New Councillor for Bedford District in South Frontenac

Feb 14, 2024

Adam Turcotte was sworn in at South Frontenac Council last Tuesday Night (February 6) as the new Councillor for Bedford District last week, replacing Charlene Godfrey who resigned in December.

Turcotte moved to South Frontenac from Kingston in 2011 and runs his own carpentry business, specializing in heritage and sustainable carpentry and including cordwood and straw bale construction. He and his wife Louise, who is a registered nurse, have two sons.

Turcotte was a candidate in Bedford in the most recent municipal election, which was held in October of 2022. In a race among 4 newcomers to South Frontenac politics. He finished third with 371 votes, behind Steve Pegrum (622) and Charlene Godfrey (497)

During that campaign, he ran under the ABC banner – Affordable, Beautiful, Clean, with a focus on sustainability.

He said he was inspired to run for council by his Canoe Lake Road neighbour David Hahne, who serves as Bedford Councillor for 12 years from 1998-2010, and was a tireless advocate for environmental sustainability.

Council declared the seat vacant at the January 9, 2024 Council meeting and chose to appoint the candidate who received the third highest number of votes in the 2022 Municipal election, and Turcotte was ready to take the role on.

“I’m looking forward to this new challenge and serving the residents of South Frontenac,” he said, reiterating his commitment during the 2022 election.

“I’m particularly interested in climate change and its effects at a local level. I feel the highest priority of government at all levels is building resilience in our communities to mitigate the effects of climate change we are likely to experience over the coming years. This is where I hope to make the biggest impact as a Councillor.”

At its January 9, 2024 meeting, South Frontenac Council approved moving forward with creating a Climate Change Action Plan in 2024.

“As a parent, I am particularly concerned about the future of my children growing up in an increasingly unstable world. We are exceptionally lucky to be Canadians, living in relative peace and security. But the world my kids inherit is very different from the one I grew up in. I want to help ensure that my kids have an opportunity to raise a family of their own in South Frontenac.”

He said that he had bee in touch with Mark Pegrum, the other council member from Bedford, before being sworn in last week.

“He gave me a bit of advice. He said to relax and enjoy my time on Council, which I will take to heart.”

His first meeting on council ended up being a three-hour long extravaganza, taken up by public meetings on two planning matters.

“It was a good introduction, I think, because there was a lot of passion among the presenters. It underlines the level of responsibility we have as members of council.”

His next step will an all-day online training session that is being provided by the Association of Municipalities of Ontario.

“So far staff have been very kind, and I’m looking forward to learning as much as I can over the next few months.”