Thank you for re-electing me as your Mayor for the next 4 years.  I am humbled and honoured to have been re-elected once again as your mayor of Grey Highlands. First, I would like to take a moment to thank the previous council for their hard work and dedication to our municipality. Their commitment has moved the municipality forward, even through the trials and tribulations of a world-wide pandemic.

I would also like to thank our municipal staff who work so diligently on our behalf. Over and above their day-to-day work, the election is a huge undertaking, from the planning of this event to the Council training and endless meetings, staff are not commended enough for all the work they do. Thank you all.

We have a lot of experience at our new Council table: Deputy Mayor Dane Nielsen and Councillor Tom Allwood have served on council for the past term, and Councillor Paul Allen has served for 2 terms. We have new strong voices in Councillors Nadia Dubyk, Joel Loughead and Dan Wickens. I am truly honoured to be heading into my third term as your Mayor, and 6th term on Grey Highlands Council. I am looking forward to working with all of you for the next four years.

The election is over. The voters have spoken, and with that, comes a tremendous sense of responsibility. Over the next four years the seven of us will be committed to engaging with the community to deal with the challenges and opportunities in Grey Highlands. We are committed to do the very best we can for the community as a whole.

We need to continue to work towards a safe, prosperous and progressive municipality.

A municipality that encourages economic development and tourism.

A municipality that strives to be affordable for families and seniors.

A municipality where people want to live and grow.

A municipality where residents feel included and heard.

A municipality that will empower our volunteers to step up to the plate once again.

We will build the needed infrastructure for our future, the amenities we need, and a strong local economy to provide us jobs to help pay the bills. There will always be taxes, our job is to ensure we raise income, invest sensibly, and spend money wisely.

We need to continue to work with Grey County Council to keep Grey Gables LTC home open and get the reconstruction to allow for additional beds back on the table. With the completion of the Hospital, this will help move us closer to the health campus concept in Markdale. I am looking so forward to the Grand Opening of this hospital, which has been in the planning for 20 years. Speaking of the hospital, I am pleased that the Ram Rodeo will be returning in 2023 for the 3rd annual event, which has raised over $70,000 for the Markdale Hospital Foundation to date. This year Ram rodeo will be celebrating it’s 25th year! Yee Haw!

As we know, Devonleigh Homes will be working on their first phase of development, which will include the infrastructure for the new right-sized public school for Markdale. This reminds us of the strong community support we have here in Grey Highlands, including Chapman’s Ice Cream, who fought hard to save Beavercrest School.

We will continue to see new growth that will include the downtown revitalization in Markdale that will help build our assessment base for all of Grey Highlands.

I would like to quote our current Grey Highlands Official Plan:

Our Vision: Grey Highlands is a healthy and vibrant “community of communities” celebrating its diverse and creative culture, promoting its agricultural base, natural heritage and environment.

And

Our Mission: The corporation of grey highlands will ensure the values of a diverse creative, healthy and vibrant rural agricultural community are achieved through good governance, community engagement and advocacy.

We can use these to guide us as we make decisions as a council.
I’m looking forward to this next term and working for the people of Grey Highlands.

Thank you.