2021 has been a year full of ups and downs, challenges to adjust to, and transitions for which we needed to find our new groove.
This year began much like how last year ended. COVID-19! 9 months headlong into the COVID-19 pandemic, the challenges we dealt with in 2020 felt like they would never end. When we started the year, there was hope for a vaccine, desperation from businesses to remain open, and a huge desire to gather as a community again.
On March 1, York Region took a bold step and launched its vaccine program two weeks ahead of other provincial health units. This jumpstart was key in seeing our most vulnerable seniors get their first shot first. Admittedly, seniors are not the most tech-savvy demographic and many had challenges booking appointments online. That’s when I reached out to a socially focused tech genius in Markham named Ray who had created the Markham Vaccinates initiative. With the help of WS Public Library staff and a group of dedicated local volunteers, Markham-Stouffville Vaccinates was quickly launched. We helped over 700 Stouffville seniors book vaccination appointments. This program ran for five months and was a massive success in helping our local seniors.
With Whitchurch-Stouffville Council’s full support, we approved the use of Soccer City to become York Region’s second, and in my opinion, best Drive-Thru Vaccination Clinic. In partnership with the Stouffville Medical Centre, York Region Public Health and the Town, the first car rolled through on April 12. Over the course of four months, over 53,000 vaccines were administered at Soccer City and the program garnered attention from media across the province. Welcoming the Premier back to Stouffville in June to see the clinic in operation was a great endorsement of our efforts and a highlight for staff and volunteers. The clinic officially closed August 20th and is now known as a model in public health execution. We have much to be proud of and thankful for. Also of note, Dr. Pearl Yang, the Clinic Director, was honoured for her efforts in receiving the WS Community Impact Award for Healthy Whitchurch-Stouffville.
As we have all discovered, navigating ourselves out of a pandemic is not quick or easy. Despite the many areas of our lives, seen and unseen that COVID-19 impacted, the resiliency and generosity of our community has shone brighter than ever. The outpouring of support from our local restaurants and business community who provided lunches, water, snacks and an ample supply of coffee to the clinic staff and volunteers demonstrated that the Stouffville Spirit of Generosity is alive and well.
In February, the Mayor’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee hosted an interview with former Whitby MP Celina Caesar-Chavannes as part of Black History Month celebrations. It was a very insightful and powerful conversation that formally launched the efforts of this committee in the town. This was a personal highlight for me this year. The video can be viewed on my Facebook page. Proudly, Council soon after endorsed the transition of the committee from my office to an official Town Staff Working Group that will continue to focus on making Stouffville a more inclusive community.
Despite some of the negative impacts of the pandemic this year on businesses, 2021 saw over 50 new businesses open in Town adding over $6 million in much-needed NEW ICI tax assessment. Some highlights include Bloom Stouffville, Tribute Packaging, End of the Roll, Royal Décor & Kitchens, AKT Supermarkets, Wool on Main and various cannabis outlets. This has been one of Council’s strategic priorities this term and I am happy to report that we are working diligently at achieving this goal. Next year will see even more Commercial/Industrial growth with some major projects opening in 2022.
On March 1, I joined then Minister of Long Term Care Merrilee Fullerton and our MPP Paul Calandra to announce and welcome Schlegel Villages to Stouffville with the announcement 196 new Long Term Care beds. Caring for our growing senior population is an important priority for us and adding Schlegel Villages to Parkview, Bloomington Cove, Stouffville Creek, Buckingham Manor and our newest LTC Mon Sheong gives us a good footing for the future care of our seniors.
It is easy to underestimate the importance of the Town’s relationship and partnership with York Region, the Province & Federal governments. Having the respect of upper tiers of government is something that eluded us in our recent past but I can assure you all that the stability of Council this term has garnered the respect and support we require. Working closely with York Region Chair Wayne Emmerson, the Minister of Federal Economic Development Agency of Southern Ontario, MP Helena Jaczek (Markham-Stouffville) and Minister of Legislative Affairs, MPP Paul Calandra (Markham-Stouffville) has been a privilege. Together, we have advanced the priorities of Stouffville. Some of this year’s successes include:
over $4 million dollars from the Federal and Provincial governments for the highly anticipated skating trail through Memorial Park; $325,000 from the Province towards modernization of our Customer Relationship Management system; $22,000 from the Provincial and Federal governments for tree planting. These are just a few of the examples of funding received from our government partners.
Council and Staff remain laser focused on executing our Strategic Plan for the last year of this term and will continue to work hard to see the municipality achieve success, balanced growth and financial prosperity. Our future is bright and getting brighter!
