By Cecilia Nasmith/Northumberland 89.7 FM/Today’s Northumberland
December is the time when Northumberland County council elects a new warden and deputy warden.
Not so much with this week’s meeting – Warden Brian Ostrander and Deputy Warden Olena Hankivsky were nominated to return to their respective offices, and welcomed back by acclamation.
Cobourg Mayor Lucas Cleveland put forth Ostrander’s nomination, saying he had requested the opportunity to be the one to do so.
“Brian Ostrander leads with knowledge that every problem – every battle, if you will – is not won or lost by brute force. It’s not won or lost by a narrow vision that leaves so much on the table,” Cleveland said.
“We haven’t always seen eye to eye. We don’t have a working relationship built on capitulation, but one that is built on knowledge that the warden doesn’t put his on interest above the best interest.”
Trent Hills Mayor Bob Crate made the nomination for Hankivsky, describing her as a “very level-headed and thoughtful person that thinks of all the situations and tries to evaluate them.”
Minutes after removing his chain of office, Ostrander took it back to address council following his swearing-in.
In the coming year, he said, some transformative projects will be completed, such as the rural broadband expansion and the opening of the new Golden Plough Lodge.
Significant challenges also loom.
“Rising costs and financial pressures upon our residents require us to prioritize efficiency and innovation at everything we do,” the warden said.
“Our actions must include strong partnerships, prudent spending and embracing new approaches.”
He decried the current funding model – in place since before Confederation – that does not recognize the kind of big-city challenges member municipalities are facing, such as addiction, mental-health issues, infrastructure maintenance, lack of affordable housing and the climate crisis.
Municipalities were never meant to provide health care, Ostrander continued, but the county has had to establish walk-in clinics, mount costly and ambitious physician-recruitment initiatives and maintain a paramedic force that has branched out into paramedicine services.
Lobbying efforts through the Eastern Ontario Warden’s Caucus will continue, he said, advocating for recognition that municipal governments deserve a better funding formula instead of being sandwiched in as a footnote.
