The Other Side of the Tax Conversation: Delivering Municipal Services
Earlier this week, I wrote about why taxes are more than a percentage. The other side of that conversation is just as important: what are we actually paying for? Most of us don’t think much about municipal services when they are working. We expect the snowplow to come down our road. We expect the roads to be […]
Q & A – Part 2: Supporting Volunteers
1.) Many municipal supports, grants and fee-waiver programs are geared toward registered businesses and incorporated not-for-profit organizations. What would you do to ensure that smaller, grassroots volunteer groups that are doing legitimate community work – but do not have the capacity to incorporate or maintain a formal board of directors – can also access meaningful […]
Taxes, Trade-Offs and the Choices Behind the Number
Nobody likes paying more taxes. I don’t think that’s controversial, and I don’t think the goal of municipal government should be to raise taxes simply because we can. Keeping taxes affordable matters. But there is a difference between keeping taxes affordable and promising a tax number without explaining what it will take to get there. A […]
10 Questions from a Resident:
A West Nipissing resident recently reached out by email to all of the mayoral candidates, as well as the council candidates in his ward, with a thoughtful list of questions. I enjoyed the exercise and the opportunity to think through some of the issues he raised, so with his permission, I’m sharing his questions and […]
Reality Check: The Work Ahead
Four years goes by so quickly. When I look back at where we started, I’m proud of how much has changed. But I also know that many of the challenges we inherited were never going to be solved in four years. Some had been building for decades. That is particularly true when it comes to […]
Strong Mayor Powers — and Why Democracy Matters
There has been some discussion recently about strong mayor powers and whether a mayor should use them whenever they believe doing so is “favourable to the people.” Of course a mayor should want what is best for the people. So should every member of Council. But that raises an important question: who are “the people”? West […]
What Good Municipal Government Actually Looks Like
As we get closer to the 2026 municipal election, there is a lot of discussion about candidates, promises and priorities. But I think it is also important to talk about how municipal government actually works — and what good leadership around a Council table looks like. BayToday has published a series of columns about municipal government and […]
A Promise Is Not a Plan
During an election campaign, it’s easy to focus on what candidates say they want to do. I think it’s just as important (probably more important) to look at what it will actually take to make those things happen. It’s easy to say what you would like to see happen. We all have ideas about what […]
What Does a Mayor Actually Do?
There is a lot of misunderstanding about what a mayor actually does. The mayor isn’t the boss of council. The mayor doesn’t make municipal decisions alone, and the mayor doesn’t direct individual staff. The Municipal Act, 2001 gives the mayor an important leadership role—but it is a role exercised through council, through relationships and through […]
What I Set Out to Do
When I first ran for Mayor, I knew there would be a lot to learn. I just didn’t know exactly what I would learn, what challenges we would face, or where the next four years would take us. What I did know was the kind of Mayor I wanted to be and the commitments I […]