Frontenac County Council - Sept. 12

Jeff Green | Sep 27, 2012

by Jeff Green

Frontenac County to contest electoral boundary proposals

In response to a report from Chief Administrative Officer Elizabeth Savill, Frontenac County Council has decided to seek standing at a public meeting dealing with proposed electoral boundaries that will take place in Kingston in November.

The boundary changes will bring 15 new ridings to Ontario in recognition of the fact that Ontario's population of 13.4 million people represents almost 39% of all Canadians.

The proposals also involve a reshuffling of seats in Eastern Ontario, which, if enacted, will split Frontenac County into three ridings.

Frontenac Islands will remain part of the Kingston and the Islands riding, as it is currently, whereas South Frontenac Township is slated to join the proposed Belleville-Napanee-Frontenac riding, and North and Central Frontenac, the proposed Lanark-Frontenac-Hastings riding.

“These proposals are not much different from what was initially proposed 10 years ago,” said Savill. “They do not respect our boundaries. South Frontenac is being cut out. There is also a concern with respect to manageable size in the case of the northern riding.”

The distance from Smiths Falls and Bancroft, the southeastern and northwestern extremes of the proposed Lanark-Frontenac-Hastings riding, is 203 km.

Savill also pointed out that when similar proposals were made 10 years ago, the last time riding redistribution took place, officials from the affected communities mounted a successful campaign to rejig the ridings in a more county- friendly manner.

Savill sees no reason that the same thing can't happen again in 2012.

The problem that the two-member riding redistribution commission faces is that changing a single riding can affect the boundaries of many other ridings, and there is an over-riding requirement that none of the ridings have too high or too low a population.

“If we can try to contain some of the ripple in our area to the two ridings, it will be much better received,” said Savill.

Savill has been in contact with municipal officials in Hastings County, and said they will also be seeking standing at one of the public meetings on redistribution, and may be presenting an alternative proposal that would maintain more cohesion for the three counties, Frontenac, Hastings, and Lennox and Addington, who are all being split into at least two ridings under the current proposals.

Frontenac County Warden Janet Gutowski said that she had received an email from current Lanark-Frontenac-Lennox and Addington MP Scott Reid about the proposed distribution, which encourages the municipalities involved to seek changes in order to maintain some integrity to their boundaries.

A proposal that has been floated would call for a riding that includes Lanark-Frontenac and all of Lennox and Addington with the exception of Napanee, and a second riding that encompasses all of Hastings County as well as Napanee.

After the public meetings in November, a further parliamentary review process will take place early in 2013 before the boundaries are finalised. They will come into effect in time for the 2015 federal election, and will also take effect for subsequent Ontario provincial elections.

Ambulance base at Road 509 and Ardoch Road intersection revisited

With the termination of the agreement between Frontenac County and North Frontenac Council to build a joint ambulance post/fire hall in Ompah, the county is considering a return to the original recommendation of a consultant’s report from 2009, which called for a new base to be built in the vicinity of Road 509 and Ardoch Road, to serve communities in North Frontenac as well as residents and motorists on Highway 7.

In a report to Council on Sept. 19, Frontenac County Chief of Paramedic Services, Paul Charbonneau, wrote - “From this proposed location [Ardoch Road and Road 509] an ambulance:

Will have better access to major roads serving North and Central Frontenac Townships, including Sharbot Lake and Highway 7;Will be able to respond more rapidly to calls that originate in both North and Central Frontenac Township areas, particularly communities situated in the easterly catchment areas of the Townships. Response time to Ompah and its immediate environs may increase slightly. In this regard it should be noted that Ompah and its immediate local environs generate relatively few calls.”

Charbonneau included mapping in his report that shows that a 30-minute response time will be achieved throughout all of the built up areas in North and Central Frontenac from the Ardoch Road base as well as a base run by Lennox and Addington in Northbrook.

Thirty minutes was an identified target for rural response in a study on rural ambulance delivery that was completed for Frontenac, Lennox and Addington and Hastings Counties in 2000.

The Northbrook service is a 24 hour a day service, while the current northern service in Frontenac County is only a 12 hour per day service, which places doubt that the 30-minute response time can be achieved on the Frontenac end of the region when the Frontenac ambulance is not available. Paul Charbonneau’s report to council did not refer to hours of service.

County Council gave Charbonneau direction to “investigate options in the recommended location area for a new ambulance station.”

Other items from Frontenac County

Still smarting over fishy cancellation – When the minutes from the July 24 meeting of Council came up for ratification, Frontenac Islands Councilor David Jones, who had missed that meeting, had a few words for his fellow councilors.

“I missed the meeting on July 24, after the date was changed, and it was only after the meeting that I found out the date was changed for a fishing trip. That information was not shared with me before the date was changed. So I ask the warden, ‘why the spin’? I draw your attention to the Municipal Act., It says, in section 237, that a quorum, a majority of all members of council, is necessary. It says nothing about where those members come from.”

Warden Gutowski responded to Jones by noting that “There was discussion at the meeting on the 24th with respect to rescheduling and members of Council had their say, as you have today. Traditionally we have re-scheduled meetings to ensure that all townships are represented. So we will move on from that.”

Donation to Thunder Bay – The County will donate $500 to flood relief in Thunder Bay.

Susan Beckel – Long-serving County Deputy Clerk Susan Beckel, whose duties ranged from organizing County Council agendas and mediating the county’s relationship with the City of Kingston regarding Social Services, among a long list of other duties, has taken a job as Clerk for the City of Napanee. Members of Council expressed their appreciation for Beckel’s work over the years, as did the CAO.