Blue Mountain Village Voices

Joining us for this episode is guest co-host Jim Torrance, President of the Blue Mountains Ratepayer Association and Shawn Everitt, Chief Administrative Officer of the Town of The Blue Mountains. Together, we discuss supporting new Municipal and County Councils, results of a recent resident satisfaction survey, the impact of Ontario’s Bill 23, managing local growth, labour force development and attainable housing, priorities on the horizon and much more! 

Town of The Blue Mountains Website https://www.thebluemountains.ca/\

Town of The Blue Mountains Resident Satisfaction Survey Results: https://pub-bluemountains.escribemeetings.com/FileStream.ashx?DocumentId=14238

Blue Mountain Ratepayers’ Association: https://bmra.ca/

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Joe Halos is a candidate for Mayor in the upcoming Town of The Blue Mountains municipal election. Joe has served as Councillor in the past for 8 years, is a local business operator and has lived and worked locally for more than 44 years. Joe shares perspectives on the growth of our community and its future.  

Learn more about Joe: 

https://bluemountainvillage.ca/bluemountain/media/Member_Documents/BMVA%202022%20Election/Joe-Halos-Letter-to-Voters.pdf

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June Porter and her husband Terry have been increasingly involved in The Blue Mountain community since 2010. Together, they enjoy a wide range of four-seasons activities. In addition to her various volunteer commitments, she has worked part- time at the Blue Mountain Resort. This experience has provided her with greater insight into our labour force, and the need for attainable, affordable housing, childcare and transit. You may have also met June her as a Registered Nurse at the December 2021 vaccine clinic at the BVCC, where she provided clinical leadership, as well as the administration of vaccines. 

June has a MScNursing and Executive MBA.

Learn more at: https://www.vote4juneporter.com/

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Shawn McKinlay is a 5th generation Town of The Blue Mountains Local with a history steeped in agriculture, our local service economy and volunteerism. Some of Shawn’s volunteer work includes our local branch of the Royal Canadian Legion as well as serving as director on the Clarksburg Village Association. Shawn is also blazing a trail as the Blue Mountains FIRST millennial candidate running for Council – a sign of progress and diversification of engagement within our community. Join us to learn about Shawn’s deep community roots, his passion for volunteerism and his ideas for the future.   

As discussed in our interview, please see the following link to Ruck 2 Remember:

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Andrea Matrosovs is one of four candidates running for Mayor in the Town of The Blue Mountains Municipal Election.  Andrea is a rural resident and a local business owner of Wild Willow Studio in Clarksburg. For the last four years she has served on The Blue Mountains Council, and on various committees.

Andrea has a long record of service to the community volunteering in South Georgian Bay for 22 years including in leadership on non-profit boards. Prior to election, she taught at college, secondary and elementary levels. 

Andrea lives with four generations of her family here in our Blue Mountains.

Join us as we discuss Andrea’s vision for the future as well as key community issues. 

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Joining us today is Tony Poole, one of four candidates running for Mayor in the upcoming Town of the Blue Mountains Municipal Election. Tony has more than 40 years of experience in leadership positions, including the roles of President and CEO, in many different sectors including; financial services, insurance, technology, business development, general management and retail marketing.

Tony and his wife Josie have been residents in Town of The Blue Mountains since 2009, and they have owned Sincerely Yours Boutique in downtown Thornbury for more than 8 years where they have contributed to local employment as well as great shopping experiences. Tony has volunteered on many local boards and committees to support the community. Join us as we discuss Tony's vision for the community and much more.

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Paula Hope joins us to discuss her background and connection to the community, her experience as Councillor during this current term of Town of The Blue Mountains Council, priority issues impacting the community as well as her vision for the future.  

Paula is a business owner, certified executive coach and trainer, traditionally published author and active member of the Town of Blue Mountains business community for many years. Her great grandparents were one of the original Scottish settlers in Grey County. The family farm still stands near Coffin Ridge Winery. She and her husband, David, chose to put down their roots in the Town of Blue Mountains, drawn by the beauty of the region and their mutual love for Georgian Bay.

https://hopeforcouncil.ca/

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What makes a community special? And how can communities grow and change while maintaining their identity and their values? These are questions that a lot of us have been asking lately. As ontarians recover from a disruptive pandemic and face an uncertain economic landscape. Municipal elections are set to take place this fall across Ontario. We will get to choose the leaders who will help us navigate these rough waters and meet the challenges that lie ahead over the next few weeks leading up to Election Day on October the 24th, I will be interviewing candidates running in the town of the Blue Mountains for election. We will discuss the issues facing our community and we're going to hear from them about their ideas to make things better, their leadership styles, and what we can expect over the next four years. Join us. Over the next few weeks, episodes will drop as they are recorded and we look forward to sharing those discussions with everyone.

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We are joined by Town of The Blue Mountains Mayor Alar Soever to discuss the past, present and future of our community. We cover a lot of ground including: how the Town has changed over the years, current pressing issues, achievements of the current Council, lessons learned and advice for anyone considering volunteering to serve their community. 

Other things discussed:

-          Attainable housing

-          Community engagement

-          Health care

-          Tourism industry 

-          COVID-19 impact and response

For more on Mayor Soever and what is on the horizon for the Blue Mountains community, visit the Town of The Blue Mountains website, or follow him on Twitter.

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Helen Du Toit is a film festival veteran, who's probably been a part of every major film festival you've ever heard of: She was the Artistic Director for the Palm Springs International Film Festival for over a decade, as well as working with TIFF, the Vancouver Film Festival, and many others. She also happens to be the Executive and Creative Director of the upcoming Blue Mountain Film Festival.

In this episode, Andrew speaks to Helen about her goals for the festival, as well as what caused her to fall in love with the Blue Mountain area and why she thinks it's the perfect place for a film festival.

Helen also touches on the positive economic impact of hosting a festival, citing how much good it's done for Palm Springs and expressing her hopes and desires to do the same for Blue Mountain.

The festival will feature 25 films and shorts, with 20% of the programming being Canadian cinema. It aims to showcase the best of International Cinema while also highlighting our homegrown talent.

Helen is part of a star-studded Advisory Committee leading the festival, along with Daniel Bekerman, Sudz Sutherland, Jennifer Frees, Allison Black, Tara Woodbury, and several other industry leaders.

To learn more about Blue Mountain's Après Your Way event, click here!

To submit your film or find out more about sponsorship opportunities, click here!

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