At the regular Perth town council meeting on Tuesday Aug 23rd, councilors provided their regular updates on meetings attended and any news to report. While sometimes these reports are rather dry and short, this week some interesting and concerning news came to light.
Deputy Mayor Ed McPherson, who is also the chair of the police services board reported on information he had received from OPP Inspector Karuna Padiachi. The Inspector reported that a local family had been the victims of two separate racist attacks and there were 2 separate incidents of homophobic harassment that occurred within the last week. McPherson said that these events were very troubling to the Inspector, as well as himself, and the police service would be increasing its presence in town to combat these issues.
During his report, Mayor John Fenik recapped his participation at the recent Association of Municipalities of Ontario conference in Ottawa. He was proud to report that a presentation to Michael Tibollo, the Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions covering a local initiative went extremely well. Garry Laws, executive director of Lanark County Mental Health has come up with a plan to help those suffering from substance abuse to detox in their own homes under the specialized care of a mental health nurse and addictions councilor. This program would free up treatment facility beds while supporting clients in comfortable and familiar surroundings. Fenik commented that their time with the minister ran long due to provincial interest in the proposal and that it stood a great chance of funding thanks to the work of Garry.
Both Deputy Mayor McPherson and Councilor Brock McPherson spoke on a Lanark County proposal currently under consideration to create a fund to assist landlords in the Rent Geared to Income (RGI) system for extraordinary repairs to keep units in good condition. Brock noted that many landlords are leaving the RGI system due to substantial increases in revenue in the private sector. As a landlord himself Brock said that Ontario was a very difficult market to be in due to excessive regulations and restrictions. He applauded the County for trying to come to the aid of small landlords trying to provide a valued social assistance.
