Ladies and Gentlemen
A cold bright Remembrance Day in Midland. A very large
turnout of residents for Saturday’s ceremony at the Cenotaph to honour our
fallen soldiers, vetrans and our men and women in uniform. We Will Remember
Them.
The
Week Ahead
An unusual Monday the 13th as we will
have both a General Committee and a Council meeting. At 7:00 pm at Town Hall is a short General
Committee dealing with two items:
-
Further review by Council of the recently
adopted policies on financial reserves and internal loans
-
Proposal for how we will protect and invest
the proceeds from the sale of the MPUC
This will be followed by a special meeting of
Council. The meeting will have an “in camera”
portion to deal with a matter of litigation.
Then the open session considers:
-
Request by Bourgeois Motors for clearing part
of their property at 290 Cranston
-
Request for an assessment of our Town roads
as part to our asset management program
The special Council meeting is being held due to timing
deadlines for the agenda items.
On Tuesday the 14th County Council takes
place at 9:00 am in Midhurst. The major item on the County agenda is further
consideration of the 2018 budget. County Council is trying to direct a tax levy
increase of 1% for next year. At 7:00 pm you are invited to the Third Annual Culture Midland Awards at the Midland Cultural
Centre. This event celebrates the individuals and groups from throughout
North Simcoe who contribute to making our community a vibrant and
culturally-rich place to live and visit. Tickets are free of charge and
available through the MCC box office or online at http://midlandculturalcentre.com/ .
In addition to the awards presentation, the Children’s Community Choir and Good
Morning Apocalypse will be performing.
A quieter Wednesday with the next Service Delivery
Review meeting taking place at 2:00 pm.
And then a busy Friday November 17. At 9:00 am Waypoint
hosts an all-day area meeting of HealthLinks partners to discuss better
cooperation in dealing with those who are the greatest users of our healthcare
system. At noon please join the
Salvation Army as they launch their 2017 Christmas Kettle Campaign at the Great
Canadian Superstore.
From 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm our Midland Library hosts a
fascinating evening with “Brews and Bots”. Yes, they have invited competitive
teams of robot designers to the Library to take part in a robot battle.
Barnstormer Brewery will also be there to provide some of their special
beverages. The event has a small cover charge and is open to those 19 and over.
All proceeds go to the proposed Midland Library Makerspace project. And at 8:00 pm Huronia Players launches its fall
season with the production “Drawer Boy” at MCC.
Week -
End
Saturday November 18
-
All day - The Great Ontario Curling Bonspiel,
part of our Canada 150 celebration, takes place at the Midland Curling Club
-
9:00 am to 2:00 pm - Candy Cane Bazaar at the
Midland Legion Branch 80 – all the festive treats you can imagine will be
available
Council
Issues Update
OPP
The transfer documents have been filed with the Ontario Civilian
Police Commission (OCPC). They will be
reviewing our request primarily to ensure that the OPP can provide appropriate
policing for Midland and to see that all members of the MPS have been fairly
treated in the process. Hopefully they
will have finished their deliberations in time to allow the transfer of
officers for the next OPP training cycle, scheduled for February 2018.
MPUC
Council has started the process of considering how to
best mange the $22M proceeds from the sale of our MPUC asset. Based on input
from the recent public meeting, staff has prepared a report that proposes to
treat the funds in three separate baskets.
-
$1.5M to be used to gradually wean the Town
off of the MPUC dividend that has been used to fund operations
-
$10.5M to set up a legacy fund with the
principal protected in perpetuity
-
$10M (approximately) to be used as a
Community-Wide Investment Fund. These funds could be “borrowed” for Council
approved projects and them repaid to the Fund over time
*****
About 70,000 people in Simcoe Muskoka struggle to put
food on the table every year. Our local food banks are again gearing up for
seasonal food drives to help address urgent food needs. But food drives are not enough. We need policies that address the root of the
problem - to ensure that everyone has the resources to feed themselves and
their families today, next week and next year. These policies may include:
-
Social assistance rates that cover real
living costs
-
Good jobs with regular hours and benefits, ensuring
a basic income
With this in mind, the Simcoe Muskoka District Health
Unit (SMDHU) has launched a second phase of
the “No money for food is ... Cent$less” campaign. Aside from continuing with
awareness raising about food insecurity, it advocates for income-based policy
solutions. SMDHU has created new tools and resources, including a downloadable
package, available on our website to encourage people
to take action and advocate - not just donate - during the holiday food drive
season. The campaign was developed in partnership with many food banks across
our area as well as a small advisory group of people with lived experience.
Gord McKay
The
Year for Getting It Done - 2017
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