Blake Ellis/The Independent

Tim Williams will serve his community in a new way.

The former Petrolia/North Enniskillen Deputy Fire Chief is the new councillor in Enniskillen Township.
A special meeting was held Monday where council members chose who would fill a vacant seat upon the resignation of Councillor Mary Lynne McCallum on Dec. 31. The whole exercise only took 10 minutes.

Only three councillors were part of the decision making process. Deputy Mayor Judy Krall declared a conflict of interest at the beginning of the meeting, since one of the candidates was a relative.
Before council made its decision, Mayor Kevin Marriott said he was pleased with the amount of interest people have had in serving as a councillor.

There were originally six candidates put their name forward, including Jason Armstrong, Renee Ethier, Corey McKinnon, Terry McNally, Brian Taylor and Williams.

That number was reduced to five, as one of the candidates pulled their name from consideration.
Marriott asked everyone who showed an interest to consider putting his or her names forward for the next municipal election in October 2026.

“It isn’t everyone who wants to get involved and serve on municipal council,” said Marriott.
“Social media has made serving stressful for all politicians.”

The mayor pointed to some people on social media not knowing all the details of an issue or posting false information, as to why it can be tough to be a politician.

Advice Marriott received when he first ran for council was to remember you can’t make everyone happy. “Boy has that been the understatement of the century,” he said.

Councillor Wally Van Dun admitted making the decision of who would serve as councillor wasn’t an easy one.

Councillor Chad Burke extended his heart felt gratitude to everyone who put his or her name forward for consideration.

Beyond that, there was no further discussion, as Van Dun made a motion to have Williams fill the council seat. It was passed without any further comments, along with a bylaw declaring him as a councillor.
“I didn’t think it would be that quick,” said Marriott.

“I come into this because of pure interest,” said Williams, indicating municipal politics is in his family background.

His grandfather, James Williams, and his uncle, Keith Dawson, both served as councillors for Enniskillen Township.

“The nice thing about it, it’s a short term, so if municipal politics and I don’t get along, it can be a quick experience,” Williams quipped

In an interview with The Independent after the proceedings, Williams said the first thing he will need to do is learn about his new role, especially since the council is in the midst of its current term. He wants to be forward thinking, especially when it comes to dealing with capital expenditures.

Williams is a graduate of the advanced agricultural leadership program at the University of Guelph and has previously served with various agricultural organizations including the Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association, the Ontario Corn Producers and the Ontario Soybean Growers.

Williams first council meeting will be March 17.