Municipality to receive funding to expand multi-use pathway

by Brandon Mayer

The Municipality’s multi-use pathway is set to be expanded and upgraded, thanks to some anticipated government funding. It was announced at the regularly scheduled Council meeting on March 7 that an application for funding from the “Active Transportation Fund (ATF)” was accepted. The money will be used to add an extension to the trail from Sutler’s Trail to River Road, with this “lit pathway” being the first of its kind for North Grenville. The funding will also cover a PXO pedestrian crossing, bike storage, and benches.

The ATF was created under then Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, Catherine McKenna. “This new Fund is part of an eight-year, $14.9-billion public transit investment to support communities as they build vibrant neighbourhoods where people can safely live, work, and play,” reads a July 2021 release on the Government of Canada website. The total amount of funding that the Municipality is eligible to receive is significant - $941,980 over a two year period. With other projects also on the way, it is not expected that the project will be completed until the spring of 2025.

The news of the trail extension was revealed at the Council meeting, but other routine items were discussed as well. Council heard two presentations during the meeting, including a lengthy presentation called “Grenville Community Futures Development Corporation”, which resulting in much discussion. Readers are encouraged to view the discussion themselves by watching the Council meeting.

As part of the consent agenda, Director of Public Works Karen Dunlop was appointed as acting CAO of the Municipality. Consent agenda items are enacted in one motion, with individual items only pulled for discussion if requested my a member of Council. No dis-

Counties Council approves 2023 Budget

At the Special Meeting held on March 8, 2023, the Council of the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville approved the 2023 Budget with a 6.87 percent tax rate increase over 2022, which results in a levy of approximately $46.97 million. The approved Budget provides for total expenditures of approximately $113.7 million, with approximately $66.8 million allocated to capital expenditures. The Province-wide property assessment conducted by the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) was further postponed by the Government of Ontario and will not take place in 2023. Based on MPAC’s most recent data from 2016, the median residential property, not on water, in Leeds and Grenville is assessed at $215,000. The approved Budget will increase the Counties’ portion of taxes on the average residential property by $55.87. “Counties Council understands the challenges that residents and businesses are facing due to rising costs and inflationary pressures. We appreciate that cussion took place regarding the acting CAO appointment. A spokesperson for the Municipality confirmed that “Karen Dunlop has been appointed Acting CAO while Gary Dyke is on leave”.

Director Dunlop addressed Council toward the end of the March 7 meeting, specifically to explain a bylaw that acts as acceptance of funding from the provincial and federal governments’ “Safe Restart Agreement for Municipal Transit”. The SRA provides funding to Municipalities to help offset transit restart costs in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the case of North Grenville, the funding will continue to support Accessible Transit.

The March 7 meeting was relatively short compared to some other recent meetings, lasting just over one hour. To view the March 7 Council meeting, or previous Council meetings, visit https://www.youtube. com/@NorthGrenville/featured.

Municipal Office Hours

The Municipal office is open to the public Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Visit our events calendar to find out what’s happening in the community: www.northgrenville.ca/events

UPCOMING MEETINGS

COUNCIL MEETINGS

Please see the Council agenda for further details on how to participate in Council meetings. All Council meetings will be live streamed on YouTube at: youtube.com/user/NorthGrenville/ featured and on the Municipality’s website at: www.northgrenville.ca/meetings.

To make a deputation in relation to an item on the agenda, please provide your comments no later than two hours prior to the start of the meeting to clerk@northgrenville.on.ca. Council agendas are available at: www.northgrenville.ca/meetings.

• Thursday, March 16, 2023 at 12:00 p.m. (Closed Session) – Meeting Room 2

• Tuesday, March 21, 2023 at 6:30 p.m. (Open Session) – Council Chambers

• Tuesday, April 4, 2023 at 6:30 p.m. (Open Session) – Council Chambers

COMMITTEE MEETINGS

Committees may be meeting in-person or virtually. Please see the Committee agenda for details on how to attend. Agendas can be found on the Municipal website at www.northgrenville.on/meetings.

VOLUNTEER AND EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES

Records and Licencing Coordinator

The Department of Corporate Services, Clerk’s Division, is seeking to fill the position of Records and Licencing Coordinator. Interested applicants may submit a cover letter and resume outlining qualifications in confidence to Human Resources by 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday, March 29, 2023.Visit www.northgrenville.ca/careers for a full job description and how to apply.

Engineering Co-op Student

The Municipality of North Grenville is seeking to fill three full-time positions of Engineering Co-op Student. Interested applicants may submit a cover letter and resume outlining qualifications in confidence to Human Resources by 4:00 p.m. Friday, March 17, 2023. Visit www.northgrenville.ca/careers for details and more information on how to apply.

Advisory Committees

The Municipality of North Grenville is seeking to fill volunteer positions on various Advisory Committees of Council.

• Equity Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Committee

• Heritage Advisory Committee

• Housing Advisory Committee

• Indigenous Advisory Circle

• Property Standards Committee this is a difficult year for so many. Throughout our budget deliberations, Council endeavoured to strike a careful balance between affordability and enabling important investments in crucial infrastructure and services, including roads, long-term care and paramedic services.”, said Warden Nancy Peckford. “The 2023 Budget is a reflection of Council’s commitment to the provision of frontline services to residents, investment in capital projects, staff resiliency, and responsible asset management and financial planning.” said Counties’ Chief Administrative Officer Ray Callery. He added, “An additional 1% increase to the Tax Rate Stabilization Reserve was approved as part of the Budget to provide fiscal certainty from unknown inflationary

The approved Budget provides for total expenditures of approximately $113.7 million, with approximately $66.8 million allocated to capital expenditures.

“The 2023 Budget is a reflection of Council’s commitment to the provision of frontline services to residents, investment in capital projects, staff resiliency, and responsible asset management and financial planning.” said Counties’ Chief Administrative Officer Ray Callery. He added, “An additional 1% increase to the Tax Rate Stabilization Reserve was approved as part of the Budget to provide fiscal certainty from unknown inflationary acts, potential tender overages, fuel cost uncertainty and other operational pressures that may arise.”

Visit www.northgrenville.ca/careers for more information on how to apply. For questions, please contact the Clerk by email at clerk@northgrenville.on.ca or by telephone at 613-258-9569 ext 171. Applications due by 4:00 p.m. on April 6, 2023

The Municipality of North Grenville 285 County Rd. 44, PO Box 130 , Kemptville, ON K0G 1J0 Tel: 613-258-9569 Fax: 613-258-9620 general@northgrenville.on.ca www.NorthGrenville.ca

Building: 613-258-9569 x130 Fax: 613-258-1441

Fire Services Info: 613-258-9569 x201

Fax: 613-258-1031

By-Law Services: email: bylawinquiries@northgrenville.on.ca

613-258-9569 x211

Police Administration: 613-258-3441

Animal Control: 613-862-9002

Eye On Activism

Indigenous cultures are, and how much of an effect colonization had, I have included information about the Algonquin Nation.

Heritage

by Zara Zrudlo

I am writing this article in response to Lorraine Rekmans’ letter to the editor in last week’s paper. I didn’t honestly realize it was heritage week, but I definitely agree that Indigenous heritage needs to be acknowledged. I believe that not acknowledging Indigenous history is a big fault of our system, and a reason for a lot of the discrimination Indigenous Peoples face.

If all of the atrocities that were, and continue to be committed, were taught about and broadly known, all of the old stereotypes would be proven wrong, and people would have less reason to be racist. Of course, what people DO with that knowledge is even more important, but the more people know, the better choices they can make. This is just my opinion though, there are many problems with the way a lot of the world sees Indigenous Peoples.

In the hope that people will understand how rich

The Algonquin people had many relations to the Ojibwe and Odawa peoples, and together they form the larger group, the Anishinabek. The Algonquin nations lived in easily dis-assembled birch bark houses called wigwams. The nation was comprised of different communities. Their philosophies are: to take only what you need, recognize that you are an equal part of everything, and be thankful for everything you receive. They follow the seven grandfather teachings: honesty, humility, courage, respect, truth, wisdom and love.

From 1884 to 1951, the Indian Act banned Indigenous Peoples from holding powwows, from smudging and from many other traditions important to their culture. Many Indigenous children were taken forcibly from their families to Indian Residential Schools. There, the church tried to convert them into Catholics and make it so that they could “better assimilate into white society.”

However, many Algonquin traditions have survived, including the languages. The Algonquin language group is the most commonly spoken, however they are still endangered languages. There are many community-led efforts to bring back the languages, including university level language courses!

When the Crown first started colonizing this land, the Algonquin people had just been forced off their land by attacks from the Iroquois. They had to fight to prove to the government that this was their traditional land. Instead of being given a chunk of it, (a reserve) they were allowed to BUY some near Golden Lake. The government refused to give them the compensation they deserved for having their land taken by the Crown, they had to buy back a fraction of the land that they used to freely inhabit.

As a mostly white settler colonist, I believe that it is important to celebrate Indigenous culture, not just shove it off to the side and label it as ‘wrong’ or ‘savage and civilized’.

The website The Algonquins of Pikwakanagan First Nation is a great place to learn more about the Algonquin nation for those of you who want to continue your learning journey. Learning more can be hard, but it is very important, and I encourage you to be gentle with yourself, and take the time you need to process.