WHITEWATER REGION (Westmeath) — A husband, father-of-four, hobby farmer, volunteer and retired military man, Neil Nicholson is hoping to add another hat to his list of accomplishments – that of councillor for the Township of Whitewater Region.
The youth of the area is important to Mr. Nicholson and for the past few years, he has provided or been involved in programs for them. He has been a hockey coach, organized learn to skate for children, as well as adults, organized hockey skills programs, was on the minor hockey executive and continues to be an advisor for their budget and runs the Little Sens program, is currently vice-president of the Westmeath District Recreation Association and a member of the Whitewater Region recreation committee.
Any programs Mr. Nicholson is involved with is for everyone within the township, as it is one community.
The skills he has learned over the years, both professionally and while volunteering, has provided him with opportunity to grow and now he wants those skills to benefit the township.
“I have lots of energy and a passion for being active,” Mr. Nicholson said. “I believe I’m a very good listener and I look for advice and input in order to make things better.”
There are many areas of concern within the township he believes needs to be dealt with because there are so many people within the township, each having their own concerns. While he knows it’s not possible to deal with everything, Mr. Nicholson wants the residents to be assured he has listened to them, and will continue to listen to them, so he continues to understand their concerns.
As an example, he said in recreation, there has to be programs for people of all ages within the township and more public spaces, similar to what has occurred at Little Lakes in Beachburg.
Schools are important, and they cannot continue to be closed, he stressed. He had a leadership role in fighting to keep Westmeath Public School open, and while that wasn’t a successful battle, Mr. Nicholson learned a valuable lesson. He knows there has to be better communication between the school board and municipal councils.
“It gave me a whole much better exposure to the role of municipal government, school boards, trustees, the warden, the MPP,” he said.
The demographics in this municipality is much different than others, because there is a large seniors’ population, Mr. Nicholson said.
“We need to treat this as a strength and not as a weakness,” he said. “They have experience, knowledge, the time to volunteer, they can mentor our youth and provide support to our communities.
“We have one of the strongest seniors’ groups in the county and we need to find solutions that enable them to live in our communities for as long as possible,” Mr. Nicholson continued.
Farming and rural life brings a huge amount of money to our area, he said.
“We need to have businesses to support those farmers, feed, seed, heavy duty repairs, spraying, equipment sales, auctions, grain drying and so much more,” he said. “We need to find ways to support them.”
Youth employment is very important to Mr. Nicholson, because as a father of four, he’s like other fathers – he wants his children to remain in the area.
“It’s difficult for our youth to find work, but there are government programs where we can specifically target kids who are going to school and we can get summer grants to keep them employed between school semesters in their own municipalities, so they can live and work here to get money to go back to school,” he said. “That means we are mentoring them and they are being influenced by the people who live here and our way of life.”
Other concerns include tourism, since the municipality is so close to Highway 17; and taxes, knowing there will never be enough money to provide everything that people want, he said.
“We don’t want to increase taxes, so we have to reprioritize things, that means tough choices, that means people aren’t going to be happy,” Mr. Nicholson said.
“We have to make sure we have a council that’s prepared to make these tough decisions, but to do so with as much input as they can gather.
“We need innovative solutions, and that includes partners from the business community, other levels of government, from school boards, we need to find ways of delivering services or programs, or whatever the case is, without increasing taxes,” Mr. Nicholson said.
Mr. Nicholson has the energy and passion, wants to be involved and wants to make a difference.
“I want to give back,” he stated.
Mr. Nicholson and wife Dana have been married for 20 years and have four children. Chela is starting her second year of university in Edmonton, Alberta, while Quaid, Kelz and Nya are in area schools.
