Ginny Rook
Ginny Rook has been representing Ward 2 on the past council, but now said she is ready to step up to the mayor’s seat at the table. Married with two grown children, she and her husband have been coming to the area for over 30 years, and about a decade ago they built a house on Hartley Bay where they have been living for the past several years.
Ms. Rook said that she is reluctant to outline a platform as such. “I don’t want to make promises,” she said. “I like to listen to what everyone has to say and work together for everyone.”
If there is a central theme for her, it would likely be economic development. “It seems like every business in the village is for sale,” she said. “We need to do everything we can to encourage tourism dollars to come into the community.”
The municipality of Killarney is very diverse, she noted. “We have a nice little village with gift shops and of course everyone knows the fish and chip stand, but then there is the French River area which is different than the village.”
Ms. Rook noted that the wilderness park there is quite different from Killarney Park. “Then there is Pickerel River which is different from Killarney, but similar to French River,” she said. “When you look at Key River, it is quite different again, travelling right out to Georgian Bay. They are all different.” That diversity calls for a great deal of insight to the viewpoints of the differing regions.
Ms. Rook said that her position on the community’s budget committee for 2013 gave her a great deal of insight in how the tax rate for the region comes about and she has some ideas about how to bring those rates down.
“Taxes have really risen in the town since we became a municipality in 1999,” she said. “We picked Killarney back then because of the low cost, our tax rates are still very low. But when we began the tax rate was about $300, now it is more like $1,000.” The rise in costs have largely been the result of decisions made at outside agencies, such as the District Services Board, she noted, and the potential impact of the new OPP billing model is a definite cause for concern. “Ours (policing bill) will go up,” she said. “It will be a huge hit, even though they say they will phase it in over five years.”
That is the challenge, she said. “The provincial government is constantly downloading onto the municipalities. I heard Hazel McCallion speak and she put it very well.” While the federal and provincial governments have the money and the power, it is the municipal governments who have the problems.
Ms. Rook said that she maintains an open mind and open ears when it comes to ideas for tackling those challenges facing Killarney’s many diverse regions.
