News
County Council continues its 2026 budget deliberations today. On Monday night, County staff initially proposed an 11% tax increase, driven by the asset management plan, labour and benefit services in compliance with the collective agreement, and increased inflation in contracted services. When Councillors asked about service cuts, staff reminded them that the public survey had shown residents are willing to pay the taxes required to maintain service levels.
Brenda Little has more about the first day of deliberations yesterday.
Early in the deliberations was the developmental services presentation where there were many items of discussion resulting in several items being eliminated from this budget. One of the big-ticket items was the reconstruction of county road 1 for just over 3 million dollars, and council voted to delay that project. Other items eliminated included the proposed pumping station at Pineridge, the shoreline designation, and the removal of the Wellington Secondary plan. They voted to eliminate the reconstruction of the King street parking lot, but later in the day that was rescinded when community Services staff revealed that $100,000 was left over from a grant supporting the EV charger installation. That changed the parking lot scenario and council voted to go forward with the reconstruction of the lot. Some good news came from the Recreation and Community facilities department about reroofing the Crystal Palace. Staff had researched products to replace the cedar shingles and a metal product was found that would meet the Heritage requirements, would last for decades, and costs about $450,000 instead of $750,000. Council voted unanimously on that item.
Thus far, Councillors have managed to reduce the overall increase in the tax levy down to around 4%. Today’s budget deliberations started with a presentation from the Fire and rescue department.
Feed Ontario’s 2025 Hunger Report has just been released, showing that people relying on food banks to survive have reached unprecedented numbers in Ontario as residents sink further into poverty. The report reveals that more than 1 million Ontarians needed a food bank last year, visiting hunger-relief services over 8.7 million times across the province, a staggering 13% increase in just one year. This marks the ninth consecutive year of growth and the highest level of demand on record. One in three food bank users were children, one in three were people with disabilities, and one in four were employed but could not earn enough. In fact, employed adults are the fastest-growing group of food bank visitors. The report also found that twice as many food bank users were seniors, compared to just five years ago, because their fixed incomes have not kept up with the rising cost of living. The report also found that increased food bank use often preceded spikes in homelessness.
As well, the report highlighted that Ontarians living on a low income are more likely to experience chronic illness, to be hospitalized for conditions that could otherwise be managed outside of a hospital setting, and to be costing Ontario an additional $6.2 billion per year in health care expenses. And food banks are struggling to keep up with demand, with more than half of food banks reporting concerns about running out of food or not having enough to sustain their operations over the next six months.
Sports
In the AHL tonight, the Belleville Senators host the Toronto Marlies, as part of an eight-game homestand. The Sens are on a three-game losing streak.
In the NHL last night, six Canadian teams were in action. The Leafs defeated the Florida Panthers 4 – 1, and the Ottawa Senators beat the Montreal Canadiens 5 – 2 in Atlantic Division matches. The Calgary Flames lost 5 – 1 to the Nashville Predators. The Colorado Avalanche maintained their substantial lead at the top of the league with a 3 – 1 win over the Vancouver Canucks. And the Minnesota Wild defeated the Edmonton Oilers 1 – 0. Tonight, the Winnipeg Jets are in Montreal.
In the PWHL last night, the Minnesota Frost defeated the Ottawa Charge 5 – 1. Tonight, the Vancouver Goldeneyes visit the Boston Fleet, and the New York Sirens play the Torrent in Seattle.
In the NBA, the Toronto Raptors began a four-game homestand last night with a 121 – 118 win over the Portland Trailblazers, to end a modest two-game losing skid. The Raptors are back in second place in the Eastern Conference.
In yesterday’s friendly versus No. 8 Japan, the No. 9 Canadian women’s national soccer team extended their losing streak and goal-less drought to five games with a 1-0 defeat.
And Spain won the European Women’s Nations League soccer final with a 3-0 victory over Germany yesterday, easily setting an attendance record for the Spanish team at home.
