Phil Adie

Picton Ward One

After a lifetime of vacationing in the County, Phil Adie moved here seven years ago from Brant Haldimand- Norfolk on the shores of Lake Erie. The owner of the software company Wooden Horse has spent the last several years working on several community initiatives to address the issues of affordable housing, homelessness and poverty in the County. He has also been working on a software solution to help with a healthcare pilot program for aging in place in Wellington.

Adie’s company worked with Fortune 500 companies before the pandemic, but then pivoted to assist more than two dozen local small businesses with digital services and recommendations for grant funding. “We are just starting to see a return to normalcy and hope to be bringing back some high value technology jobs here to Prince Edward County,” he said. As well as running a technology focused fund, he has worked around the world with public companies, private investment groups and start-up ventures.

He said Council must cut red tape to accelerate new affordable housing. But he expressed the fear that Council has been too focused on approving projects with a base price of $500,000 a unit.

“Basic affordable housing refers to housing that costs less than 30 per cent of a household’s income before tax,” he said. “If a household earns $60,000 a year before tax, that household should spend less than $18,000 a year (or $1,500 a month) on total housing costs for the housing to be considered attainable. That is the equivalent of a $350,000 home with a 10 per cent down payment.” He pointed out that the median household income in County is $67,000.

With tourism being an economic driving force in the County along with agriculture, Adie said Council should help create a four-season tourism destination while also pursuing other industries such as technology, light commercial and agriculture-related businesses. “We are strategically placed between three of the largest urban centres in Canada (Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal) and we could definitely be looking to be the hub for all sorts of secondary industries,” he said.

According to Adie, waterworks ratepayers are not being represented fairly at council. “The average resident, whether homeowner or tenant, is paying one of the highest water rates in Ontario,” he said, adding that development fees are not adequate to cover the capital costs of the expanding waterworks system. He suggested a solution of mandating water management technologies on new building permits as well as incentives and education for conservation options for existing homeowners.

On the question of protecting our heritage, he said strong regulation and stewardship from all levels of government is needed to protect it. “Our rural heritage is one of the founding building blocks of our Canadian identity, serving as a link between the past and the present,” he said.

Adie favours a smaller Council because its current size makes it difficult for residents to keep track of who is in favour or opposed to what policy. “It is my hope that a reduction to eight members will translate constituents’ interests into actionable and responsible policies,” he said.