Regional Chair's 2010-2014 Inaugural Address
December 9, 2010, Regional Council Chambers
Text Transcript of Speech
It is my honour and my genuine privilege to be standing here today as your Regional Chair.
It with tremendous excitement and invigoration that I stand before you, one among you, charged with making this region the absolute best that it can be.
To bring creativity, innovation, openness, and accountability, to Regional Government, to truly work together on the challenges and the opportunities that lie ahead.
And I look forward with great anticipation to working with each and everyone on behalf of the residents of Niagara. We have a great new Council.
We have the vitality and energy of new Councillors, bringing fresh ideas and new approaches to the way Regional government should run.
And we have veteran Councillors, whose commitment and dedication over their years on Council has always been an inspiration.
I said earlier today, that everyone around the Council Chamber has come here for a reason.
And it is those reasons that we as a Council will use to shape the future of Niagara, and we will shape that future together.
There are tough challenges ahead. There are difficult decisions and many ways to tackle them.
My job as Regional Chair will be to ensure we ask the right questions, have the right facts, have all the options on the table, and that we as Regional Council have the discussions and the debates necessary to tackle those challenges effectively.
It isn't easy, and sometimes our deliberations will be challenging, but leaving questions unanswered, leaving issues unresolved is not a solution.
That means working more effectively with staff. We have a very talented and dedicated pool of staff here at Niagara Region, at all levels. One of my jobs will be to ensure we inspire them to think and engage in the challenges that lie ahead with new energy and renewed commitment, and to demand from them the discipline to work with Council to rise to the challenge.
We must reach out to the community, to seek their input and their ideas, in ways we haven't done before. And we have an obligation to always explain to the residents of Niagara the decisions we make and to be held accountable for those decisions.
But we don't only have challenges facing us here in Niagara. We have tremendous opportunity and exciting times lie ahead.
Niagara will be a focal point for our nation's War of 1812 Bicentennial celebrations.
We will be in the final throws of preparation to welcome the athletes and visitors from across our hemisphere for the Pan Am Games.
We will see tremendous infrastructure projects all across this region continue to be completed and open.
As Regional Chair I also have tremendous excitement about getting out into all parts of Niagara, meeting as many people as I can, hearing their ideas and listening to their issues.
Our reach too however must extend well beyond Niagara.
If we are to continue to be successful as a region we must continue to work closely with all levels of government and with our neighbours in the United States of America.
I must conclude by congratulating my fellow candidates for Regional Chair, Bart Maves, Damian Goulbourne, Henry D'Angela, Bruce Timms and Brian Baty.
They all have tremendous strengths and qualities that we will need in this region if we are to grow and prosper. They brought thoughtfulness, ideas, passion, and commitment to the campaign, and I look forward to working with each and every one of them in the future.
I would also like to acknowledge and thank former Chair Peter Partington for his dedicated service and commitment to the residents of Niagara. Thank you Peter.
I look forward to working with every Councillor on the reasons that brought us all here.
We are all here to make Niagara the absolute best that it can be. Together I know we can do it.
Thank you very much.