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.