Latest news with #FauquierStrickland
CTV News
18-07-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Fauquier-Strickland meets with Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing
Officials with Fauquier-Strickland, which is heavily in debt and has threatened to cease services, have met with the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing. Officials with Fauquier-Strickland, which is heavily in debt and has threatened to cease services, have met with the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing. Town in financial crisis meets with the province In a phone interview with CTV News, Madeleine Tremblay, the mayor of Fauquier-Strickland, said officials with the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing met with her on Wednesday to review the municipality's financial crisis. Last week in a letter to residents, mayor and council announced it would have to cease most of its core services by Aug. 1. The municipality has accumulated $2.5 million in debt in the past decade. That means it can't afford to pay for services such as road maintenance, landfill, cemetery and fire without financial help from the province. Tremblay told CTV News that the meeting went well and the municipality now awaits recommendations from Minister Robert Flack's office. She said no timeline has been given. In the meantime, Tremblay said she's working on finding a solution to be able to continue providing municipal services.
CBC
16-07-2025
- Business
- CBC
'I actually cried': 1st-time homebuyer enters a northern Ontario market in financial crisis
Social Sharing Coleen Thompson had been a renter her entire adult life until she jumped on an opportunity to purchase a home in the small northern Ontario community of Fauquier-Strickland. "I'm approaching 50, have never owned a home, have done a lot in the past few years to get myself to a position where that was a reality." Thompson is from Guelph, Ont., but closed on a home in Fauquier on July 9, the same day Mayor Madeleine Tremblay announced the municipality was in a financial crisis. Tremblay says that if the province doesn't intervene, or the municipality doesn't raise property taxes by around 200 per cent, most municipal services would have to shut down by Aug. 1. Thompson said she first heard the news when her mother shared a Facebook post from the municipality that outlined its financial troubles. "I actually cried," she said. "I was so overwhelmed at the thought that this would be happening and a million things ran through my mind. What is the value of the home that we just purchased gonna look like with our taxes?" Thompson isn't the only community member fearing for the future. CBC also recently spoke to a couple who moved to Fauquier-Strickland late last year because of the lower housing costs and to live closer to their grandchildren. At the beginning of 2025, their property taxes went from around $2,300 a year to $5,600. On Monday, the municipality held a special council meeting to update residents on its financial situation and next steps. Thompson watched it over Zoom, from her home in Guelph. "I was actually appalled to the point of feeling really emotional about it. It seemed to me that the meeting started with a really negative tone," she said. At the start of the meeting, Tremblay was against hosting a question-and-answer session with residents, but council members voted in favour of the exchange. "It felt like she was very evasive," Thompson said about the mayor's responses during the meeting. "People would ask questions and she answered the question with another question." Tremblay said she will meet with representatives from Ontario's Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing on Wednesday to discuss the municipality's $2.5-million operating deficit. Among those attending Monday's council meeting was Dan Michaud, who ran for mayor against Tremblay eight years ago. Michaud told CBC News that in his opinion, the municipality has failed to attract businesses that would bring in more tax revenue. He noted nearby communities like Smooth Rock Falls have been more proactive at attracting businesses, such as a large gas station that caters to truckers who transport goods down Highway 11. Michaud said Fauquier-Strickland would benefit from small businesses such as a campground to bring in tourism dollars. He said the municipality needs to present the province with a plan to climb out of its deficit. "We asked her [Tremblay] if she had a plan," he said. "Her answer was, 'No. I don't know. I'm going to wait for the minister.'" Small northern Ontario towns are struggling Other small municipalities say they are facing similar challenges. Johanne Baril is the mayor of the municipality of Val Rita-Harty, located around 40 kilometres west of Fauquier-Strickland. "What is happening there is not an isolated incident — it is part of a broader crisis facing small rural municipalities across Ontario," she said in a statement. Baril said her municipality won't survive unless it changes the way services are delivered. She said the municipality is working on a plan, now in its final stages, to "help course‐correct, end the cycle of crisis management, inform our decision‐making, meet regulatory requirements, strengthen policy and forge a financially sustainable future."
CTV News
12-07-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Fauquier-Strickland mayor joins CTV Your Morning to talk financial hardships
Northern Ontario Watch CTV Your Morning host Anne-Marie Mediwake talks with Fauquier-Strickland Mayor Madeleine about the town's financial hardships and potentially ceasing operations next month.
CTV News
11-07-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Shocked Fauquier-Strickland residents want answers to the township's financial crisis
Residents in Fauquier-Strickland are in shock at the news the township could cease operations Aug. 1 because of a long-term financial crisis.
CBC
11-07-2025
- Business
- CBC
Northern Ontario township to shut down all municipal services next month due to financial crisis
The small northeastern Ontario township of Fauquier-Strickland, located on Highway 11 near Kapuskasing, says it will cease all municipal services as of Aug. 1, due to a $2.5-million operating deficit. The municipality of 467 people, according to the 2021 census, said in a news release that the alternative to shutting down municipal services would be to impose a 190 to 230 per cent property tax increase for all residents. That tax increase would have tripled most tax bills and potentially forced families from their homes. "Despite ongoing requests for provincial intervention made to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, no concrete assistance or direction has been provided," the news release said. "A letter sent to Minister Robert Flack on July 2, 2025, requesting immediate ministerial intervention has received no substantive response." In an email to CBC News, Alexandra Sanita, a spokesperson for Flack, said the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing is "actively engaging with the Township of Fauquier-Strickland on their local challenges." Fauquier-Strickland said its financial crisis is due to accumulated operating deficits that have depleted all operating and reserve funds. Mayor Madeleine Tremblay said upgrades to the municipality's water filtration system during the COVID-19 pandemic went over budget, leaving the small community with a bill for $1 million. Tremblay said many other small municipalities in Ontario are facing similar challenges due to rising costs and a small tax base to cover basic operations. "We're one of the first, I would say. And I think that's why the minister is hesitant to give us an answer," she said. Tremblay said the township is looking into options to continue garbage collection if it has to shut down municipal services by Aug. 1, when the five township employees would be laid off. She said residents will still get access to hydro and water if the local government ends up shutting down. No cash reserves "The municipality has been operating with zero cash reserves for over a year, relying heavily on credit to fund ongoing operations," a release from the township said. Fauquier-Strickland council increased property taxes by 26 per cent last year to help address the financial problem. Tremblay said many of the township's residents are on fixed incomes, and would find it challenging to pay additional property taxes. Fauquier-Strickland said it's requesting immediate intervention from Ontario's Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, including the appointment of a municipal supervisor or administrator, and some emergency financial assistance. Not since the Great Depression Zachary Spicer, an associate professor at York University's School of Public Policy Administration, told CBC News a municipal bankruptcy in Ontario hasn't happened since the Great Depression, nearly 100 years ago. "Reading the press release, it seems to me like this is really just the town kind of waving the white flag and being like, 'You know, the province does something or like we're done,'" he said. Spicer said the reason many Ontario municipalities were amalgamated in the early 2000s was because they were no longer financially viable on their own. He said he expects the province to take action before the township is forced to shut down municipal services. "The province doesn't allow things like this to sort of occur without a game plan," he said. "So I suspect there is a kind of an emergency break glass type of plan or scenario that the province has." In the short term, Spicer said the provincial response could include some emergency funding to keep municipal services running. Over the longer term, he said there will likely be conversations around amalgamating with nearby municipalities along Highway 11, since many small towns across Ontario are also in bad financial shape. "It's tough and they've been sounding the alarm for the last 10 to 15 years," he said. If Fauquier-Strickland is forced to shut down municipal services by Aug. 1, Spicer said he wouldn't expect there to be an obligation for residents to continue paying their property taxes. Although he said there are likely homeowners who have already paid their taxes for the year.
