Latest / North Shore News / October 15th, 2025

Transcript

October 15th, 2025 · North Shore News

• 0:07
  Welcome to North Shore News and Interviews on
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  Amherst Island Radio. Each week we keep you updated
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  on newsworthy events, happenings and conversations
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  that we've had with people in the local community
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  and beyond. Earlier this year, Loyalist Township
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  was named one of 169 Ontario municipalities to
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  receive strong mayor powers. Ontario's Ministry
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  of Municipal Affairs and Housing made a presentation
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  to Loyalist Township Council with a focus on
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  how these powers can help the province reach
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  its goal of increasing housing supply. Deputy
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  Mayor Nathan Townend voiced his concerns about
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  the focus of the presentation. I never think
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  it's appropriate to score political points by
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  asking pointed questions to public servants.
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  But I will just note that consistently in the
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  last several years, housing starts are down in
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  Ontario. So the evidence that these stronger
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  powers are advancing that goal of increasing
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  housing supply is certainly suspect. And this
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  is fairly complex. But one simple thing municipalities
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  have said consistently that will help build more
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  housing is to fund municipal infrastructure to
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  support that housing. The province originally
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  introduced strong mayor powers in 2022 for the
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  cities of Ottawa and Toronto. Through 2023, 44
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  additional municipalities received these powers
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  and as of May 1st this year, 216 of Ontario's
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  414 single and lower tier municipalities now
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  have this legislation. The presentation was part
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  of a series of outreach sessions the province
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  is doing for municipalities who are new to the
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  strong mayor powers. It included an overview
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  of what strong mayor powers are, as well as references
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  to other municipalities and how they're implementing
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  the powers. Mayor Jim Hagedorn spoke about the
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  work of staff as they move forward on the matter.
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  Still as we're proceeding through this, the new
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  strong mayor power, I keep coming up with more
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  questions and fortunately so far... Staff have
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  always been able to do some research, and we've
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  been able to work to figure them out, but it'll
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  take a little while before all the municipalities,
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  I'm sure, come to full terms with what it is.
• 2:18
  For Amherst Island Radio and the Local Journalism
• 2:21
  Initiative, I'm Ted Evans. This is North Shore
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  News. Prince Edward Lennox and Addington Social
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  Services are still looking to create 49 child
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  care spaces by December 31st, 2026 as part of
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  their expansion under the Canada -wide Early
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  Learning and Child Care System. The group is
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  looking to find an operator who can expand or
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  open new child care spaces in the area. The group
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  are looking for applications before October 31st.
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  The Canada -wide Early Learning and Child Care
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  System gives families access to more affordable
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  and high quality child care options, helps lower
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  child care fees for parents and of children under
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  the age of six, increases childcare spaces, supports
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  the childcare workforce, and supports inclusive
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  childcare. As of March this year, the system
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  has created about 39 ,500 new affordable childcare
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  spaces. This goes towards their goal of creating
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  86 ,000 spaces by the end of 2026. As of January
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  1st this year, The system capped fees at $22
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  per day, bringing the provincial average to $19
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  per day. By March 2026, the system is looking
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  to lower that average to $10 per day. Families
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  and individuals may be eligible for reduced fees
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  if their licensed child care provider is enrolled
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  in the system and charges more than $12 per day
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  for child care, with the child being under the
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  age of six or turns six years old and is enrolled
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  in a licensed preschool, kindergarten or family
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  age group or a licensed home child care premises
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  until June. 30th. Costs can depend on a family's
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  income and can be reduced by 50 % for eligible
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  children in system -enrolled programs. For Amherst
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  Island Radio and the Local Journalism Initiative,
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  I'm Ted Evans. This is North Shore News. Loyalist
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  Township is once again partnering with the Odessa
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  Agricultural Society to bring Halloween fun to
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  families at the fourth annual Trunk or Treat
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  and Crafts event. On Sunday, October 26, from
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  1 p .m. to 4 p .m. at the Odessa Fairgrounds,
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  located at 231 Main Street, Odessa, there will
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  be an afternoon of free, family -friendly festivities.
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  Local businesses and organizations will be showcasing
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  their creativity with decorated vehicles of all
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  shapes and sizes. Children are invited to trick
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  or treat from trunk to trunk in a safe, accessible
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  and spook -free outdoor environment. This event
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  takes place rain or shine. Inside, the Odessa
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  Agricultural Society will be hosting a variety
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  of festive activities including Halloween -themed
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  games, crafts, and a cash canteen. Loyalist Township
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  noted they're proud to collaborate with the Lennox
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  and Addington Joint Accessibility Advisory Committee
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  and Treat Accessibility to ensure the event is
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  inclusive and welcoming for everybody. For more
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  information, visit loyalist .ca slash trunk or
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  treat. For Amherst Island Radio and the Local
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  Journalism Initiative, I'm Ted Evans. This is
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  North Shore News. On Monday, October 20th from
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  1 to 3 p .m., Loyalist Township will be celebrating
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  the grand opening of the new Downey Wenjack Fund
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  legacy space at the W .J. Henderson Community
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  Centre. Following this ceremony, the legacy space
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  will be open to the public. This space is part
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  of a national program created by the Gord Downey
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  and Chani Wenjack Fund. These spaces are designed
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  to be safe, welcoming spaces where people can
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  learn about Indigenous cultures, reflect on shared
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  journeys, and take part in meaningful conversations
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  about reconciliation. The opening celebration
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  will include a ribbon cutting, welcoming remarks
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  from local leaders and representatives of the
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  fund, as well as guided tours of the new space.
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  Visitors will have the chance to see exhibits
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  featuring indigenous art. artifacts, storytelling,
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  and a local school project. There will also be
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  a cultural performance and opportunities to speak
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  with Indigenous elders, Township staff, and members
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  of the Downey Wenjack Fund. In July 2024, the
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  Township signed a five -year agreement with the
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  Downey Wenjack Fund to create this legacy space.
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  This space will offer ongoing opportunities for
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  residents to participate in workshops, cultural
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  activities, and public education. For Amherst
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  Island Radio and the Local Journalism Initiative,
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  I'm Ted Evans. This is North Shore News. Westbridge
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  Renewable Energy has recognized there's still
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  work to be done in gaining public support for
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  their proposed solar farm in Loyalist Township.
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  The company has committed to undertake Indigenous
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  and community engagement activities and incorporate
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  the feedback as the project moves forward. Chief
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  Operating Officer for the company and Vice President
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  of Switzerville Solar, Margaret McKenna, explains
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  where they're at with the project. During consultation,
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  we've heard positive, we've heard negative, and
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  we've heard constructive. We believe most of
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  that can be incorporated, mitigated, or overcome
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  in future planning and design. There is work
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  to be done still. And we acknowledge that. We
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  believe that the project will have a positive
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  impact on the community and the township as a
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  whole, while also contributing clean, emission
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  -free energy to support Ontario's future. While
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  still showing support for the project, Council
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  is making sure the company does their due diligence.
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  Development Services Manager with the Township,
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  Andrea Furness, details some of the environmental
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  work that will need to be done. As part of the
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  planning application, we would require an environmental
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  impact assessment on that property. There is
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  environmental protection lands going through
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  the property, traversing the property through
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  the water course. So that would be a requirement
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  where they would have to address everything on
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  species at risk habitat, wildlife habitat, all
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  of that would have to be looked at by an ecologist.
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  And the Township uses a third party peer reviewer
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  to evaluate that as well. determine if there's
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  impacts and to help form how any development
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  can occur on the site without negatively impacting
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  any natural heritage features and their ecological
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  functions. There are some concerns. The proponent
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  recognized that there is homework yet to be done
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  and I think there's a recognition that council
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  wants to ensure that that homework. Is it done?
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  Council passed a resolution in support of the
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  company at their latest meeting to help with
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  the company's bid for federal funding. At an
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  August 25th open house regarding the project,
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  there were various concerns from residents in
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  regards to communication, groundwater and the
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  potential to destroy wildlife habitat. Councillor
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  Paul Proderick speaks about the importance of
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  public engagement and moving towards clean energy
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  options in the future. We've been down this road
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  before and I think back Early in our term of
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  council, we asked staff to develop a policy in
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  terms of engagement, and they followed that rather
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  extensively. You know, clean energy, in my judgment,
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  that's the direction we should be taking. It
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  fits into our climate action plan. Councillor
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  Lorna Willis sympathized with those voicing concerns,
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  but spoke about the importance of moving forward
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  as well. I do know what it's like to live within
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  a project space. Although, you know, I am supporting
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  the motion because I do agree that we do have
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  to do our part to move forward with green energy
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  in the township. The proposed project would be
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  located on approximately 800 acres of private
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  land near Switzerville and would be capable of
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  supplying energy to 20 ,000 homes. The target
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  operation date is May 2030. For Amherst Island
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  Radio and the Local Journalism Initiative, I'm
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  Ted Evans. This is North Shore News. A clean
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  energy company looking to build an energy storage
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  center in Loyalist promised the project would
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  bring 670 direct construction jobs and 40 permanent
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  jobs to the area. HydroStore presented their
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  plans for creating the Quinte Energy Storage
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  Center to Loyalist Township Council. The proposed
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  site is on a portion of an already existing industrial
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  aggregate site near the intersection of County
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  Road 22 and Townline Road. Staff with the company
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  noted that each phase of the project will provide
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  over $1 .4 billion in economic benefits to Ontario.
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  including the boost in local jobs. The company
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  will also be making long -term direct contributions
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  to the Township and County through a community
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  benefits fund. Vice President of Business Development
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  with HydroStore, Shaheer Aziz, explains the project
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  and why they chose the area. The Quinty Energy
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  Storage Centre is a energy storage project that
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  we have been working on for the past couple of
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  years in Lennox and Addington County. The reason
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  why we are so attracted to this location is that
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  we want to be adjacent to the Lennox Transformer
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  Station, which is a critical transformer station
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  in the province of Ontario. It allows for power
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  to transfer east towards Ottawa, as well as transferring
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  power west towards Toronto. when needed. Aziz
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  speaks about the jobs the project looks to bring
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  to the area. We are a long -term infrastructure
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  project. What that means is that we actually
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  need to be constructed on site and on the ground,
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  which is really good for boosting local economy
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  as well as regional economy. Our project will
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  create approximately 670 full -time construction
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  jobs as well as 40 jobs once it's actually operating.
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  And what's really exciting about these jobs is
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  that these job opportunities once operating are
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  not, you know, jobs that need to come away from
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  take away from any industry, but rather repurposing
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  jobs that come out of the fossil fuel generation
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  space. We're going to be driving local benefits
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  to both the local Indigenous communities as well
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  as working with your Township to see what opportunities
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  for our project to really work and contribute
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  to the community. Aziz highlights the work they've
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  been doing in the area. We've been working on
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  two sites in this area. With one of the sites
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  we like to call Quinty East, the location of
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  the site, proposed site, is on the northern end
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  of an existing quarry located on an industrial
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  aggregate site in Loyalist. We have been able
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  to screen the site from a desktop environmental
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  screening perspective as well as conduct studies
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  to understand the interconnection capacity and
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  start to move ahead with some of the feasibility
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  and development of the site. We have also partnered
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  with the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinty who are
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  our First Nation Indigenous partners for the
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  project. and are supporting us on our journey
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  ahead. Aziz details the technology that Hydrostore
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  uses. Our technology is one of the lowest cost
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  long duration energy storage technologies available
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  today and it operates emissions free. What else
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  is also really unique about our technology is
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  that it has a 50 year plus operating life without
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  any degradation. That's really helpful because
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  it means that we aren't repeatedly refurbishing
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  our storage project and instead it operates like
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  any other, you could compare it to a pump storage
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  plant which is online for 50, 100 years and doesn't
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  require any major replacement. Aziz details Hydrostore's
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  process for generating electricity. The way our
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  technology works is that you take electricity
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  from the grid when power is cheap or in excess.
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  You use that to compress air underground into
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  an underground cavern. During that process, as
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  you are compressing air, we actually take heat
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  and we store it into a thermal management system.
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  That heat is being generated when you're compressing
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  air underground. Once the system is fully charged,
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  the air pushes all the water out of the cavern
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  and holds in steady state. When you then need
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  to generate electricity, you flip a valve. The
• 13:49
  water pushes the air out. The air goes up our
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  well and through our turbine generating electricity.
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  One of the primary engineers with hydro store
• 13:57
  Lucas Texan explains how the company builds its
• 13:59
  caverns and notes the rock formations in the
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  area. We site our caverns specifically to be
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  in very impermeable rock formations that are
• 14:07
  not suitable for hosting water. It's one of our
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  siting criteria. The rock that is in this area
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  is excellent for that case. It has very low hydraulic
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  permeability once you're below the karst formation,
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  below that limestone and into the Canadian Shield,
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  which is where we would target to build our caverns.
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  Our construction shafts, which will travel from
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  the surface down to our cavern construction horizon,
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  are cased with the steel casing to ensure there's
• 14:38
  no interaction between our a -case process and
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  the groundwater. speaks more about how the project
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  will benefit the province, country and local
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  economy as well. We're also going to be generating
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  approximately 1 .4 billion in support of Canada's
• 14:52
  GDP. and also once operating about 31 million
• 14:56
  dollars per year in GDP. We've also been started
• 14:59
  engagement with Loyalist's town planning team
• 15:03
  and who have who guided us towards your requirements
• 15:06
  for community engagement and a pathway towards
• 15:09
  municipal support resolution and so we will be
• 15:11
  engaging following Loyalist's requirements and
• 15:14
  doing our best efforts to engage with the community
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  and proceeding ahead with that as we look to
• 15:19
  move forward. For Amherst Island Radio and the
• 15:22
  Local Journalism Initiative, I'm Ted Evans. This
• 15:25
  is North Shore News. All sides have backed down
• 15:35
  and agreed to work together after the town of
• 15:38
  Greater Napanee was warned about potential legal
• 15:40
  action from the county. Lennox and Addington
• 15:42
  originally requested that the town cease distributing
• 15:45
  its encampment protocol map that identified public
• 15:48
  property including county lands. Greater Napanee
• 15:50
  Council confirmed a letter they received September
• 15:53
  9th from the county states that Lennox and Addington
• 15:55
  does not intend to pursue any further legal remedy
• 15:58
  to the disputes that existed. The letter also
• 16:00
  noted that the county would pass its own by -law
• 16:02
  regarding the matter at hand. CAO of Greater
• 16:05
  Napanee Matthew Grant explains the timeline of
• 16:08
  events. I'm pleased to say that we're now at
• 16:10
  a place where I kind of wish we had started,
• 16:13
  but we did receive correspondence from the County
• 16:16
  of Lenox and Addington. It is their intention
• 16:18
  to pursue their own bylaw. We did send a letter
• 16:22
  to the County of Lenox and Addington following
• 16:25
  our last meeting. We offer to assist them in
• 16:29
  their bylaw. I'm happy to share that we've already
• 16:32
  made that offer to the chief administrative officer
• 16:35
  of the county, as well as the head administrative
• 16:39
  head of Pellis. And we sent a note to the county
• 16:42
  of Lennox and Addington as they are identified
• 16:47
  by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs as the service
• 16:49
  manager accountable for service delivery. And
• 16:51
  we also sent a note to Pellis and the mayor sent
• 16:55
  one to the Pellis chair. as the operational service
• 16:59
  provider. Grant explains the latest recommendation
• 17:01
  he made to Council, which they approved at their
• 17:03
  meeting. I'm recommending that we offer use of
• 17:05
  our facilities in the community and that Council
• 17:09
  authorize staff to waive any fees that we might
• 17:11
  charge so that when they engage in consultation,
• 17:16
  as we engage in consultation, that they can do
• 17:18
  so with whatever facilities at our disposal that
• 17:21
  they feel will fit their plan. Grant details
• 17:23
  how staff are moving forward. Council and staff
• 17:26
  look forward to putting this unfortunate incident
• 17:29
  behind us. And, you know, I know that, you know,
• 17:34
  staff are very much looking forward to proceeding
• 17:37
  forward with our partners with mutual respect
• 17:40
  and mutual support. With that in mind, we are
• 17:45
  pleased to assist with any upcoming consultations,
• 17:49
  bylaw development or activities with the Summit.
• 17:52
  any of the ongoing efforts of the provincially
• 17:55
  funded and mandated organizations responsible
• 17:58
  for housing and homelessness. Mayor Terry Richardson
• 18:00
  notes the importance of working together while
• 18:02
  trying to help unhoused individuals and families.
• 18:04
  We've got to move on from this. We have to work
• 18:07
  together to try and resolve a multifaceted problem
• 18:11
  that exists in every municipality. in this country
• 18:15
  and probably in this continent. So if we don't,
• 18:18
  we're going to continue to spin our wheels and
• 18:20
  the people that we're supposed to be representing
• 18:22
  are not going to be represented. For Amherst
• 18:24
  Island Radio and the Local Journalism Initiative,
• 18:27
  I'm Ted Evans. This is North Shore News. This
• 18:31
  has been North Shore News and Interviews. If
• 18:35
  you have an idea for a story or want to create
• 18:38
  stories for this show, consider joining our 100
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• 18:45
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