Council

Mayor Hilda MacDonald's Message

We are at the beginning of a new four-year term of council. All of us are returning, except for retiring Councillor John Hammond, and we thank him for his years of dedication and service. He will be missed.

We welcome our new councillor, Anthony Abraham. As the owner of a rest home, Anthony brings an interesting and different perspective to council.

The past four years were certainly challenging and never before dealt with by any level of government around the globe. But we are prepared to look ahead, not dwelling on the difficulties, but rather looking forward to the opportunities that will come in the next four years.

We begin with the exciting prospect of moving forward on the development of the waterfront. 

Past councils made some great decisions to enter into agreements with the federal government in regard to the marina lands. Some properties were acquired from private property owners. Now it is time to expand on those first small steps. With the approval of the Waterfront Destination Master Plan, Council is moving forward with plans of further land acquisition, private-public partnerships, and redevelopment of current land usage. It is about creating a waterfront district and the possibilities are endless and exciting.

The second big undertaking is the attainable housing project on the former high school property. We are coming to the point of calling for requests for proposals from developers for integrated housing that is for a variety of homes that accommodate different family dynamics from seniors, to young couples, to traditional and non-traditional families.

We hope to create a community within our community that allows people to live in a nice neighbourhood that is built with affordability in mind as well as sustainable energy costs.

We continue to work on opening up the employment lands to the north of the urban area. Industrial land development creates jobs for our residents and contributes to the viability of any community. Sewers are the biggest challenge and we have not given up on seeing this project through to completion. Innovative thinking is the key to moving ahead.

These plans come with hefty price tags in a time of financial challenges. 

Council and administration will continue to work together to build our community for the future, keeping in mind affordability, quality of life and quality of services.

I am hopeful about what lies ahead; confident that we, as a municipality, have survived the difficulties, challenges and successes of the last four years and are prepared to move forward with optimism for the future. 

Leamington Council Members 2022-2026

Leamington Council Members - Seated from left to right: Deputy Mayor Larry Verbeke, Mayor Hilda MacDonald, Councillor Tim Wilkinson. Standing from left to right: Councillor Anthony Abraham, Councillor Paul Tiessen, Councillor Heather Latam, Councillor Bill Dunn,