A little over a week ago, Amrit Kaillon was watching tv and saw an item about Caremongering Facebook sites, a Canadian idea that is taking hold across the world.

The idea is simple, instead of promoting fear, caremongering is a Facebook page devoted to people coming together to support one another in a troubled time.

She decided to start a Sharbot Lake site. Within a day it had 80 members and has been growing ever since.

Out of that effort, a Sharbot Lake and Rural Frontenac COVID-10 support group is being formed. It is teaming up with Rural Frontenac Community Services and its transportation wing, Frontenac Transportation Services, to help people access what they need.

“The support group is to act as a centralized system for deliveries. By doing so, we're giving businesses the chance to use their resources for the more important things, like stocking shelves, refilling prescriptions and helping those in need,” Amrit said.

Ken Fisher and Greg Rodgers from the Rockhill B&B have been working on behalf of the Sharbot Lake Business Group to help turn this initiative into reality. A number of businesses are already on board and more are interested in joining.  And Louise Moody from Rural Frontenac Community Services has brought all her resources to the effort.

Frontenac Transportation Services is helping with deliveries, but more volunteers are needed.

Anyone who is interested can contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or go to the Caremongering Sharbot Lake Facebook page to access an online form.

“These are unprecedented times where many are worried and fearful of the future.  We are here to help, in any way we can, even if it’s for a friendly phone call or to boost morale.  Thank you to all the volunteers for your dedication to helping those in trying times,” said Amrit.

The group is also planning a social-distancing friendly Easter event. Look for details over the next two weeks.

In the midst of all the bad news lately, here’s a little bit of good news.

Rural Frontenac Community Services has been successful in securing a New Horizons grant in the amount of $13,780 for its SALT (Seniors and Law Enforcement Together) talks luncheon series.

The SALT talks program offer a free lunch for seniors and a talk on things that matter to seniors in terms of health and/or safety. They’ve been becoming more and more popular since being introduced a few years ago.

“We got all that we asked for,” said Catherine Tysick, Adult Centre Manager. “And the fortunate thing is that it’s for one year . . . I suspect we’re going to get off to a slow start.

“We have to schedule a meeting in April (and) personally I don’t think we can move ahead if we don’t have the halls.”

Tysick said that one of the best aspects of the new funding is that it means they can branch out in terms of the topics they offer with lunch — it doesn’t have to be health related.

“We can now branch out to topics that are not health matters but do involve safety such as banking, online shopping and such.

“It’s good to have the OPP’s expertise on this.”

She said they have been in the process of securing caterers for their events.

“Up to this point, we had been using our own staff, who do the Diners events,” she said. “The funding means we can spin it off and have it separate from Diners.”

She said the locations and dates of events are yet to be determined but they do plan to use the money for 12 events — six in Central Frontenac and six in North Frontenac.

She said that if people have ideas for topics they’d like to have covered, they can make suggestions directly to her (613-279-3151, ext; 201)

“When we have the events people will have to RSVP through here, and if people have questions, they can ask me too,” she said.

The much-anticipated Ride Share internet listing from Rural Frontenac Community Services had been scheduled to launch in January. However, a few wrinkles and glitches had to be worked out.

“We came very close to launching,” said RFCS transportation programmer Gail Young. “Then we got calls from Lennox & Addington and Lanark Counties asking if they could participate.”

She said they were currently in process of making adjustments to include the two other counties as well as Frontenac County.

“We’re hoping to be ready before the end of March,” Young said.

One of the changes they’re making to the website is showing where rides are emanating from and where they are going to “show we can share statistics with our Councils,” she said.

“We were ready to go but we’re holding off launching until we can make these additions,” she said. “We don’t want to launch with a bunch of glitches.”

The program had been called Community Car Pool but will now likely be shortened to just Community Car.

The idea is quite simple actually. If you’re looking for a ride to somewhere from somewhere, you put it on the site. If somebody is already going, or willing to take you, the site makes a connection. And vice versa, if you’re going somewhere on a particular day, you can list that and anybody who wants to go with you makes a connection via the web site.

Eight months after Southern Frontenac Community Services (SFCS) pulled out of its agreement with the City of Kingston to provide homelessness prevention services for Frontenac County, a new provider of the service has finally been confirmed.

“It was a regrettable decision that we had to make to stop offering this service.” said SFCS Executive Director David Townsend in announcing the pullout on July 15 of last year.

“We had no real choice because we could not maintain the proper staffing for the program. It is an important service to the community but we were no longer able to provide it. It was also a drain on our resources as an organisation.”

In September, the City of Kingston set out a request for proposal (RFP) for a new provider to provide the service, but no announcement was made about who the successful bidder was.

Through the process, the News learned that at least three organisations responded to the RFP, which stipulated that the service must be provided to residents of South, Central and North Frontenac.

A bid was submitted by Rural Frontenac Community Services, who had been collaborating with Southern Frontenac Community Services to offer the services in Central and North Frontenac. Another bid was submitted by Home Based Housing, a Kingston agency that provides the service in the city and provided interim services to residents of South Frontenac after SFCS stopped offering the service last summer. A third, and ultimately successful proposal, was submitted by the Salvation Army Kingston Citadel Community and Family Services department.

We are attempting to contact both the Kingston Citadel and the Homelessness Prevention Office of the City of Kingston for information about how the program will operate going forward.

The City of Kingston is the consolidated service manager for social programs in Frontenac County. These include: children’s services, daycare services and subsidy, Ontario Works, not-for-profit housing, and homelessness prevention.

The city set out a 10-year homelessness prevention plan for Kingston and Frontenac County in 2014, and the 5-year review of that plan was completed in 2019.

Surveys to determine the number of people in both the city and county who are either homeless, at risk of homelessness, or living in substandard housing, have been completed every second year in April.

The most recent survey, in 2018, determined that there were 61 homeless people in Frontenac County, using the definition of homelessness provided by the Canadian Observatory of Homelessness, which is “those whose accommodation is temporary or lacks security or tenure”.

Sydenham area resident Ann Barlow came as a delegate to explain, from her perspective as a senior citizen without a driver’s license, the importance of the Frontenac Transportation Service.. This service provides access for grocery shopping, transport to Kingston for medical and other appointments, and in Barlow’s case (she is a watercolour artist, specializing in local scenes and subjects), has made it possible for her to develop a small business marketing fine art cards featuring local fauna, flora and landscapes. Because she has outlets in Kingston, Sunbury, Sydenham and Keplar, Barlow hires RFTS so she can visit the outlets monthly to maintain her displays. The County’s decision to not include funding support to RFTS after 2020 means her monthly business travel costs will increased by nearly 50% next year, which threatens the viability of an already low-profit enterprise.

Barlow concluded: “Although the County receives Provincial and Federal cash for ‘use of roads’, you seek to gain an additional $48,000 by adding to the financial stress…of the 223 low-income ‘unique individuals’ who depend on the drive service. When you made your decision to cut funding we were not consulted and our needs were not considered. Surely there are better ways to achieve your economic goals than by hurting vulnerable seniors in the community.”

Barlow was frustrated by Mayor Vandewal’s reply that her request would have to go to the County early next fall, when the 2021 budget is being planned.

Until last year, Frontenac Transportation Services has been run by Rural Frontenac Community Services, which is based in Sharbot Lake, under a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Southern Frontenac Community Services, which is based in Sydenham. It received $96,000 in Frontenac County funding. The MoU fell apart last year, and the two agencies requested $48,000 each from Frontenac County for 2020, and the county granted the money but said it was the last year for funding and the two agencies should look elsewhere for support next year.

Mayor Vandewal told Barlow that the county has asked both Rural Frontenac Community Services and South Frontenac Social Services for their statistics and business plans related to transportation services, but to date the two agencies appear not to be working in cooperation on this issue. Vandewal said there have already been many complaints from residents about this lack of County support for transportation services. Deputy Mayor Sutherland suggested that if the two agencies could not work together, perhaps the County needs to assume full responsibility for this essential program.

Councillor Revill complimented Barlow on the clarity of her letter, and he and Mayor Vandewal assured her that they would bring it to County Council’s attention.

At this point, CAO Carbone shut down the discussion, saying this meeting’s purpose was to receive delegations, not to debate topics that were not on the agenda.

2019-2022 Strategic Activities Draft Report

CAO Carbone presented the final draft of the Township’s Strategic Plan for the remainder of this term: it is an ambitious and detailed report, available in full (draft) form in the agenda notes online for the Jan 21 COW meeting. One interesting suggestion among many was to review the possibility of relying less on the standing committees (which sometimes cancel meetings for lack of agenda items) and more on the Committee of the Whole.

Overhead Wires a Hazard for Birds

Eliza Murphy of Sydenham came as a delegate to Council to address her concern about the hazards presented to birds, specifically herons, flying from Sydenham Lake across George St at or near the bridge to fish in the creek. While living nearby, Murphy has seen two dead herons and a dead osprey on or near the bridge.

She has spoken to both Ontario Hydro and Bell Canada, and each have agreed to ‘investigate a solution for the problem of the wires crossing the George St bridge’. She listed references to several possible solutions including coloured (but not reflective or metallic) tab-markers to make the wires more visible. Public Works Manager Mark Segsworth agreed to follow up with Hydro and Bell.

Murphy also asked whether the township could consider constructing an animal underpass each side of the bridge when the roadway across the bridge is reconstructed (originally planned for two years ago, now postponed to at least 2021.) Turtles crossing in the spring continue to be killed in spite of many rescues by drivers and villagers, and this is also a foot-crossing area for numerous other animals; otters, beavers, muskrats, ducks and geese.

Senior Planner Position to be Created

During budget discussions in December of 2019, staff recommended the creation of a new Senior Planner position to accommodate the growing workload within the Development Services department. Council approved the funds for this new position in the 2020 operating budget; however, Council requested further information about the intent/role of the position prior to proceeding.

CAO Carbone’s report provided this information, and asked Council’s support to move ahead in advertising the position, with an anticipated start date of April. Councillor Sleeth asked whether a head-hunter would be necessary, and Planning/Building Director Claire Dodds replied that this hiring would be done in-house: positions for both Senior Planner and Planner will be advertised at the same time, and a good selection of applicants is anticipated.

“Where will we put them?” asked Councillor Revill.

Carbone said that the 2020 budget has provisions for non-structural renovations to the downstairs area, which will make better use of the space.

Ask anyone on the Villages Beautiful committee and they’ll tell you that the idea is to make the entire Township of Central Frontenac more appealing.

As such, they hold a fundraiser each Christmas season, the Festival of Trees, to raise funds that are distributed to the various hamlets and settlement areas to use as they see fit.

Each year, there’s a central theme that entrants adhere to. This year, it was Down Home Country Christmas.

“One of the best things is it’s for the whole Township,” said committee member Sarah Hale. “We all support each other to make the whole area more attractive.”

Doris Campsall, a veteran of “at least 20 Festivals,” said “it was a dream of Rosemarie Bowick along with Mardie Brown from Arden. The idea of using the festival as a fundraiser actually came about because Bill and Rosemarie Bowick had experience in such things,” said Hale. “We’d tried other fundraisers which weren’t very successful.

“One year, after having the Festival the previous year, we tried a dance. There was an outcry.”

Hale said it’s important to connect the winter festival to summer projects.

“We buy barrels and benches and trees and flowers,” she said. “The various committees decide what to do with them in their communities. In Arden this year, we’ll be focusing on the footbridge.”

“In Parham, we focus on ‘the corner’ (of 38 and Wagarville Road),” said Campsall. “And on the fairgrounds. But there are also projects in Tichborne, Mountain Grove and others.”

“But it’s also to mark the Christmas season,” said Hale.

Brenda McKinstry is a relative newcomer to the Festival of Trees community, but she likes what she’s seen so far.

“I was involved a little bit last year,” she said. “I’m amazed at how much detail and effort is put in. There’s a lot of organization involved too — but it’s all good.”

2019 Winners and the lucky people who drew the winning ticket for them

Large Trees

1st — Memories of Christmas, W.A. Robinson Asset Management – Krista Raymo

2nd — Rustic Cozy Cabin, Township of Central Frontenac – Colleen Steele

3rd — A Rustic Country Christmas, Friday Night Ladies – Laura Wood and Home Made Christmas, Community Living – Ethan Godfrey

Medium Trees

1st — A Cozy Cabin Christmas, North Frontenac Telephone Company – Mike Fraser

2nd — “Country Road, Take Me Home,” Lake District Realty – Rudy Hollywood

3rd — A Sharbot Lake Down Home Country Christmas through the Years, St. Lawrence College Employment Services – R. Cook

Mini Trees

1st — “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” Pin Point Appraisers – Tim Procter

2nd — Glitter all the way, Rural Frontenac Community Services Youth Hub and Kids Club – Natalie Wotherspoon

3rd — Old Fashioned Christmas, Parham UCC Sunday School – the Herns

Anything Goes

1st — Family Gnomes Down Home Country Christmas, Opening Minds Innovation – Betty Ann Blythe

2nd — Owl Be Home for Christmas, Linda Devries – Liz Bonser

3rd — Legend of the Christmas Stocking, Treasure Trunk - Natalie Hickey, and Delicious Traditions, Community Drop-In – Madison Robideux

Baskets

1st — A Cardinal Christmas, Cardinal Café – Margo McCullough

2nd — A Homemade Down-Home Christmas, Sharbot Lake Family Health Team & Community Exercise and Lifestyle Program – Shirley Gunhouse

3rd — The Christmas Remedy, Sharbot Lake Pharmacy – Marie Vinkle

Gingerbreads

1st — A Down Gnome Country Christmas, Northern Connections Adult Learning Centre – Jenn Clark

2nd — An Udderly Amazing Down Home Country Christmas on the Farm, Whan Family – Jack Mclean

3rd — Christmas Fun in the Country, Sharbot Lake 39-ers – the Giroux’s

Wreaths

1st — A Country Christmas at the Farm, Arden Seniors – Mickie ?

2nd — Welcome Home for Christmas, North Frontenac Food Bank – John Lee

3rd — Jingle all the Way, Linda Truchan – Shirley Cuddy

Wall Hangings

1st — Christmas on the Farm, Janice Anderson – Chris Parks

2nd — We’ll All be Home for Christmas, Arden Batik – Chantelle Gilpin

3rd — Christmas, Laurie Love Godfrey Grocery – Leslie M.

North Frontenac Council essentially turned down a request from the Ompah Community Volunteer Association (OCVA) to honour trail permits from the Ottawa Valley ATV Club (OVATVC) and the Ontario Federation of ATVs (OFATV) in agreements similar to the one the Township has with the Eastern Ontario Trails Alliance (EOTA).

“The message is that we’re not going to entertain multiple agreements,” said Mayor Ron Higgins. “Get together and come as one.”

In a letter to Council, OCVA President Mike Widmeyer asked for an agreement with the OVATVC and OFATV advising that the two clubs “have played a major role in the community’s ability to participate i the spring and fall ATV runs for the last seven years.

“Recent issues regarding trail passes, maps, road passes, threatened legal action, etc, may impact the Club’s ability to participate in the spring and fall ATV events.”

“If on our trail(s), they’ll have to have a North Frontenac or an EOTA trail permit,” said Corey Klatt, manager of community development. “People want access but they’re not bringing anything to the table.

“It’s a North Frontenac project (and) we need revenue.

“And frankly, I don’t want to be in the middle of a disagreement or a ‘who does what.’”

Klatt said the arrangement with the EOTA has evolved to the point where the EOTA has contributed $49,588.16 since 2009 including one-time donations and covering permit sales shortfalls for the Crown Land Stewardship Program (CLSP).

“Moreover, the EOTA applied for Provincial funding in 2019 and included a request for $20,000 for the CLSP within their application,” Klatt said. “We will know if this request for funding was successful in 2020.

“Furthermore, the EOTA made a donation of $12,000 to the Township in 2016 for the construction of the Ompah Rest Stop.”

He said “if they want us to honour their trail passes, they’ll have to come to Council with a business case.”

There was considerable discussion on the matter before a decision however.

“I don’t know why we couldn’t allow as many people as possible to contribute to our trails,” said Coun. Vern Hermer.

“This could open up a can of worms,” said Higgins.

“It could be a cash cow,” said Coun. John Inglis.

“It’s a cash cow now, leave it as it is,” said Dep. Mayor Fred Perry.

• • •

And speaking of Dep. Mayor Fred Perry, the last meeting of the decade was also his last as deputy major.

Council voted 5-2 to name Coun. Gerry Martin as deputy mayor for 2020.

Perry could of course put his name forward for 2021.

• • •

Council reserved making a decision on Rural Frontenac Community Services request for $5,400 to provide children’s services until budget time.

“We’re taking our time this year,” said Mayor Ron Higgins. “We’re not expecting to approve the budget until February or March.”

• • •

The internet “speed test” is now active on the Township website. The test will provide documentation for government grants related to the development of high-speed internet networks.

• • •

Mayor Ron Higgins updated Council on his recent meetings with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry.

Higgins said the District Officer in Bancroft commended the lake associations for their work on evasive species and that there was some discussion to “resurrect our two fish hatcheries.”

The discussion migrated to Areas of Natural or Scientific Interest (ANSI) and that unlike the Frontenac County Official Plan, the Ministry did not acknowledge Regional ANSIs, only Provincial ones.

“They’re not interested in non-provincial ones,” Higgins said.

“What it is right now is that if somebody is in an ANSI and they want a building permit, there needs to be a study,” said CAO Cheryl Robson.

“The County is making a mistake,” said Coun. John Inglis

“Compounding a mistake,” said Coun. Gerry Martin.

“I think we need to ask (the County) for an Official Plan amendment,” said Higgins.

In their fall community grants announcement on Monday night (December 16) in Kingston, the Community Foundation for Kingston and Area (CFKA) focussed on regional service delivery. Frontenac and rural Lennox and Addington are the focus for one of the largest grants, $21,850 to the KFL&A (Kingston Frontenac Lennox and Addington) Children and Youth Planning Committee (CYPC)

The CYPC is made up of over 30 agencies who meet together periodically in order to attempt to provide seamless service delivery for children and youth in the region.

“We meet together regularly and the topic of transportation comes up at almost every meeting. That’s why we decided to apply for a grant to allow us to look at what is available in different communities, so we can work together r to find better solutions,” said Louise Moody, who is the Executive Director of Rural Frontenac Community Services, a member of CYPC. She accepted the grant on behalf of the member agencies.

“Lack of transportation in Kingston & Area's communities continues to be an obstacle for rural children and youth,” said the Community Foundation in announcing the grant. “This often means youth and families have difficulties accessing needed services, attending social events, participating in sports and leisure activities. Most agencies in KFL&A have a small transportation budget or program.

“This project will take a systemic view of rural transportation by supporting planning among agencies to see how transportation services can be coordinated so that more children, youth and families can not only access the services they need, but also participate in community activities to support their overall wellbeing and feel a sense of inclusion in their community.”

Transportation services in KLF&A have had their ups and downs recently.

In early November, Frontenac County Council decided that 2020 will be the last year that they will provide $96,000 in funding for transportation services in their jurisdiction. The county has provided annual funding to various transportation programs for over 15 years. Later in November, a new community bus program was started up in Addington Highlands by Land O’Lakes Community Services with the aid of a provincial grant, and starting in January of 2020 a new ride sharing app will be unveiled by Rural Frontenac Community Services.

Other grants from the Community Foundation that will have an impact in the Frontenac News readership area include: $9000 to replace aging equipment at the Gould Lake Resource Centre in South Frontenac, $3650 for the Passport to Nature Program of the Land Conservancy for KFL&A, as well as funding for children’s mental health, an awareness program for ACE (Adverse Childhood Experiences), and a women’s intensive support program.

The CFKA provides community grants in: arts and culture, community development, education and literacy, environment, health and social services, heritage preservation, recreation, and youth and children’s mental health The next application deadline is February 15, 2020. Information about grant applications is available at CFKA.org.

In an outreach effort to groups and agencies in Frontenac County, grants coordinator Penny Scott will be holding a community grants information session in Sydenham in early January.

During this information session, participants will be provided with an overview of the community grants program, as well as a review of the eligibility guidelines, application form and budget template.

It will be an informal setting to ask questions and learn more about this opportunity.

The South Frontenac information session will be held on Thursday, January 9 from 2pm - 3:30pm in the Sydenham Library meeting room at 4412 Wheatley Street. Register by visiting www.cfka.org

Southern Frontenac Community Services has stopped providing services through a program that is designed to find housing for homeless residents of Frontenac County and help those who are precariously housed to stabilise or improve their situation.

“It was a regrettable decision that we had to make to stop offering this service,” said SFCS Executive Director David Townsend, “but we had no real choice because we could not maintain the proper staffing for the program. It is an important service to the community but we were no longer able to provide it. It was also a drain on our resources as an organisation.”

The Homelessness Prevention Program in Frontenac County was set up as part of the 10-year homelessness prevention strategy by the City of Kingston.

In 2014, SFCS took the lead, along with Rural Frontenac Community Services and Addictions and Mental Health KFLA, in answering a request for proposal to provide services in Frontenac County. The bid from the three agencies was successful and the program started up in 2015. It was tweaked a couple of years later, after being reviewed by City of Kingston staff.

Last year, The United Way of KFLA provided funding for a part-time youth homelessness prevention worker based in Sydenham and another part-time worker based in Sharbot Lake.

“The program was most successful when we had social workers who understood the needs in our rural area,” said Townsend, “but our ability to keep our workers was hampered by our own pay grid,” said Townsend.

Qualified workers can make more money doing similar jobs in the City of Kingston than they can working for Southern Frontenac Community Services.

“It would not be fair to the rest of our employees if we paid the homelessness prevention workers on a different scale,” he said.

The situation came to a head this spring, when 2 workers left for other jobs in the region and an attempt to recruit new workers proved unsuccessful.

Townsend said that Home Based Housing, the agency that runs the homelessness prevention program in Kingston, is providing some service in Frontenac County. People seeking service are encouraged to call them directly at 613-542-6672

“We are concerned about the impact in Central and North Frontenac,” said Louise Moody, Executive Director of Rural Frontenac Community Services, based in Sharbot Lake. ‘We are continuing to offer services for youth at risk of homelessness through the United Way program, but there is a fair bit of need in our communities for the kind of services that this program offered.”

A new request for proposal for the provision of the service in Frontenac County will be prepared in the coming weeks, Moody has been informed.

“For our agency, it would be best if the territory was split and we could prepare a proposal to serve the region from Verona north, but we understand that this will not happen. AS far as we know, it will be same territory as it was before, all of Frontenac County. We do serve all of the county with the EarlyOn program, so we know the territory, but it would be a stretch for us. Our board will decide if we can reasonably provide this service as well, and if we have the administrative capacity to take on another program.”

In the meantime, Frontenac County residents who are homeless, at risk of becoming so, or living in inadequate housing, do not have the kind of direct support in navigating the system or accessing resources, that has been available over the last five years.

The City of Kingston is undertaking a five-year review of the 10-year homelessness prevention program, which had the elimination of homelessness as its stated goal.

All has been quiet on the Queen’s Park front in recent weeks, at least as far as creating a new template for municipal governance in the province is concerned. A review of how regional governance is working in municipalities across southern Ontario is ongoing and that may lead to some changes. As to what the provincial government is planning for Eastern and Northern Ontario, particularly for small, rural municipalities, is not the least bit clear.

There have been hints, however. Changes in administration are still being planned for services such as Public Health, Paramedic Services, Libraries, and Child Care, which are all overseen by municipalities and partially funded with municipal dollars. And there is a clear direction from the government, they want to see larger and larger entities covering larger swathes of territory.

In March, there was one-time funding allotment for small, rural municipalities in the spring. It came with no strings attached but was earmarked to be used to find efficiencies in the delivery of municipal services, with no indication about what those inefficiencies might be. There is every reason to believe that rural municipalities will be the next sector that will be addressed, and the push for larger entities is the likely outcome.

The time frame during which such changes are likely to be initiated is now pretty narrow. If it is going happen before the next provincial election, we will likely know something about it before the end of the year, if not earlier.

In the context of change, there is another question that should be asked, at least in Frontenac County, and that is whether we are well served by the municipal arrangements that are currently in place.

When the current system was established in 1998, responsibility for the delivery of municipal services was split between the Frontenac Townships (roads and bridges, building and development, recreation, finance, waste, etc) and the City of Kingston (social services: child care, Ontario Works, Housing, etc) with ancillary institutions such as KFL&A Public Health, the Kingston Frontenac Public Library and others operating at arms length by boards appointed by the municipalities. The Frontenac Management Board (FMB), overseen by the four Frontenac Mayors, was set up in order to facilitate all of the relationships between the townships, the City of Kingston, and those boards. It also operated a long-term care facility, Fairmount Home, and later won the contract to provide Paramedic Services in Kingston and Frontenac.

The FMB then renamed itself Frontenac County and has taken on some of the land use planning and IT functions for the Frontenac Townships, and has established a small economic development department.

The fact that our municipalities do not deal in any direct way with services aimed at alleviating poverty, at keeping people housed and healthy, and supporting our aging population, makes us something less than a full-blown municipality.

We have been lucky enough in Frontenac County to have two community-based agencies, Rural Frontenac Community Services and Southern Frontenac Community Services, providing the kinds of supports that people rely upon, but each of these agencies is facing constraints from an increasingly fickle provincial government. In place of the moral support and minimal funding they receive from the municipalities they serve, a true partnership needs to emerge to ensure they can provide the kinds of services that we decide are necessary, instead of the services that the provincial government decides to fund.

In order to comply with the Policing Act, Frontenac County requires a Community Safety and Well-Being Plan. The Frontenac Townships are working together on this, and are setting up an advisory committee to develop the plan. This exercise could result in an empty shell of a plan, or one that starts to expand the scope of our municipal services.

Perhaps the Province of Ontario will decide how our municipal future will unfold, perhaps not.

But it is high time that we begin a conversation about developing a comprehensive political structure devoted to the needs of all Frontenac County residents. In my view, a single Frontenac Township is necessary to take on the needs of the 28,000 permanent residents and almost as many seasonal residents. By pooling all of our physical, administrative, and human resources, we can begin to serve the particular needs of our residents. If the opportunity arises, we would be in a position to make a case to the provincial government for the establishment of such a political body.

The status quo is not a solution any more, and if we do not make an effort to build our own future, based on our shared history and the land that we occupy, or someone from the outside is certain to do it for us.