The Independent sent a questionnaire to each candidate for Brooke-Alvinston Council. Below are the unedited responses from the candidates:

MAYORAL CANDIDATES

Age: 64

Work Experience: Farmer for 50 years, worked at Suncor refinery for 33yrs

Political experience: one term on Brooke council 2018-2022

Why do you want to serve on Brooke-Alvinston council? What specific issue motivated you to run?

No specific reason motivated me to run, I have attended most meetings from 2023 till present and I felt there are some items that need changing.  For example we are not proactive enough when it comes to being ready for grant intakes and we continually are trying to come up with projects once grants have become available.  I also would like to see more input from the public when it comes to projects that we feel are needed.  I also believe that the question period at meetings needs to be opened up again. 

What is the most important issue facing the Brooke-Alvinston in the next four years? What should be the township’s response to it?  

Lack of funding is the most important issue facing Brooke.  We need to work closely with our MPP to slow down the funding loss from the province that we continue to see.    

Brooke-Alvinston has invested a lot of money into the arena this year to maintain its operation while having a difficult time keeping up with several key roads in need of repair and aging bridges. How can the municipality balance its recreation needs with keeping up with basic infrastructure?

Proactive planning is key to any Municipality if they are going to keep a balance between services.  We must work with all levels of government to ensure we get our fair share of grant money.   

Brooke-Alvinston has faced continuous cuts to provincial funding over the last decade. It’s also held tax increases under six per cent in the last term of council. Should the municipality be increasing property taxes to deal with aging infrastructure? If not, where should council find the money to do the required infrastructure work?

We can do better at identifying aging infrastructure in advance so we can prepare for grant applications.  Tax increases should be held to the rate of inflation if possible.  We need to send a message to upper levels of government that the costs for engineering, insurance and policing are increasing more than the rate of inflation.  These are fixed costs that are out of the control of Municipal councils.

In the past, the municipality has pursued payment from surrounding municipalities to fund the local arena operations – should this continue?

There is no harm in asking surrounding municipalities for donations to the arena, however we should not ask for an amount and if we are going to ask for a donation, we should put ourselves on the agenda and ask for an amount that they feel they can afford.  We should also be working closer with surrounding municipalities when/if comes to grant applications,  letters of support from surrounding municipalities goes a long way on grant applications.

Marcus Deloughery did not answer the survey provided. Instead, he sent the following:

The questions that have been posed within this survey are timely and pertinent questions, and need more than the 100 word responses that have been requested.

   I understand that people would like to have short concise answers that allows them to quickly decide their like or dislike of a candidates view on specific issues.  The issues at the heart of the questions that have been posed are issues that have no easy answer. It has always been true that governance and government are things that need to serve the people that have placed them there. This goes for all levels of government, from local to county to provincial to federal. My personal opinions on the stated issues are not nearly as important as the ability to be able to bring about the will of the residents of the Municipality of Brooke-Alvinston. To look back and say that no resident has benefited from the decisions of the current council is not true, but it is also not true to say that all residents have fully benefited from every decision, and as such that is why we have elections every four years.  

   So then who am I? I am a 42 year old resident of a beautiful part of the world called Alvinston, that has a rich culture of community helping each other. A community that knows each other, does not always agree with each other, and yet still works towards things being better! I work around southwestern Ontario, completing projects for schools, colleges, hospitals, and businesses. I don’t use the arena every week, but someone does, I don’t drive every road or bridge every day, but someone does. I do care about the people that live in Brooke, Alvinston, Inwood. Life is not always easy, but the government that the people elect should be there to look after things well, to make life better not worse. Also sorry that my response format doesn’t fit in structure of the survey.

 

Age   64

Work Experience   Farmer

Political experience:  Municipal government Municipality of Brooke-Alvinston council 2022-2026; An advocate for farmers at the local (township representative), county, provincial, national and global level at various times over a roughly 30-year period.  Some examples; Provincial director to Ontario Corn Producers Association representing Lambton County; President of the Soil Conservation of Canada; Ontario Federation of Agriculture President; Canadian Federation of Agriculture Environment Chair; United Nations events (CoP meetings and conferences) in New York, Copenhagen, Denmark and Morocco where I was chosen to be the voice for the world’s farmers to address UN panels.

Why do you want to serve on Brooke-Alvinston council? What specific issue motivated you to run?

At this time, I am wanting to continue to serve the people of Brooke-Alvinston in the role of Mayor because a recognition of priority needs to be established.  I have the experience to help at this time. The IMMEDIATE priority is the need for infrastructure investment under dwindling revenue sources.  Government program cuts and downloads of former provincial expense have placed tremendous stress on maintaining the services year over year that residents have come to expect in the municipality. Advocacy to the province and national governments must be heightened to get programs and grants in concert with the reality that Brooke-Alvinston will see tax increases of necessity in the next term of council to fund our renewal of assets like ROADS and BRIDGES.

What is the most important issue facing the Brooke-Alvinston in the next four years? What should be the township’s response to it? 

The most critical issue in Brooke-Alvinston is the infrastructure deficit that has grown into a larger problem every year.  A lack of reserve planning has the municipality facing tougher choices. The 5-year asset management plan is a tool for councillors to acknowledge upcoming needs.  The needs for replacement equipment, expected government program income, etc are laid out.  Brooke-Alvinston needs to focus on road improvement for its priority. There will still be increased insurance costs and provincial download increases (OPP contract up 11% next year).  This will necessitate finding new funding to achieve our needs of road improvement and bridge repair.

Brooke-Alvinston has invested a lot of money into the arena this year to maintain its operation while having a difficult time keeping up with several key roads in need of repair and aging bridges. How can the municipality balance its recreation needs with keeping up with basic infrastructure?

The money going into the arena needs to be recognized as maintenance repairs. A request for donation to the cause has been AMAZING in response and continues on.  Without this investment the arena would have to close.  This work is not an expansion of footprint but a necessary expenditure.  In the future, the arena will need its maintenance budget but no large capital dollars to expand footprint.  

More dollars will be needed in the area of road reconstruction and bridge work.  Reserves have not been built in past decades with the recognition of future needs.   Larger loads of traffic, and farm machinery are taking their toll.  The infrastructure needs to meet todays and tomorrows future needs with safety incorporated.  Hence, the budget balance beam will need to lean heavily towards road work in the future.

Brooke-Alvinston has faced continuous cuts to provincial funding over the last decade. It’s also held tax increases under six per cent in the last term of council. Should the municipality be increasing property taxes to deal with aging infrastructure? If not, where should council find the money to do the required infrastructure work?

The tax increases have been necessary to meet the cost increases across the current economy to hold current service delivery.  There has been no new money placed into reserves that could be used in time of an extreme storm washout for a road or equipment failure.  Of course, all line items in the budget will be reviewed to maximize every dollar collected from taxes.  The reality is tax increases will be needed to maintain services and improve degraded infrastructure.  Advocacy on this issue is needed to provincial and federal governments to establish programs and transfers back to municipalities.  Brooke-Alvinston is a crown jewel in agriculture production that feeds, clothes, fuels, etc, that contribute to the local, provincial and federal coffers.  Rural areas need investment back from upper tier sources.

In the past, the municipality has pursued payment from surrounding municipalities to fund the local arena operations – should this continue?

The municipality has never received any monies from their requests.  Brooke-Alvinston is not the only municipality in Ontario that has requested funding from their neighbours that do not have similar recreational facilities.  The user fees for non Brooke-Alvinston residents may become a reality.  This is a policy that will have to come from county level, regionally or provincially to assure fairness of application.

 

COUNCIL CANDIDATES

Age  43

Work Experience: 25 years of skilled trades experience, licenced automotive and heavy truck mechanic, 50 ton master mariner and small vessel engineer, have traveled throughout north America providing service to equipment and managing large projects, owner of Fully Tek Mechanical in Watford Ontario

Political experience: second time running for council, I defiantly learned a lot during my first attempt, some lessons are best learned the hard way

Why do you want to serve on Brooke-Alvinston council? What specific issue motivated you to run?

Brook Is the best place in the world to live and raise a family. As someone who grew up in the city I’m aware of the consequences of undisciplined leadership, look at our neighbouring city’s and you will see out of control spending, poor services, high taxes, and no accountability every politician wants to say yes to every project or initiative but few want to answer to the voter come budget time when an eye watering tax bill arrives in your mailbox. Being aware that the People we represent work hard for every cent we need to spend or save that money responsibly,

What is the most important issue facing the Brooke-Alvinston in the next four years? What should be the township’s response to it?

Looking back at the last 4 years it’s hard to predict what the next 4 will bring. I think one of our biggest hurdles that we need to face is unity, the last council definitely highlighted the fracture within the municipality petty witch hunts only served to line the pockets of overpriced lawyers well the residents of or community lost a great volunteer. Fierce debate is a healthy and necessary process in government but once a decision is arrived at it must be publicly supported by the mayor and council.

Brooke-Alvinston has invested a lot of money into the arena this year to maintain its operation while having a difficult time keeping up with several key roads in need of repair and aging bridges. How can the municipality balance its recreation needs with keeping up with basic infrastructure?

Delivering basic services and infrastructure need to remain the number one priority of council. The past 2 years we have seen more surprise infrastructure failures than in the preceding 20, I think we need to demand answers to some difficult questions. An example of this is how bridges are inspected every 2 years, I would assume the inspecting contractor would prepare some kind of a report outlining recommended maintenance and life expectancy. Are these reports even being reviewed? Seeing as this is suddenly a surprise I would bet my council salary that they are simply being filed. a long-term replacement or refurbishment strategy is simply ignored. As for recreation facility’s they were built and are maintained by the tax dollars of Brook Alvinson residence and those residence should continue to have access to these facility’s at a preferential rate, I don’t think its too much to ask people from outside of our community to pay a fair market rate to use our assets,

 Brooke-Alvinston has faced continuous cuts to provincial funding over the last decade. It’s also held tax increases under six per cent in the last term of council. Should the municipality be increasing property taxes to deal with aging infrastructure? If not, where should council find the money to do the required infrastructure work?

Doing what’s hard today will pay us back tomorrow, a return to basics and demanding value for each dollar spent is the first step towards balance, we need to recognise that the tax payers of Brook Alvinston are not seeing anything close to 6 percent pay raises so its ridicules for us to expect them to pay more because we are too week willed tomake the difficult decisions they elected us to make

Age: 70
Work Experience: Farmer, worked in agribusiness, facilities manager of Alvinston arena, snow plow operator
Political experience: one-term on Brooke Township council

Why do you want to serve on Brooke-Alvinston council?

No specific issue. I just enjoyed my time on council in the past and felt I’d like to pursue it again now that I have more time.

What is the most important issue facing the municipality in the next four years?

Most important issue is fiscal responsibility and trying to catch up on infrastructure.

Brooke-Alvinston has invested a lot of money into the arena this year to maintain its
operation while having a difficult time keeping up with several key roads in need of repair and aging bridges. How can the municipality balance its recreation needs with keeping up with basic infrastructure?

Now that the arena is in good shape it’s time to shift our concentration to roads, etc. We
need to be diligent in searching for any assistance available from senior levels of government.

The municipality has pursued payment from surrounding municipalities to fund the local arena operations – should this continue?

Historically, we have not had a big enough population to fully support the cost of the arena so we’ve always depended on users from outside Brook- Alvinston. We have to get our income from the users in rental fees etc. Surrounding municipalities have their own issues to deal with.
Should the municipality be increasing property taxes to deal with aging infrastructure? If not, where should council find the money to do the required infrastructure work?

No reply

Age – 65

Work Experience – Farming and community have always been at the heart of everything I do. For the last 46 years, my husband, family, and I have proudly run our cash crop Century Farm. Much like life on the farm, I spent 45 years helping local farmers and business owners succeed through my work in the Farm & Business department at Libro Credit Union, before officially retiring in 2024. 

Political experience – For many years I’ve been actively involved with both the Provincial & Federal Liberal Riding association for Lambton-Kent -Middlesex and acted as Official Agent for many election campaigns.  In this time, I have met with members of all levels of government to discuss the daily challenges and constraints that face rural communities such as ours. I currently serve as a Director on the Southwest Women’s Commission, an organization dedicated to advocating for and supporting women who are pursuing careers in politics. 

Why do you want to serve on Brooke-Alvinston council? What specific issue motivated you to run?

My decision to run for council stems from a lifelong commitment to civic duty and community service.   I’ve always been a dedicated volunteer, having led and advocated for numerous community organizations. As in previous municipal elections, several residents approached me and encouraged me to run. I’m now at a point in my life where I feel it is the right time to do so. My motivation doesn’t come from a specific issue; rather, it is driven by a deep sense of personal responsibility to give back to the community that means so much to me. 

What is the most important issue facing the Brooke-Alvinston in the next four years? What should be the township’s response to it?

Brooke-Alvinston has faced continuous cuts to provincial funding over the last decade. It’s also held tax increases under six per cent in the last term of council. Should the municipality be increasing property taxes to deal with aging infrastructure? If not, where should council find the money to do the required infrastructure work?

With stagnant or decreasing tax base coupled with continuous funding cuts & downing loading of services I believe our municipalities greatest challenge is ensuring our tax rate remains manageable and respects household budgets while protecting our essential services and critical infrastructure?   We must be a forward-looking council that listens, engages, works collaboratively with residents, businesses, community groups, and all levels of government, and is ready to make difficult decisions. All options will need to be on the table including increasing property taxes. Increase the tax base by building new homes, attracting new families & business. However, this will take years to accomplish.  Engage with provincial and federal representatives to ensure we leverage all available funding and grant opportunities. Together with other small municipalities lobby the Provincial Government for long-term, substantial and predictable infrastructure funding &  fully fund provincial responsibilities like health and social services.

Brooke-Alvinston has invested a lot of money into the arena this year to maintain its operation while having a difficult time keeping up with several key roads in need of repair and aging bridges. How can the municipality balance its recreation needs with keeping up with basic infrastructure?

When facing tight budgets we often view recreation & basic infrastructure (like roads, water, sewers) as competing priorities, however in reality they are interconnected parts of our community’s health & economic viability. By developing a comprehensive 1, 2, 5, 10 year plan for all Infrastructure.

• 1.   Inventory all assets – Create a master registry of every road, bridge, park & community centre
• 2.   Assess conditions – Grade assets on a scale to understand what needs immediate attention versus what can wait.
• 3.   Define Level of Service – Establish clear baselines for what a community expects.

Tracking life cycle, expected maintenance costs & risks of all assets to avoid unexpected failures. This should include an emergency plan to address any future natural disasters such as flooding, wind damage.

In the past, the municipality has pursued payment from surrounding municipalities to fund the local arena operations – should this continue?

In my opinion, it would be best to step back from this as it causes unnecessary tension with very little financial return.  It would be more financially beneficial to collaboratively work with our surrounding municipalities on large joint infrastructure projects when possible. Shared road upgrades – no surprises when it happens, applying for grant money together. 

Age: 72
Work Experience: Semi-Retired Farmer
Political experience: seeking fifth term

Why do you want to serve on Brooke-Alvinston’s council?

I see how our municipality has grown over the last 16 years, with all the new development going on and I would like to keep it going.

What is the most important issue facing the municipality in the next four years?

The most important issue facing Brooke-Alvinston is our roads and bridges. We are not receiving much funding to keep our roads up. With the bigger equipment that goes down our roads and the increased vehicle traffic it is a challenge to keep them in tip top shape, so we have to keep working the best way we can to keep them up so it’s safe for everyone that uses them.

How can the municipality balance its recreation needs with keeping up with basic infrastructure?

We have now upgraded our arena to a first-class facility. So now we need to concentrate on our roads and bridges infrastructure with smart management of our financial resources I think it can be done. We have two new graders and I think if we keep our gravel roads in good shape so when there is grant money available, we can start to pave some of them. But without government funding it’s going to be an uphill battle.

Should the municipality be increasing property taxes to deal with aging infrastructure?

We have tried to keep taxes at an affordable rate over the years. People today are stretched to the limit with everything we buy. So saying that we are going to have to live within our own means and try to spend our tax dollars the best efficient way possible. Like my dad said to me growing up, you can’t spend money you don’t have so spend what you do have the best way possible.

In the past, the municipality has pursued payment from surrounding municipalities to fund the local arena operations – should this continue?

This is an important issue being that our arena loses so much money every year. It is an idea that has been discussed before and I don’t want any kids that want to use our arena to get turned away. I think there should be discussion with our neighbours who don’t own an arena and see what happens.

Age 53

Work Experience. –  Recreational Therapist working in Long Term Care for over 30 years

Political experience- current councillor for the municipality seeking re election

Why do you want to serve on Brooke-Alvinston council? What specific issue motivated you to run?

I want to serve on Brooke Alvinston Council because I care about our municipality and the people who live here, I have lived here my entire life and want to give back to the community.  I want to work towards making a difference in this community and listening to the residents giving them a voice.  Our infrastructure has to be our focus along with fiscal responsibility.  Our roads need to be safe for people to drive on and our tax payers money needs to be spent reasonably.

What is the most important issue facing the Brooke-Alvinston in the next four years? What should be the township’s response to it?

I feel the most important issue facing our municipality is our infrastructure.  Our roads and bridges need our attention and need to be councils primary focus. We need roads that are safe to drive on. Our bridges need to be repaired so access around the municipality is easier and quicker for our emergency departments. Being fiscal responsible with the tax payers money is also a high priority.  With federal government cutting back the municipality is left with making up the deficit and we need to look at all possible grants so we can offset the fiscal strain on the municipality and tax payers

Brooke-Alvinston has invested a lot of money into the arena this year to maintain its operation while having a difficult time keeping up with several key roads in need of repair and aging bridges. How can the municipality balance its recreation needs with keeping up with basic infrastructure?

 The arena is the hub of our community and is where we all gather for events.  We had to fix the issues that faced the arena so it could remain operational and continue to be the place where residents can come together and reminisce.  The focus now needs to shift to infrastructure in our roads and bridges so people can arrive at the arena safely.  We need to talk to the provincial and federal governments to invest in small rural municipalities where funding cuts have hurt all rural municipalities.  

Brooke-Alvinston has faced continuous cuts to provincial funding over the last decade. It’s also held tax increases under six per cent in the last term of council. Should the municipality be increasing property taxes to deal with aging infrastructure? If not, where should council find the money to do the required infrastructure work?

There is no way around taxes and the need to increase taxes to maintain the infrastructure that we have.  What we need to do is be diligent at budget time and really look at what is a necessity to the municipality over what would be nice to have.  We need look for and apply for grants that would ease the financial burden on our municipality and tax payers.

In the past, the municipality has pursued payment from surrounding municipalities to fund the local arena operations – should this continue?

This question has been asked a lot around the county and other municipalities this past year as many municipalities are struggling to keep their arenas operational. Never hurts to ask but we shouldn’t expect anything.  

Age: N/A

Work Experience: farmer, small business owner

Political experience: seeking second term

Why do you want to serve on Brooke-Alvinston council? What specific issue motivated you to run?

I am running again because I have lived my whole life in Brooke-Alvinston and would like to be a voice for the community,  listen to the concerns and address them, my motivation comes from enjoying doing just that the past four years and would like to go another four.

What is the most important issue facing the Brooke-Alvinston in the next four years? What should be the township’s response to it?

Infrastructure is the main focus of this term,  it has already been in the discussion every meeting but now is becoming the main focus which it should be,  roads are the number one on my list!

Brooke-Alvinston has invested a lot of money into the arena this year to maintain its operation while having a difficult time keeping up with several key roads in need of repair and aging bridges. How can the municipality balance its recreation needs with keeping up with basic infrastructure?

Yes the arena has been an issue with I believe the issues are basically and we can move on from investing in that directions and lean towards rural priorities, we need to pressure the provincial government to help fund the rural municipalities with there infrastructure needs, we are not the only township under funded with pressure for repairs and maintenance!

Should the municipality be increasing property taxes to deal with aging infrastructure? If not, where should council find the money to do the required infrastructure work?

Same as above answers,  raising taxes is not what we want,  we pay enough taxes on every day living,  we need the provincial government to focus on rural needs bottom line.

In the past, the municipality has pursued payment from surrounding municipalities to fund the local arena operations – should this continue?

Pursing payment for the arena should just come from the users,  if you use it you pay the fee.