Bill MacDonald

Oct 09, 2014

Councillor

Bill MacDonald – the comeback kid

He's not exactly a kid and he never left politics, but former Central Frontenac Mayor Bill MacDonald is attempting a comeback to municipal politics by running for Council in Ward 3 (Oso).

MacDonald served as mayor from 1998 to 2006. After losing the 2006 election to Janet Gutowski he turned to provincial politics, narrowly losing a nomination contest to be the Liberal Party candidate in 2007. He then secured the nomination for the next two elections. In both cases, he lost the general election to Randy Hillier of the Conservative Party, the last time being this past June.

“I'm running for council because I have so many connections because of my years on council and in provincial politics,” he said, “and with the Liberals being in power for the next four years I think I can serve Central Frontenac in a positive manner. I hope my track record as a community-oriented individual will be considered by the voters,” he said.

He shares the concerns of other members of Council over OPP billing cost increases next year, and thinks it is important for municipalities, through AMO (Association of Municipalities of Ontario) to continue to press the province to take back funding, not only of policing but ambulance service as well.

“There is more than just the cost involved here; services such as policing and ambulance should be seamless throughout the province, and leaving them at the municipal level makes them subject to local political pressures and issues, which is a bad policy. They should be financed out of the provincial coffers, but of course that is a long term argument and in the short term it is a budgetary problem,” he said.

He would like to work on engaging youth in local politics by approaching the civics class at Granite Ridge Education Centre to have a student sit on council for a year. He also thinks it is time that the local council and the Shabot Obaadjiwan First Nation started working together.

He said that, if elected, he would consider returning to County Council provided his council colleagues were inclined to send him that way.

Finally, he said he is concerned about the vacancies at the senior management level of the township.

“The revolving door has got to stop. I think a commitment on the part of whoever we hire should come out in the interview process,” he said.