Active Living Centre

My answer

I do support the vision of the Active Living Centre, and I’m excited about what it can bring back to Marathon.

When my children were growing up, they took swimming lessons, and we spent many Sundays at family swim. It was more than recreation. It was family time, connection and being part of our community.

The Active Living Centre is also much more than a pool. It has the potential to be a true community hub — a place for recreation, fitness, seniors, families, children, cultural activities and community connection.

At the same time, the next Council will be inheriting this project. We will not be starting from a blank page. The project is already under construction, significant work has been done, decisions have been made, and financial, contractual and funding commitments may already be in place.

If elected, I would want to understand exactly where the project stands: what has already been committed, what remains within Council’s control, what outside funding has been secured, what Marathon’s remaining financial responsibility will be, and what the long-term operating and maintenance costs will look like.

Because we do not only have to be able to build it. We have to be able to afford to operate and maintain it for decades.

Where decisions still remain, I will ask the difficult questions. If responsible opportunities arise to reduce costs to taxpayers through additional funding, partnerships, efficiencies, phasing or other practical adjustments that are still possible, I would absolutely explore them.

Supporting the project does not mean refusing to pivot if a better and responsible opportunity becomes available. It means respecting what has already been committed while being a careful steward of what remains within Council’s control.

That is what Courage at the Table means to me: doing my homework, asking hard questions, respectfully challenging ideas when necessary, listening to different perspectives, and sometimes agreeing to disagree while continuing to work together.

Council is a collective table. One councillor is one voice and one vote.

Community at the centre. Courage at the table. I support the Active Living Centre, and I believe the decisions that remain must be responsible, sustainable and in the best interests of Marathon now and into the future.