From The Mayor's Desk

Sioux Lookout Mayor Doug Lawrance

New Year Message

On behalf of Council and the Municipality of Sioux Lookout I am pleased to offer everyone best wishes for the new year.  As we start 2025 many will be thinking about, or already have made, resolutions for the new year. Many will also choose not to make resolutions.  Council doesn’t make the traditional ‘New Year’s Resolutions’ but it does make resolutions on a monthly basis at Regular Meetings, and sometimes more frequently through Special Meetings of Council. And we cannot opt out of making resolutions lest the business of the Municipality grind to a halt! So, what will our resolutions be about in this new year?
Many of our resolutions are those required on an annual basis: signing authority; interim tax levy; user fees and charges; budget; audit; water quality report; and a variety of financial-related reports (from Council Remuneration to Reserves and Reserve Funds), and more.  Other resolutions arise from Statutory Public Meetings related to land use and planning. The frequency of these Statutory meetings is dependent upon requests for changes as development is planned and proceeds. In Sioux Lookout there is a reasonably high level of development and therefore the need for frequent meetings and resolutions relating to such matters.  As the Municipality advances capital projects approved through the budget process, resolutions are required at different project stages. Periodically there are also legal issues that require Council resolutions.  Land sales and purchase always require Council resolutions. A myriad of other matters come before Council throughout the year, many requiring a resolution – to receive, accept, adopt, support, agree to, authorize signing, rescind, renew, cancel, and more.
Early in 2025 we will be attending the Rural Association of Municipalities of Ontario (ROMA) annual conference in Toronto.  We will be presenting Briefing Notes to various Provincial Ministries related to challenges, issues, and needs that we have.  Essentially, we are hoping that as a result of our delegations to them, they might ‘resolve’ to agree to our requests. Some of our requests are direct asks of our Municipality, such as: policing cost relief; infrastructure funding (for roads and sidewalks, water and sewer services, and more); and a variety of requests related to having the province take responsibility for programs and services for which it is obligated to fund (including various health, social services, mental health, addictions, and related subjects). Other requests are in support of asks from agencies involved in matters which overlap with Municipal interests or are in the best interests of the community, for example: long term care; MRI; Hart Hub; special purpose housing; food security programs; community justice centre; controlled access to the LBCO; physician recruitment and retention, ER wait times, and the need for more family doctors; and more. Later in the year, in August, we will attend the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) annual conference and repeat the process, with some of the same ‘asks’ to some of the same Ministers and, this year, perhaps some new Ministers. It often takes multiple one-on-one meetings with Ministers, usually over a number of years (or sometimes a number of terms of Council) to advance specific requests. 
In my role as Mayor, ‘head’ of Council, I resolve to do the best I can to provide good leadership and do my part in providing good governance for the Municipality.  It is my continuing privilege and pleasure to work with my fellow Councillors at the Council table and with Municipal Administration on an on-going basis.
Whether resolutions are part of your transition to the new year or not, I wish you all success in your endeavours, be they large or small.  On behalf of Council and the Municipality, Happy New Year to all!