The Town of Bradford West Gwillimbury will be honouring the memory of three dedicated public servants.
At its Feb. 21 meeting, council moved to name a park after slain South Simcoe police officer, Const. Devon Northrup, and two future streets after former Barrie-Simcoe-Bradford MP Aileen Carroll and former York-Simcoe MPP Julia Munro.
The park at the corner of Langford Boulevard and Ashford Drive will be named Const. Devon Northrup Memorial Park. Northrup was killed in the line of duty Oct. 11, 2022, while responding to a disturbance call, serving alongside Const. Morgan Russell, who was also killed that night.
The 33-year-old Northrup was a six-year veteran of the South Simcoe Police Service who grew up in nearby Newmarket. Council sought to honour Northrup’s contributions to the community, which included volunteer work with the York Region chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
“Devon played a pivotal role in our chapter's success and fulfilling our mission statement," the organization stated in a social media post soon after his death. "Devon was a gentle giant with a smile that would light up a room; he will be truly missed.”
Deputy Mayor Raj Sandhu moved the motion to formally dedicate the park, as it is a continuation of the way the Bradford West Gwillimbury and Innisfil communities rallied around families of the fallen officers in the aftermath of Oct. 11.
“Both of our communities were shocked when we heard the news of two officers being killed in the line of duty,” he said. “Both communities were shattered, but the way we came to support the South Simcoe police at that time – and the families – that was tremendous. That showed what we are made of.”
Const. Devon Northrup Memorial Park will be a short walk from another park that honours a fallen member of the South Simcoe Police Service.
Alan Kuzmich Memorial Park, located on West Park Avenue, between Chris Hadfield Public School and St. Angela Merici Catholic School, honours Kuzmich, a Senior Const. with the police service at the time of his death in 2002. While investigating a motorcycle theft, he was killed after being hit by a car along Highway 11 (now County Road 4) near Line 10.
Recently, the Town of Innisfil renamed the Lefroy arena after Const. Russell, in honour of his contributions to the community he grew up in.
Earlier in February, the province’s Special Investigations Unit cleared South Simcoe Police officers of any wrongdoing in the death of the 22-year-old gunman who ambushed the two officers before killing himself.
Carroll and Munro, two trailblazers in women’s politics, will be immortalized in the streets of future developments in town.
Aileen Carroll Place will be the name of the street entering the Lions Estates development off Barrie Street. Julia Munro Place will be added to the list of approved street names to be used in the future, ideally an adjacent street in a neighbouring development.
Carroll represented Bradford West Gwillimbury from 1997 to 2004, when it was part of the Barrie-Simcoe-Bradford riding, in a succession of Liberal governments. She held the Parliamentary Secretary of Foreign Affairs role from 2001 to 2003 and was named Minister of International Cooperation when Paul Martin became prime minister, serving from 2003 to 2006. After losing re-election in 2006, she moved to provincial politics in 2007, representing the Barrie riding until 2011 and serving as the provincial Minister for Seniors.
Carroll also sat as a Barrie city councillor before entering federal politics. She died in April 2020 at the age of 75.
Munro was the longest-serving woman to sit as a Member of Provincial Parliament in Ontario, representing residents in York, Durham and Simcoe during her 23 years in office.
A former high school teacher, Munro was one of the provincial Conservatives who swept to power during Mike Harris’ Common Sense Revolution in 1995, in the York-Durham riding, the riding association she served as president of from 1992 to 1994. Her riding became York North for her re-election in 1999 and she was able to hold that riding in 2003 when the provincial Liberals began their nearly 15-year hold on Queen’s Park.
Munro’s association with Bradford West Gwillimbury officially began in 2007, when she won re-election in the new York-Simcoe riding. She was returned to office in 2011 and 2014, before announcing she would not seek another term in 2018.
During her tenure at Queen’s Park, Munro served as parliamentary assistant to the premier, minister in charge of promoting volunteerism, government whip and, in her final term, deputy opposition house leader.
Munro died at the age of 76 in 2019.
With files from Village Media
