We should be promoting activity and get kids out there.”
Ward 3 candidate Mark Goetz said the township has found success making small cuts in other areas to offset the cost of things such as recreational programs.
“We are always working with our staff to try and find savings and we have asked our committees in our budget process to cut their operational budget by two per cent,” he said. “Some have been successful and some haven’t, but the effort is there.”
Chaulk said he previously was an advocate for a user-pay system when it came to recreation, but he has since changed his mind, as it eventually backfires.
“Recreation is something we give to our ratepayer as part of their quality of life,” he said. “If you increase the cost, you lose participants and they will no longer be paying into the system and then you’ll be going back to your ratepayers for more money than you were originally asking.”
John Matusinec, who is running in Ward 4, said it’s important that recreation be maintained, but in terms of cutting costs, they are at a dead end.
“In my time spent on council, every council has cut every departmental budgets and done what they can. There’s nothing left to cut,” he said.
Some audience members were concerned about the recent fire at the Birmingham Retirement Community in Mount Forest and wondered what council could do to encourage a new one-floor home equipped with a sprinkler system.
Yake said council has very little control over something like that, but the building department has rules and regulations in place for developers. He said he didn’t think sprinklers were required in current buildings but new developments would have to include them.
“If it isn’t the law, it’s going to be here shortly,” Yake said. “It would only make sense to see what the needs of the residents in that development would be. It’s not a township initiative but we can try to encourage them to do things the right away and entice people in our community to build things the right way.”
Tout said the incident at Birmingham was a real eye opener and the facility is currently installing a sprinkler system. He said the local fire chief has also been visiting area health care facilities to make sure they are up to code and, “If there are violations of the fire or safety code, they are being written up and warned.”
In terms of a new nursing home, Tout reiterated Yake’s statement.
“Having a nursing home on one level comes down to finding the right investor that has the money and is willing to invest in our community,” Tout said.
Lennox said the township needs to have a plan in place and get any red tape out of the way so when an investor comes, they are ready.
“We need to help facilitate the process … reach out and attract investors to our community to help us build what we need to serve our residents,” he said.
The mayoral hopefuls were asked what aspects of Wellington North should be promoted to attract outside commercial or residential investment.
Lennox cited the aging population of the township as a key concern along with the exodus of young people.
“We need to attract youth back to our community. We’ve seen a reduction in the age group and these are the people we need in our community to work in our businesses and help care for us when we’re older,” he said. “A youth attraction strategy is absolutely critical.”
Tout stated the township needs more events like the Mount Forest Fireworks Festival that draw in thousands of spectators and attract new enterprise.
“Fifteen years ago, people used to chase smokestacks, but those times have changed. Smoke stacks chase people now as long as people are comfortable in their lifestyles,” he said. “We need to let people know we’re open and willing for business.”
County councillor candidates were asked what they will do to represent Wellington North at the upper level and how they would communicate back to Wellington North.
O’Neill suggested posting updates on social media might be an easier way to reach more people – particularly the younger demographics.
“You can’t just assume people will see it in the local papers,” he said. “With the young people – [social media]is the only way to communicate with them now,” he said. “We have to communicate those two ways – some electronic and some on the newspaper level because I don’t communicate well electronically and I have a feeling a lot of people in here don’t either.”
White emphasized it’s important for residents to be aware of what is going on county-wide, not just in their own township.
“What happens in Puslinch, Centre Wellington or Erin affects us here in Wellington North. When we do good things, it’s great for them and when they do great things it’s good for us,” she said.
The next question asked if the new council would be willing to privatize services to save money.
Matusinec said he wouldn’t
have a problem with privatization if it actually did save money, but he doubts it would.
“I can’t think of a service you could get privately that you’re not already getting from your own municipal employees. I don’t think there’s any room in the municipality whatsoever where that would be a cost savings,” he said.
Ward 4 council candidate Steve McCabe agreed.
“I shudder to think how much that would cost us every time they went out. In Wellington North we pay $500 per taxpayer for snow removal and that’s not a bad price for the winter we had,” he said.
Chaulk and Mason reiterated similar statements and Tout also agreed, saying privatization takes business away from local residents.
“If we hired a company that was not local, it would be like having a bank machine in a bank. Machines don’t spend money, people do and that money supports our local grocery stores and businesses and stays in our community,” he said.”
Lennox said the township already makes use of private services for jobs such as grass cutting and shouldn’t close the door on the idea entirely.
“We need to try and maximize the value that we have invested in equipment and people. We need to look at it closely and see what is going to make the best financial sense,” he said.
Candidates were also asked about the necessity and representative fairness of the township and county ward systems.
White said regardless of what ward councillors are representing, decisions made at county are in the best interest of all residents.
“What township council decides and what county decides is in everyone’s best interest. We have to take into account everyone in the county. Of course we take forward our issues from Wellington North but when we vote, talk and make decisions, it is what is best for all of the county because it affects us all,” White said.
Yake said he would like to see wards eliminated at the local level since it just causes confusion.
“People have no idea what ward they live in and it doesn’t matter how much you explain it, people are still confused as to what ward they live in. I personally would like to see … an election at large,” Yake said.
Chaulk stressed eliminating the ward system would just increase the rivalry between communities.
“If you go to an at-large [election], there’s a very good chance you’ll have four representatives from Mount Forest and no unity in this township,” he said.
Matusinec suggested changing the ward boundaries to make them more equal.
“Ward 4 is geographically terribly big. It’s twice the size of any other ward and it takes a long time to campaign that area,” he said. “It also gets confusing in Arthur with Ward 3 and Ward 4 because people don’t understand that they don’t all vote for the same people. Arthur should be made into one ward.”
Ward 1 councillor candidate Shawn McLeod said blame shouldn’t be put on the residents.
“It’s not really their fault, maybe we haven’t done a good enough job to introduce that type of information to the public,” he said.
Burke agreed.
“We probably could educate the people better,” she said. “But it doesn’t matter where you live, you can talk to any of the councillors at any time. We represent you – the people.”
Ward 3 candidate Jens Dam was in favour of maintaining the ward division as it stands.
“Being a local representative, I think the ward system gives people a little more sense of belonging and I think that’s why people still need it.”
The final question to wrap up the evening’s debate asked candidates what their vision would be for Wellington North, beyond their term in office or even their lifetime.
White said she saw continuous prosperity.
“I see a prosperous area with a new water treatment plant in Arthur so we can get some development going,” she said. “I see a very prosperous Wellington North and it’s going to be if we all work together.”
O’Neill said he would like to see unity across the township and the children who grow up there continuing to call it home.
“Our kids started high school together and they are the ones that are going to bring the community together,” he said.
Yake said, “I want to see us prosper and do well and I don’t want to leave the same challenges to our children and the next generation that we have today.
“We need to deal with them together and we need to deal with them now.”
Mason stressed cooperation.
“I can see us as one community down the road with a vibrant agricultural population and working together with the Mennonites,” he said.
Burke said she would like to see the township’s strong rural heritage maintained.
“Losing the identity of all of our little individual towns, villages and hamlets would be a shame,” she said. “We have a lot of rural roots here that I want us to hold on to.”
Goetz said he hopes to continue working with local organizations to create unity.
“We need to do it in small steps, but we do need to work together and I think it’s possible and we don’t need to wait another generation,” he said.
Chaulk told the audience, “You wait 20 years, you’re going to be amazed.”
Dam said he has already seen the power of change in the community since he moved to Wellington North 40 years ago.
“I’ve seen quite a change in the community and it will continue in the future. In 20 years the rivalry has diminished and I hope in 20 more years it’s totally gone and we live in one community where people don’t say ‘I live in Mount Forest’ but ‘I live in Wellington North.’”
McLeod and McCabe emphasized that planning for the future needs to start now.
“We all have an investment to make in Wellington North. We’ve got to get the businesses and families back into Arthur and this will make all of Wellington North stronger,” McCabe said.
A lot has changed since amalgamation Matusinec said.
“We were miles apart at that time and I feel like we’re coming together as a vibrant society. We just have to keeping working at it and provide the tools for people to make it a vibrant and strong community.”
Tout said as Toronto’s population continues to expand they will feel that push in Wellington County, making it even more important to preserve local identity.
“We’ve already been warned that in the next 15 years Toronto’s population is going to increase, with most being offshore born and Wellington and Dufferin Counties are going to be the first to be hit,” he said.
“We need to keep our rural roots and not live like they do in the city … my leadership will prove and promote that.”
Lennox says he wants to make sure there are opportunities for young and old and this will be achieved by working together.
“I grew up here, moved away, lived somewhere else and came back because I saw something special here. I saw a rural, small town community that grows together and takes care of one another,” he said.
“I want my children to raise their children here and there to be opportunity for youth, the middle-aged and older people. There will be growth and there will be change but we’re all stronger if we work together.”
