Oliver Paipoonge Council Record
Our
municipality has made improvements to our libraries, spruced up the
Rosslyn and Murillo community centres, and improved the equipment at
the NorWest rink. We have supported the volunteers and community spaces
that keep our outdoor rinks going in the winter, and get the kids out
playing baseball and soccer in the summer. We have invested in road
infrastructure that improves safety for walkers and cyclists. Continued
improvements to roads and bridges needs to continue. We have
consolidated and invested in improvements to our museum facilities to
ensure long term viability. These services and facilities are important
to our community quality of life and keeping things up to date makes
good sense.
Council
continues to work toward keeping our Fire and Emergency Services
department invested in the training, equipment and facilities they need
to keep us safe and protected. We recently initiated a study to
professionally evaluate our fire services infrastructure and service
delivery with an eye to improve response and better utilize equipment
and facilities investments.
Our
Council has also supported expansion of affordable senior's housing in
Kakabeka and we support giving retirees the choice to stay in the rural
community as this is very important to many seniors. We continue to
look for and act on opportunites to help people continue to enjoy
country living as they age - supporting new investments in pharmacy
services and expanding rural healthcare also continue to be priorities.
Our
municipality partnered with Tbaytel to successfully apply for funding
to greatly expand internet fibre optic broadband service to over 1750
of our residences, this project is underway and on schedule to be
completed in 2023. Unfortunately there will still be underserviced
areas in our municipality, Council recognizes this issue and
continues to work on solutions to bring high speed internet to everyone.
Investing
in office systems, training, and keeping municipal employee wages
competitive ensures we have the right team in place to work more
efficiently and serve all residents better. We have worked hard
to keep taxes low but recognize we need to keep up to date on
infrastructure and services to enable us properly function into the
future.
I
believe our current Council, while not always getting everything right,
has continually worked toward the goals of improvement and benefit for
our community and residents. We individual Councillors may not
always agree on the path chosen but Council as a whole has done a good
job keeping Oliver Paipoonge such a great place to live and work.
Priorities for Council
If reelected - I will continue to;
Be
a conscientious manager of your tax dollars. I own a business and know
the value and work that goes into the taxes you and I pay. Efficient
management of tax revenue has and will continue to be a priority of
mine.
Work with Council and Municipal staff towards economic
development in business, industry and agriculture. I believe it is the
duty of council to foster a municipal environment that enables
businesses to succeed. Allowing businesses to succeed should not,
however, negatively impact the current homeowners and residents of our
municipality.
Maintain and invest in our municipal roads,
bridges and other infrastructure for the long term benefit of our
residents and businesses. The past three council terms that I have been
a part of have made a lot of investments in improving our
infrastructure. Over 90% of our municipal roads are now hard surfaced,
our Public Works fleet is modern, functional and efficient, and our
Fire Department continues to invest in equipment, training and vehicles
to be able to serve our residents in a safe and effective manner.
Maintain
and invest in other municipal assets such as our first responders,
recreation facilities and landfill sites so they will serve us well in
the years ahead. Our council continues to upgrade the landfill
operations to ensure long term viability of our two sites, and have
also invested in more property to give us assurance we will be able to
have this service available to our residents for many decades to come.
Current projections give our landfills a lifespan of over 50 years, and
we continue to refine the operations to increase this lifespan.
Support
all Council members to fully research and examine all available
information before making decisions. Proper decision making also
involves asking and considering the opinions of residents who will be
impacted. I strongly feel that this is one of the most important jobs
as a member of Council, and am proud to say I have always worked hard
to consider all sides of an issue, and the impacts they will have on
our community when making decisions at the Council table.
Encourage
Council to be proactive in lobbying the provincial government on behalf
of local residents and businesses. Our provincial government has a
track record of less than equal treatment for remote and rural
residents. I will continue to fight for our fair share.
Work to
be well informed of issues in the City of Thunder Bay, our region and
the Province of Ontario to be able to act in our municipality’s
best interest when required.
Continue
to work towards equal treatment for all our rural residents - such as
lack of high speed internet access and expansion of surface
treating gravel roads and expansion of natural gas availability.
Commit
to include all voices from our community and work towards celebrating
the diversity that makes Oliver Paipoonge such a great place to live.
Be
transparent in all matters that come before Council and do my best to
keep the public informed of decisions being made around the Council
table. We have clear and defined rules and regulations governing closed
meetings in the Municipal Act, and I commit to continue to keep all
Council deliberations in open meetings when we are able.
Be
objective, fair and fully committed in all matters that come before
Council. I will continue to be accountable and accessible to you, the
Oliver Paipoonge residents. As always my door is open to resident's
concerns and suggestions and one of the highlights for me as a
Councillor has been helping people resolve issues they have. Of course
we aren't always successful 100% of the time but I strive to do my best
and make your concerns my own.
I have enjoyed being your voice at the Council table and I respectfully ask for your continued support for the next term.
Thank You.
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