Big Changes Coming To Frontenac County Council

Jeff Green | Nov 30, 2022

While there were changes in the makeup of all of the mainland Frontenac Township councils after the election in October, the change in the Township of Frontenac Islands was complete. All five members of the council that was sworn in earlier this month are new, including Mayor Judy Greenwood-Speers and Deputy Mayor Bill Saunders.

When Frontenac County Council is sworn in this week, at a ceremony at the Frontenac County Courthouse in Kingston, only two members of the previous council, Central Frontenac Mayor Frances Smith and South Frontenac Mayor Ron Vandewal, will be sworn in.

The other members of the 9 member council will be new, including Greenwood-Speers and Saunders from Frontenac Islands, Ray Leonard from South Frontenac, Niki Gowdy from Central Frontenac, and Mayor Gerry Lichty and Councillor Fred Fowler from North Frontenac.

Judy Greenwood-Speers beat two other candidates for the position of mayor, Randy Rixton and Barbara Springgay. Since she lives on Wolfe Island, the candidate from the Howe Island Ward who received the greatest number of votes was appointed as Deputy Reeve and as the second Frontenac County Council representative from the Islands. Bill Saunders received 370 votes on Howe Island, 125 more than the second place finisher Bill Ackey.

In a phone interview this week, Greenwood-Speers said that she looks forward to bringing the perspective and concerns of Frontenac Islands to the attention of the council members who are more familiar with the mainland parts of Frontenac County.

She said that “some of our unique issues in Frontenac Islands, that relate to Frontenac County, are the Howe Island Ferry, ambulance issues and water issues. Frontenac County is responsible for operating the ferry, so we will engage on that.”

“Ambulance concerns are different for us than for everyone else,” she said. “Just last week we had a perfect storm. We had an individual on Wolfe Island who required urgent medical attention. At that time there was no ambulance stationed on Wolfe Island, which is very common, the ferry broke down in Kingston, and the winds were too high for Ornge Air to come over. We had to get the coast guard to come out to the Marysville Basin, which is the only spot that is deep enough for them, to pick up the patient.”

And the Frontenac County Communal Servicing will have to take into account the unique issues with water supply on the islands, as well as flooding issues resulting in part from impacts of climate change on water levels in Lake Ontario, she said.

“I will certainly be advocating for Frontenac Islands and educating the other members of council, helping them to understand our issues,” she said.

Although she is new to municipal politics, Greenwood-Speers has been active politically for most of her adult life, in her free time as well as in her working life.

She was raised on Wolfe Island but left for the Waterloo region in 1976, returning regularly to visit her parents on the island.

She studied nursing at Conestoga College and then worked as a nurse for over 20 years, while continuing her education at both the University of Waterloo and Sir Wilfred Laurier, where she completed a Masters in Business Administration. She switched from nursing to health care administration, including time in the long term care sector. She was one of the first advocates for minimum staffing hours and nurse to patient ratios, in long term care settings, back in the 1990s. She ran for Waterloo Regional Council in 1997, inspired by her concerns about public health budget constraints, as well as other issues. She ran for Waterloo City Council in 2000 and 2003

She said that David Suzuki inspired her to join the Green Party in 1999. She was the Green Party candidate in Kitchener Waterloo in 2000 and 2007, as well as the Deputy Leader, Party President and advocate for health care for the Ontario Green Party for a decade.

In 2008, her husband retired, and the couple moved back home to Wolfe Island, where she has lived and worked ever since, including working with Inuit communities, both in the City of Ottawa and in northern communities, on healthcare issues.

She has continued to be active politically, often advocating to provincial and federal officials on issues, since moving back to Wolfe Island.

“Over the years, neighbours of mine said I should consider municipal politics, but I was pretty busy. I turned 65 last January, and retired, so this was the time for me to step into municipal politics.

Less than a year later, she took on the role of mayor, during a pivotal time for both Frontenac Islands and Frontenac County.

One of the areas where her background may be of use to the county relates to long-term care, as ongoing operation and future expansion plans of the county-owned Fairmount Home are dealt with at the county table.

Frontenac County also appoints a representative to the board of Kingston Frontenac Lennox and Addington Public Health, an organisation that was chaired for several years by former Frontenac Islands Mayor Dennis Doyle.