Photo: Inquinte.ca
It was a full house at Gerry Masterson Community Centre Wednesday night as Ward 2 Thurlow council candidates faced their residents ahead of the municipal election later this month.
Kathryn Brown, Paul Carr, Aaron Fagan and Stephen Scott all had the opportunity to answer questions from the public at the event, organized by the Belleville Chamber of Commerce and moderated by Centre for Workforce Development president Sandi Ramsay.
Major discussion points included the ALTO high-speed rail line, more permanent homelessness supports and solutions, affordable housing, transit, taxes, and a possible review of the ward system.
Brown touched on transit concerns, as she noted she has heard from residents that people are struggling to get across the 401 from Highways 62 and 37.
She added it will be important to balance future opportunities to expand mobility transit for riders with disabilities and serve the area in general, while being economical on the tax front for residents.
Veteran councillor Carr noted council has to be proactive in fulfilling senior government funding to get construction started on an active trail under the 401, after the current council approved preliminary and detailed design work for the project.
Fagan said residents he has spoken to people who also feel underserved, from young students working part-time jobs, to older people needing to get to appointments and events and noted it’s important to bring a bit more fairness to them when it comes to taxes.
Both incumbent councillors touted the record fundraising received in the last term from federal and provincial governments (approximately $35 million dollars in federal funding and almost $11 million in provincial funding) and they and Scott emphasized that will be necessary to continue to press for as the next term begins.
As part of his platform, Scott said he would push for a ‘centralized municipal grants department,’ where a single professional would be responsible for raising important funds for roads and other infrastructure to ease the burden on taxpayers.
All council candidates joined the growing chorus against the ALTO high-speed rail project planned to go from Toronto to Quebec City.
Carr said this project would destroy precious farmland, and it would be a more prudent solution to push for growth in the southwest area of the area and not the north.
Brown emphasized her disapproval of ALTO and hit on the need to grow industrial lands to build jobs and prosperity in the rural area and stay competitive.
Scott said it would be better to focus on adding more amenities (i.e. convenience stores, clinics, etc.) and linking current transportation to those instead of adding this project.
Fagan noted Ward 2 has huge growth potential and a good balance of starter homes and smaller affordable homes are needed instead of largescale projects such as ALTO.
When asked about how he would build support for wider representation of voices across Ward 2, Carr said he will reignite proposals for a review of the ward system done by an independent, third-party with heavy community consultation.
“Through town halls, surveys, you get to decide how you want your local government to be organized,” he said.
Affordable housing was woven into a couple answers to questions from the candidates, but Fagan used his closing remarks to specifically touch on the homelessness front.
He said government transparency and creating permanent action plans are crucial to a better future on this issue and while the Bridge Hub at Alhambra Square is a good start, creating a ‘full-care society’ avenue toward employment and a chance to integrate back into society while having a place to stay and detox centres to use is the way to go, similar to countries like Singapore and Japan.
Similar to the Ward 1 Belleville candidates meeting earlier this month the event also featured a segment where three of the four mayoral candidates, Neil Ellis, Paul Fleming and Don Metzger, took part in a moderated debate for Ward 2.
The fourth mayoral candidate, Kyle Woolven, was again not in attendance.
The debate was largely civil, with Ellis echoing his two incumbent councillors in touting his experience, while Fleming and Metzger challenged residents to look deep into the future and prioritize change and a new outlook at City Hall.
Ellis noted the success of the previous term specifically, with the continued growth of the city’s doctor recruitment program, the announcement of the much-anticipated Costco, which will bring around 300 jobs and the completion of several key infrastructure projects, along with the collaborative work put in by council, as reasons to re-elect him as mayor.
Fleming acknowledged Ellis’ years of service to the city in the last 20 years, but said he believes there is room for change.
Quoting the Canadian band Trooper, he quoted the lyrics of one of their songs; ‘if you’ve don’t like what you got, why don’t you change it?,’ also referencing several older companies that have either faded in popularity or have gone defunct while the world changed around them as ways to encourage voters to lean toward voting him to the mayor’s seat.
Metzger said he would focus on balancing the city’s budget if he were elected as mayor and building on the key issues already tackled.
School Board trustees from both public and separate school boards also spoke and provided their background and priorities at the meeting.
Advanced voting begins Thursday in both wards in the Belleville area, and more details can be found on the city’s website.
