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Councillors Fallis & Czetwerzuk conducted an "open forum" ward meeting at the Orillia Opera House on Friday evening, 7:00 to 9:00 pm. About 50 attended including two other councillors, Ms Dunford and Mr Campbell.
Both Ward 3 councillors are to be commended for their initiative to conduct these meetings, three so far.
Their agenda addressed many issues of concern to residents of the ward and was informative in reviewing past and future initiatives.
Anecdotally three issues dominated the discussions: doctor recruitment & walk-in clinics, adverts/flyers litter and fireworks.
Residents expressed concern about the lack of access to GPs. One figure quoted was 19,000 residents have no family doctor. Others attendees indicated that they have retained their GPs from previous locations to ensure adequate care, myself included, so the actual shortage is likely much higher than 19,000. As was discussed, Bracebridge has a walk in clinic but Orillia does not.
Hopefully Council will continue to formulate a plan to address the shortage and support a 'walk-in' clinic?
Adverts/flyers continue to litter the West Ridge area from a previous distribution. The 'majority' opinion was to ban the distribution. Rather than placing the onus on individuals to opt out, Council should take collective responsibility to deal with the issue.
Fireworks generated the most discussion. Concerns about air pollution, noise pollution, safety issues, enforcement methods and other topics were 'debated'. Councillor Fallis distributed a four option survey outlining the possible solutions: 2 days, 4 days, 6 days, (only in an assigned area) and total ban. The results of this 'straw poll' were overwhelmingly in favour of an outright ban (65%), see graph.
As Council is elected as a 'representative' body it is important for members to vote based on the opinion of the majority of their residents and not just personal preferences.
More as information then discussion, both councillors addressed the need for affordable housing and outlined the efforts of social services agencies, municipal and county officials to deal with the problem.
General comment on affordable housing. Orillia needs more economic development so that individuals can get work to afford what is available. My house, like many in the city, has tripled in value but is considered low end affordable. I saw somewhere that Orillia ranks very low on average family income, not surprising! As is often commented, deal with the root causes rather than the effects.
Phil Tweedie
Orillia
