In an effort to provide fair coverage of the municipal byelection in Cumberland Ward, the Orléans Star sent a series of questions to each of the eight candidates in the race. The answers to those questions are being published in the lead-up to the Oct. 5 vote.
Candidate: Henry Valois
Age:64
Education: College diploma
Occupation: Semi-retired volunteer firefighter
# of Children: 3 daughters (31, 34, 38)
Bilingual: Yes
Question # 1 – How will your past experience make you an effective city councillor?
I am honest, hardworking and reliable. I have been a resident of Cumberland Ward for 39 years, both urban and rural.
Having been a volunteer firefighter for over 30 years, I have helped thousands of residents in this ward with many different types of emergencies as a front-line worker. As the captain of the fire station, I have had to deal with the Ontario Fire Marshal’s Office, police, bylaw, water works and many other divisions of the city.
Question # 2 – Please list some of your volunteer activities.
• Volunteer firefighter;
• Navan Fair director;
• Cumberland Lion’s Club supporter;
• Orleans-Cumberland Community Resource Centre’s annual food drive organizer;
• Cumberland Heritage Museum annual Firefighter Day coordinator;
• Petrie Island Canada Day annual event coordinator;
• Orléans Christmas Parade of Lights;
• Cheo Skate-a-thon (24-hour skate)
• Guinness World Record 50 Horse Hitch (1995);
• Ice Storm (1998);
• Hay West (2002);
• Initiated the emergency response for flood victims of the 2017 Ottawa River flood in Cumberland;
Question # 3 – What is your position on whether or not the rural part of the ward should be merged with Osgoode Ward?
I do not believe the rural part of Ward 19 should be merged with Osgoode Ward. It would become strictly a rural ward and our tax contributions would likely go to core city projects. It would also become a very large area for a councillor to serve and represent.
Question # 4 – Please list your top three priorities should you get elected; and B) Why is the first issue on your list your number one priority and what do you plan to do about it?
My top three priorities are:
1) TAXES – We need to keep our property taxes as low as possible. If a 2% increase is not sufficient to initiate projects they should not be implemented. I would encourage Council to work on keeping our property tax increase to a maximum of 2%. Zero increase would be ideal.
2) ROADS – I believe that the roads in the east end of the city are in poor shape compared to the west end. Let’s get our roads in better shape and do a better job at snow removal in the winter.
3) GARBAGE – I agree that recycling and composting bins are good, but weekly garbage collection should help residents keep their properties cleaner.
Our streets are not safe for families, children, and our seniors. I will install traffic calming measures, such as speed bumps, to address car speeding. I will also advocate for high quality cycling infrastructure design.
For more information about the candidate visit www.henryvaloisward19.ca.