I am honoured to begin my fifth term as Regional Chair and continue serving our community. On Wednesday we welcomed our 2022-2026 Regional Council at the Inaugural Meeting that took place in Council Chambers at Regional headquarters.
Like all new beginnings, the Inaugural Meeting is an important milestone. The ceremony begins with the Declarations of Office, which were administered by His Worship, Justice of the Peace Mark J. Curtis. Sworn by each member of Regional Council, these declarations affirm that our responsibility is, first and foremost, to represent the best interests of the residents and businesses of Halton.
After the declarations, I delivered my inaugural address to profile some of the Region’s strategic investments and significant achievements over the last four years. These include:
- creating additional housing units, assisted housing opportunities and supports to prevent homelessness;
- completing and operationalizing three new Paramedic Stations to improve service levels within the community;
- investing in transportation infrastructure to accommodate community growth and maintain the state-of-good repair;
- committing to establishing long and short-term goals in support of environmental sustainability and climate change;
- making strategic investments in programs, services and supports to enhance the health, safety and well-being of residents;
- responding to the COVID-19 pandemic emergency, including emerging variants, outbreaks and issues, and delivering the vaccination program in Halton; and
- achieving the best job creation and low unemployment performance in the GTA.
We can be proud of our strong track record of success here in Halton. 97 per cent of residents surveyed are satisfied with Regional services. We have 11 years of being recognized as a top employer, the best business growth, job creation and low unemployment performance in the GTA, and 34 years of consecutive AAA credit ratings ensuring we deliver top value for taxpayer dollars.
We have achieved real outcomes for the residents and businesses of Halton and made significant progress on the objectives set out in the 2019-2022 Strategic Business Plan. Over the next four years, we look forward to building on the momentum of previous councils. We remain aligned in our commitment to focusing on key priorities including the advancement of Reconciliation and Indigenous relationship building, community safety and well-being, and climate change.
I am confident that we are off to a strong start to the 2022-2026 Regional Council term. I would like to congratulate my fellow Councillors on their election. We are going to work together to ensure that Halton continues to be a great place to live, work, raise a family and retire.
The recording of the Inaugural Meeting of Regional Council is available on the Regional Council and Committees page.
As always, if you have any Regional concerns or comments you would like to share, please feel free to email me at gary.carr@halton.ca. You can also find me on Twitter @garycarrhalton, LinkedIn or Facebook. To receive further updates on Regional issues, please subscribe to my quarterly e-newsletter, “The Carr Report”.