Natalie Nossal – Howe Island's link to municipal politics

Jeff Green | Sep 28, 2016

Natalie Nossal has had to be a quick study over the last few years. With one year to go in the term, she was appointed to Frontenac Islands Council to replace a council member who resigned their position.

She decided to run during the 2014 election and not only was she elected, she also received the most votes on Howe Island. Because Mayor Dennis Doyle, like all mayors in the 16-year history of the township, resides on Wolfe Island, the representative from Howe Island who receives the most votes is appointed deputy mayor and is the second representative from Howe Island on Frontenac County Council. She replaced outspoken former deputy mayor, David Jones, who was re-elected to Frontenac Council with 257 votes - good enough for second place but lower than the 354 Nossal received.

Jones subsequently resigned from Frontenac Islands Council and was replaced by Bruce Higgs, who won a rare township by-election.

Nossal is faced with representing a constituency that finds it difficult to relate to the Township of Frontenac Islands, never mind Frontenac County.

“Wolfe Island has about twice the population of Howe Island, and it has a commercial core, so it is the focus of the township, and Howe Islanders tend to travel either to Kingston or Gananoque on one of the ferries for work or shopping, so what happens on Wolfe Island is not that relevant around here. And Frontenac County is an even greater stretch,” she said.

One thing that Howe Islanders do appreciate is the ferry service on the Howe Islander, which is a 24-hour, on-demand service operated by Frontenac County with funding from the Ministry of Transportation. Residents pay $400 per year for a pass. Non-residents pay $6 to get to the island and can leave for free.

“I moved to the island with my husband 14 years ago from Hamilton, so I am still a newbie here, and I was nervous about living in a rural area and on an island, but the ferry service has been great and I love living here” she said.

She does not love travelling to Frontenac Islands meetings on Wolfe Island however, since she has to take the 6 - minute ferry to Kingston, drive to the Wolfe Island ferry at the right time to catch it, and then spend 20 minutes crossing Lake Ontario to Marysville. Meetings are split between the two islands, however, so Wolfe Island politicians face the same burden.

Howe Island and Wolfe Island have maintained their own public works and fire department budgets since amalgamation but combine to pay for administration.

Howe Island is small, about 14 kilometres long by 2 kilometres wide (31 km. sq. according to Wikipedia) with a population of around 600. It has no retail sector, and is mainly residential and agricultural.

“Over the last 25 years or so, more and more of our residents work off the island,” said Nossal.

She sees her job as councilor, both at the township and the county level, as being all about communication.

“People on Howe Island want to know where their tax money is being spent. Basic public works; roads, trash and recycling, the fire department, access to administration, are all important. People want to know that the money that has been extracted from them is spent efficiently and with reason,” she said.

“The island has a wonderful ball park that people would like to see expanded with the addition of a tennis court or some basketball hoops and if we can build a hall, that would be a great benefit. The community is strong but we need a place to gather. We would use a gathering place very effectively.”

As to her role at Frontenac County Council, Nossal sees it as a balancing act. She is there to support the needs of the county as one of its representatives but she is the only one at that table who can bring the needs and interests of Howe Island to the fore.

Her style is the polar opposite of her predecessor David Jones, who regularly railed against the way the county operated, particularly on financial matters.

Nossal takes a much more low-key approach. However, as she demonstrated at the most recent meeting, some of that Howe Island defiance is starting to come out.

As the plan to transfer money from an unused reserve fund to buy land for the K&P Trail was being explained, Nossal asked, “Why is money that was collected for social housing going to the K&P trail?”

Even as CAO Kelly Pender and other members of council explained that it was just an administrative act to avoid having to raise taxes to finance the trail, she refused to be swayed.

“Yes,” she said when Pender repeated that no social housing programs would be affected by the transfer, “but that money was not collected for the trail; it was collected for low-income residents and their housing needs.”

Afterwards she said that the issue indicates the pre-eminence of the K&P Trail for the county. “I think the trail is a wonderful thing, and I recognise the odd geography of the county is what it is, but for my constituents, spending another $300,000 on a trail that they are never going to use is a pretty hard sell. And if I don't raise questions on their behalf, who will?”

To that end, she has asked Anne-Marie Young from the county for a financial time line showing all the money that has been spent on the K&P Trail over the years that it has been under construction and where that money came from. “I know there have been grants along the way, but I would like to see the whole picture.”

That's exactly the kind of request you can expect from a Howe Island politician.