David Harrison

North Marysburgh Ward Eight

With family roots running back to the United Empire Loyalists, David Harrison was born and raised in North Marysburgh where he is self-employed in the commercial fishing and agricultural industry. His career included food processing and the marketing of frozen vegetables and fish to the United States and Europe. “I have had the pleasure of enjoying the County’s astounding natural beauty and of seeing our community grow and thrive over the years,” said the father of two, who has served in municipal government for 17 years. He is currently on the County’s Agricultural Advisory Committee, the Lake Ontario Management Unit Liaison Committee and he has been a trustee at Cressy United Church for the past decade. He is a member of the Ontario Commercial Fisheries Association and the Ontario Federation of Agriculture.

Harrison said the need for affordable housing could be addressed in a variety of ways, starting with Council encouraging more apartment construction in any new subdivision developments. “We need to collaborate more with them in bringing the needs of the community into play in their plans,” he said. He said Council should be getting more assistance from provincial and federal housing programs, adding: “We should also be looking to entities like Habitat for Humanity, enabling them to do builds on surplus County property.”

The County’s tourism management plan needs to be re-examined, he said, because “we have pretty much returned to pre-covid tourism in the County. I feel that will be the continuing trend.” He would also like to see Council determine whether more accommodation options are needed.

Harrison said it is unfortunate that there is no quick fix for the problem of expensive water bills for residents on the waterworks system. “I think it’s important to remember that everyone is footing a water bill,” he said. “In the rural areas, homeowners are responsible for all of the costs relating to water and septic systems.” But he noted that development in the County’s urban centres should help lower water rates in the future.

He feels the appropriate amount of attention is being given to heritage, environmental sustainability, stewardship and protection in the County. “The agricultural community has risen to the challenge on much of this by investing in minimum tillage, cover crops, and technology that addresses these issues as much as they are financially able to do so,” he said. “More lands have been acquired for stewardship by the government and other organizations concerned with the preservation of our environment and that has been great to see.”

On the issue of council size, Harrison said there would be no need to make it smaller if Council was restructured into a committee system. “There is a tremendous amount of talent and expertise around the Horseshoe that could be channeled into committees,” he said, pointing out that such a system would reduce the need for consultants. “If after four years this was not an improvement, then size reduction could be re-evaluated.”