Platform
Discover the core messages of my campaign for Midland Town Councillor. I am committed to building a stronger, safer, and more vibrant Midland for everyone. My vision focuses on key areas that matter most to our community.
Environment: protecting our natural beauty and most important protecting our groundwater
My commitment is to safeguard Midland's natural resources, while at the same time standing for property rights. This includes actively protecting our parks, trails, forests, ensuring clean water, and preserving the quality of our air for generations to come. One immediate concern is the geese population at Little Lake; I would like to walk on the beach and swim in the water, like my ancestors did.
Additionally, I am researching possible sources of contamination of the air we breathe which not only impacts our parks, trails, forests and water, but also health measures for ourselves.
However, protecting our groundwater should be the highest campaign topic as everything we do today creates long-term side effects. Midland gets its water from 10 groundwater wells, with some sources under the direct influence of surface water. We must get informed of the hard facts from actual experts. "The most important topic in the world is groundwater and its relationship to society," Dr. Mike Powell, U of A.
Balanced tourism: thriving together
We can boost our local businesses and economy while responsibly managing visitor capacity. My vision for Midland encourages tourism that enhances our community without overwhelming it, creating a harmonious balance for residents and visitors alike.
Safety: a secure and caring community......
Neighbourhood Watch
Working together, we can implement strategies such as:
Neighbourhood Watch to advance neighbourhood protection, security, and overall well-being. This one program can not only help with crime prevention, but also with OPP costs, emergency planning, keeping an eye out for our elderly at home, sending a message that we are not vulnerable, to help give us a sense of belonging and community. This includes addressing the issue with teens and youth in Midland that trespass and cut through properties or have neighbourhoods feeling on edge with their conduct.
Dedicated OPP Town Patrolling: Ensure we are receiving the minimum baseline of 3 front-line constables and 1 Sergeant designated to be physically patrolling inside the town of Midland 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. https://www.baytoday.ca/local-news/as-north-bay-ponders-midland-dumps-local-police-force-in-favour-of-opp-835861
Everyone deserves to feel safe and secure in their own community. Let's use facts to find the real issues and spend our limited budget wisely. Let's build a safer Midland together.
Homelessness
Even though homelessness is fundamentally a County responsibility rather than a local civic responsibility in Midland, the town deals with local impacts through public space management, security patrols in public areas, and by collaborating closely with the County and local agencies like The Guesthouse Shelter.
Let's tackle the real issues directly with targeted, evidence-backed strategies. I am researching many different strategies and will update this website shortly with my findings. Strategies that range from trying to find out who the potential homeless could be, to living environments that naturally help in the healing process. We need to find more than just a roof and food.
-----Meet Nathan. Nathan is homeless and is trying to help raise awareness, and gave me his perspective on the "homeless crisis."
We should know the name of every homeless person in Midland. Many have mental health or addiction issues, but I truly believe that many people are only one missing paycheck from being homeless, or other circumstances beyond their control. Not everyone has a family or a friend that can take them in until they get life sorted out.
Fiscal spending: optimizing our town's resources
I believe in respecting our tax dollars. This means optimizing funding to ensure our town's resources are used efficiently and effectively, delivering maximum value for our community's investments. Using volunteer programs like Neighbourhood Watch to help keep the OPP costs of expensive, reactive calls to a lesser cost of a drive-by check into suspicious activity. I will post my research findings shortly on this website.
Your voice, my commitment
My goal is to create real opportunities for community feedback and actively listen before we act. If elected, I will be readily available and contactable, ensuring your voice is heard and represented in local decisions. Together, we can foster a more connected and thriving Midland by encouraging community activities where neighbours can get to know each other.
Please check the feedback page on this website, which I will be updating as I receive more comments and feedback when doing my campaigning door-to-door.
