Part 1: Housing Pressures, Farmland Protection, and Community Projects Take Centre Stage - 05/23/2023
- PECConnect
- May 23, 2023
- 5 min read
Updated: Apr 20
The County Council met on the evening of May 23, 2023 in the council chambers at Shire Hall in Picton, with the meeting chaired by Mayor Steve Ferguson. The meeting was livestreamed and open to the public, with several deputations and audience comments shaping a long and wide-ranging discussion. While the agenda covered routine procedural items, the heart of the meeting focused on housing affordability, infrastructure needs, farmland protection, and community-led projects.
Mayor Ferguson opened the meeting with a land acknowledgement and welcomed members of the public, municipal staff, and viewers watching online. He also formally welcomed Ryan Williams, Member of Parliament for Bay of Quinte, who was in attendance to address Council later in the evening. Council confirmed the agenda with one change, removing a planned Civic Recognition presentation that would be rescheduled due to a conflict.
View the entire PEC Council Meeting, or continue for speaker comments and councillor votes>
Recognitions, Announcements, and Proclamations
Council began with announcements recognizing Public Works Week, highlighting the role County staff play in maintaining roads, water systems, and municipal infrastructure year-round. Councillors also flagged upcoming discussions around civic recognition awards and noted that this would be the last Council meeting before Pride Month.
Mayor Ferguson then read three formal proclamations. Council proclaimed June as National Indigenous History Month, with June 21 recognized as National Indigenous Peoples Day, encouraging residents to learn about and reflect on Indigenous history and contributions. June was also proclaimed Pride Month in Prince Edward County, acknowledging the importance of inclusion, safety, and continued progress for the 2SLGBTQ+ community. A third proclamation recognized May 22 to May 28 as 99.3 County FM Week, marking the station’s annual Radiothon and its role as a community-owned source of local information.
Federal Perspective on Housing, Infrastructure, and Jobs
The meeting’s main presentation came from Ryan Williams, MP for Bay of Quinte, who spoke to Council about federal priorities and how they intersect with municipal challenges. Williams focused on housing, infrastructure, and employment, describing housing affordability and homelessness as urgent issues across the region. He referenced rising rents, increased homelessness, and the need for a full housing continuum, including emergency shelter, transitional housing, and affordable long-term options.
Williams commended the County for developing a housing plan that includes clear targets, noting that measurable goals help unlock funding and guide partnerships. He highlighted the Pinecrest School housing project as an example of effective collaboration between non-profit organizations and private developers, stressing that these partnerships are often essential to making projects financially viable.
Infrastructure concerns featured prominently in the discussion, particularly County Road 49, which councillors repeatedly described as a major safety and economic issue. Williams said he was advocating for upgrades by linking the road’s importance to broader provincial and federal supply chain priorities, including electric vehicle manufacturing and shipping through Picton terminals. He encouraged Council to provide a prioritized list of infrastructure projects so he could raise them directly with relevant ministers.
Council questions touched on long-term care capacity, workforce shortages, immigration, and skills training. Williams referenced federal programs supporting job training and acknowledged the difficulty of attracting skilled workers to rural areas when housing remains scarce. He also invited councillors to nominate local residents for upcoming Community Champion awards, aimed at recognizing volunteers and community leaders.
Farmland Protection and Provincial Planning Concerns
Following the MP’s presentation, Council heard a deputation from John Thompson, President of the Prince Edward Federation of Agriculture. Thompson presented a joint statement from numerous agricultural organizations opposing Bill 97 and the proposed Provincial Planning Statement. He warned that allowing additional residential lot severances in prime agricultural areas would fragment farmland, increase land prices, and create long-term conflicts between farm and non-farm uses.
Thompson emphasized that Ontario’s farmland is a limited resource and argued that housing growth should be directed to serviced settlement areas rather than agricultural land. Councillors questioned Thompson about the scope of support for the statement and the potential implications for Prince Edward County. The discussion underscored ongoing tension between housing needs and farmland preservation, a theme that resurfaced later in the meeting.
Council ultimately voted unanimously to support the Federation of Agriculture’s position, directing that this support be included in a future letter to the provincial government.
Community Projects and Local Advocacy
Council also heard from representatives of the Prince Edward Learning Centre, who asked Council to designate a proposed shade structure at Macaulay Village Heritage Park as a project of community interest. This designation would allow the group to fundraise and access volunteer labour through the United Way Day of Caring.
Speakers described Macaulay Village as an underserved area and explained how the shade structure would support community events, programming, and everyday park use.
Councillors asked about costs, maintenance responsibilities, and community involvement. Staff clarified that approving the project would make the structure a municipal asset, maintained by the County. Council approved the request and supported moving forward with a partnership agreement.
Later in the meeting, multiple residents spoke about proposed development on the Delhi Park and Lower Bowery Street lands, including a potential sale to Habitat for Humanity. While speakers expressed support for affordable housing, they raised concerns about environmental impacts, former landfill conditions, archaeological significance, accessibility, and construction impacts on the surrounding neighbourhood. Council acknowledged these concerns and noted that many would be addressed through future planning and consultation processes.
Key Takeaways for the Residents
Housing remains a dominant issue at every level of government, with Prince Edward County actively seeking partnerships and funding while balancing local impacts and long-term planning.
Farmland protection is a major concern, with Council clearly signalling opposition to provincial policies that could weaken agricultural land safeguards.
Community-led projects continue to shape Council decisions, with local organizations playing a direct role in identifying needs and proposing solutions that improve neighbourhood spaces.
Disclaimer: This article is based on a meeting with an approximate duration of 2:29:32. Due to the length of the meeting, our team was not able to independently review the full recording in its entirety. As a result, we relied on software-generated transcription, automated summarization, and automated recognition of speakers and participants, which may not be entirely accurate. All transcriptions, summaries, and related content are prepared by our team in good faith and on a reasonable best-efforts basis. The content is provided for general informational purposes only and is intended to support public understanding of the topics discussed. While reasonable efforts have been made to present the information accurately, automated processes may result in errors, omissions, or unintended misinterpretations. This article does not constitute an official, certified, or verbatim record of the meeting, and it should not be relied upon as such. Readers are encouraged to consult original source materials, official minutes, or recordings where available for confirmation or clarification. Questions, requests for clarification, or suggested corrections may be submitted to hello@pecconnect.ca for review and consideration.
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