SUNDRIDGE, Ont. — Unlike a Meet the Candidates event Monday at the Sundridge Legion where Joly candidates for municipal office were wary of amalgamation, the same can't be said for the group running for seats on Sundridge town council.
Every Sundridge mayoral and councillor candidate supported amalgamating with Strong and Joly.
See related: Mayoral candidate touts anti-amalgamation platform in Strong
Barbara Belrose, who is running for mayor, told the crowd of about 150 residents a special committee of all three municipalities has been formed to examine amalgamation.
“We're a long way from knowing how to do it and there will be many meetings,” Belrose said.
Belrose doubted the three municipalities could merge during the next term of council but added if amalgamation occurs, “it can be valuable to everyone.”
Justine Leveque, who is also seeking the mayoralty, said there are pros and cons to amalgamation.
Leveque strongly supports the three municipalities amalgamating on their own rather than having the provincial government force it on them “which I believe can happen.”
Leveque suggested the municipalities do it their way and the public is included in the process.
Steve Hicks is the last of three candidates for mayor.
Hicks quit Sundridge council earlier this year so he could call out Strong council on several issues without embroiling Sundridge council in his criticisms.
Hicks said geographically, Sundridge is surrounded by Strong “so there's no room for us to grow.”
“Amalgamation is the only way forward for Sundridge,” Hicks said.
Five people are running for the four councillor positions including incumbents Fraser Williamson and Shawn Jackson.
Jackson said it's a tough issue but he is in favour of amalgamation because it would create efficiencies and save money. “We're here to do what's best for the community.”
Williamson supported amalgamation and indicated before it's ever finalized there would need to be public input from residents of all three municipalities.
Councillor challenger Sharon Smith, who was a town councillor in the Village of South River from 2010 to 2018, called amalgamation “a no-brainer,” but the municipalities had to figure out how to pull it off and make it work.
Jim MacLachlan, a retired educator, favoured the amalgamation process and believed if the work was done in earnest, a merger could happen faster than most people believe.
Dan Karas moved to Sundridge last year but is no stranger to the area. He has visited the Sundridge region for 50 years and has been heavily involved with Muskoka Algonquin Health Care as a volunteer.
“If it [amalgamation] saves us money I'm for it,” Karas said.
Karas added that since not everyone agrees with turning the three municipalities into one, he supported having a third party examine the impacts of amalgamation.
Lake Bernard and its future health and safety also came up for discussion. In each instance, all candidates recognized and acknowledged the need to keep the lake in a healthy state.
The invasive plant phragmites is an ongoing concern for the lake because it kills surrounding aquatic life. The candidates thanked the area volunteers known as Phrag Fighters for their tireless work to eradicate the lake of phragmites.
In addition to recognizing the lake as one of the area's most important assets because of its tourism draw, there was also a suggestion to ensure boats entering the water are cleaned off beforehand so phragmites clinging outside the boat don't get into the water.
A more recent development in Sundridge, which was raised during the Meet the Candidates event, involves the local post office closing for lunch during the noon hour.
Sundridge council has a motion to deal with this at its next meeting.
In the meantime, the audience heard several suggestions from the candidates including Jim MacLachlan, who said the public needs to contact the people higher up who are in charge and higher-level politicians to stop the noon-hour closures, a suggestion Shawn Jackson said was a good one.
The closure is a problem, said Fraser Williamson because most working people in the area use their lunchtime to pick up their mail but they find the office closed when they arrive.
Dan Karas said one solution is to stagger the working hours of the employees so they take their lunches at different times thereby keeping the outlet open.
Barbara Belrose said a petition could draw more attention to the issue and reverse what's happening.
Candidates were also asked how they would resolve the issue of ensuring the seniors club known as the Happy Gang continues to have a home.
The club is currently housed in the same building as the town hall but there has been an ongoing debate that the municipality needs the Happy Gang space to create a provincially-mandated Emergency Operations Centre.
Incumbents Fraser Williamson and Shawn Jackson were among the candidates, including Sharon Smith arguing that the Happy Gang continue to stay at the municipal building and that another site is found for the Emergency Operations Centre.
Mayoral candidate Barbara Belrose said a committee is needed to examine this issue in more detail, an idea her challenger Justine Leveque agreed with.
On healthcare, mayoral candidate Justine Leveque made a pitch for more health services which include mental health because it's an area she says is now overlooked.
Dan Karas said the Sundridge area should have its own blood clinic, a suggestion mayoral candidate Barbara Belrose supported.
Belrose also said Sundridge should work on getting a nurse practitioner as a means to increase health services.
While her opponent Steve Hicks didn't disagree with the need for more health services, he cautioned that a health practitioner costs about $120,000 annually and said if the three communities can't get government grants to cover this amount, then it falls on local taxpayers to share the cost.
Coun. Enzo Seca has chosen not to continue on council after this present term.
Rocco Frangione is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of the North Bay Nugget. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
