It’s unclear to me why the topic of “the pool” in Parry Sound is still being discussed in this election campaign in Whitestone, or in any other West Parry Sound municipality for that matter.

The facts are these:

• An indoor aquatic centre has long been identified as the single most important piece of community infrastructure lacking in West Parry Sound District from the perspective of attraction and retention of skilled professionals and their families and the organizations that employ them.
• Over the past 15+ years, there have been several attempts to launch a project to build such a facility that have failed to materialize, mainly due to the high capital cost.  
• When an opportunity to apply for substantial federal and provincial funding through the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP) arose late in 2018, the Councils of the seven West Parry Sound municipalities, including Whitestone, formed a Wellness Center and Pool Committee (WCPC) to oversee development of an application for such a facility.  Our former Mayor, Chris Armstrong, was Whitestone’s representative on that committee until his passing in August of 2019, after which I succeeded him on the WCPC, with Councillor Joe Lamb as my alternate.
• A Citizen’s Advisory Committee (CAC) with representatives from the West Parry Sound communities was also formed to assist in scoping the project and in developing community support for it.  Whitestone’s representatives on the CAC were Dana Labrie and Cathy Lamb.
• On June 19th, 2020, in response to the circulated minutes of a WCPC meeting, Councillor Lamb replied to the entire pool project distribution list of approximately 50 people that “Whitestone is out” and “people should get real”.  When I advised him that he could not speak for the Municipality, he resigned from the WCPC and launched a disinformation campaign to discredit the project and create opposition to it among Whitestone ratepayers.  These actions deeply divided the community, and for no purpose other than to vindicate his personal position and reputation.     
• In the WCPC proposal, the projected capital cost for design and construction of the facility was $31.8 million and its annual operating deficit was estimated to be $300,000.
• Based on our population, number of households, assessment base, and distance from the facility in Parry Sound, the WCPC determined that an appropriate share of the capital and operating costs for Whitestone would be 6.1%, and requested a one-time capital contribution of $527,040. and an annual operating contribution of $18,316.  This percentage is consistent with Whitestone’s share of other regional initiatives in the past.
•  After thorough debate, Whitestone Council agreed unanimously in March of 2021 to make a one-time contribution of $250,000. towards the capital costs of the project, and an annual contribution of $18,316. indexed to inflation towards any annual operation deficit.  Council also declined to participate in the Municipal Services  Board (MSB) to be set up to oversee the project and management of the facility.
• ICIP funding in the amount of $23.3 million (~73% of the projected capital cost) was announced on July 7th, 2021, thereby ensuring that the pool and wellness centre project would proceed.
• From a return on investment point of view, Whitestone’s commitment of the $250K capital funding yielded an excellent return, since later that year we received a total of $600K in federal (ICIP) and Provincial (NOHFC) funding towards the cost of expanding our Nursing Station in Dunchurch – funding that we would certainly not have received had we declined to support the pool project.  
• The MSB has now been set up, and is in the process of tendering for detailed design services.  Given that construction may not start until 2024, Whitestone’s contribution to the capital project will not likely occur until the 2024 budget year.
• Whitestone Council is now considering a request from the MSB to enter into an agreement with them confirming details of our commitment such as the conditions governing timing and amounts of payments.  

In summary….

Whitestone Council has made a commitment to provide limited support to the capital and operating costs of the pool, which in the end all Councillors supported.  That commitment is not up for review by the new Council, and should no longer be a matter of public debate. Regardless of what any of us may think about the project, it is going ahead, and Whitestone will be honouring our commitment to it.

The governments of Canada and Ontario have committed to fund just under 3/4 of the originally estimated capital costs of the project, on the clear understanding that the balance of its design, construction, and operating costs would be the responsibility of the WPS communities served by the pool, including Whitestone. Our provincial politicians went out on a limb to secure this ICIP funding for us. Do we honestly think they are going to stand by quietly while Whitestone (or any other WPS municipality) reconsiders its commitment?

There is a simple solution to any such attempt:  upper-tier government for Parry Sound District. Since the days of the restructuring commission that created the Municipality of Whitestone, I have consistently opposed upper-tier government for the district, and the amalgamations that would most certainly result from its implementation. I believe that such a move would prove disastrous for Whitestone for the following reasons:

• Because of the relatively large geographic area and low population of the district, opportunities for operational and capital cost savings through shared services would be minimal;
• We would not receive any additional services; we would just pay more for the ones we now receive. In some cases, we might receive even less service, as many shared services such as roads would be managed at the district level.
• Worst of all, we would lose control over many local decisions. Because of the large number of the small municipalities in the District, Whitestone would end up either sharing a representative on the upper-tier council with another municipality, or being amalgamated with one or more of our neighbours like McKellar or Magnetawan.
• With an upper-tier government in place, the MSB would become part of the district government, and going forward, Whitestone would receive annual levies for projects like the Recreation and Culture Centre, which we would have to fund through taxation in the same manner as our current levies for policing and social services.

The prevailing opinion within MMAH at both the political and staff level is that Parry Sound District is overdue for district government. Do we really want to give them another reason to proceed with this?

As to the proposed agreement with the MSB, its sole purpose is to clarify a few details of our support of the project for the benefit of both the Municipality and the Board. Since we are not changing an existing commitment, there is nothing to prevent the current Council from approving the agreement while in a “lame duck” status. I believe it is not in the best interest of Whitestone to prolong this discussion into another Council term. We owe it to ourselves and our wider community to clarify how and when we will deliver on our commitment.

The project is still at what I would describe as the functional programming stage, in which the scale of the facility and the precise features to be included in it are being finalized. During this process, and the detailed design work that will follow, there will be trade-offs to manage costs. There will also be opportunities to reduce operating costs by strategic design decisions, such as those related to energy consumption and efficiency. Not until this work is done and the design is substantively complete will it be possible to revisit the operating model for the facility, and address matters such as usage volumes and fees.

(I am very familiar with this process, having managed the development of functional programs for highly specialized spaces such as containment laboratories, court houses, and health care facilities during my professional consulting career. Ironically, I have no visibility into or opportunity to contribute to the process on this project as a result of Council’s decision not to participate in the Municipal Services Board.)

The purpose of our condition that the operating model for the facility be reviewed independently was to ensure that it would be based not on experience with previous projects in other jurisdictions but on up-to-date parameters specific to West Parry Sound. I am satisfied that this review can and will be completed as a matter of course at the appropriate time (i.e., during construction).

In conclusion, it is well past time for us to end discussion of this subject and move on. It is a done deal!  We have other important fish to fry in the next Council term.