Guest Editorial: Division 5 candidate Joe Milligan

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By Joe Milligan

It is an honour to participate in the Sturgeon County election campaign. I have enjoyed serving for the past three years and hope I can do so again. One of the things I enjoyed most was meeting and working with many citizens in Division 5. Together we have made life in our community better.

I am a lifelong resident of Sturgeon County. One of the things I have seen is the departure of so many young people from our community. I believe we can reverse the trend by providing more opportunities here—they may not decide to stay farming but they may stay and work at the new upgrader or at businesses and industries that develop because of it. Value-added agriculture diversification would also help. Tourism development is another helpful component of our economic development policies.

I have voiced strong concern about the Heartland Transmission Project and the Capital Region Board. We must fight as we have to protect the interests and rights of our residents. I intend to continue doing so.

I am especially proud of getting 50th street paved from Highway #37 to the Sturgeon River. The past council made transportation a priority and our whole county has benefitted from that initiative. I intend to continue pushing for road construction and maintenance improvements.

In the past I often heard citizens reporting they had difficulty contacting County staff. It now appears to be much better under our new administration that is putting people first.

Taxation continues to be a big issue. The Upgrader is great news because it will provide jobs and spin-off investment. As importantly it will provide us with significant tax revenues that must be used wisely. I believe in lower taxes for farms and residences while ensure we can provide the services people need.

If you honour me with re-election I promise to continue working cooperatively on Council and with neighbouring municipalities within our County. I thank all those who have supported me over the past years. Unfortunately this election and a knee operation coincided and I have not been able to get around as much as I would have liked. If I haven’t had an opportunity to talk to you directly during the campaign, I will look forward to doing so over time.

Thank you for your consideration and support.

Joe Milligan

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1 Comment

  1. I am confused as to why you refer to “the up-grader” as if it were in fact an existing viable business operating in the county. As the old saying goes”there are many slips between cup and lip” I believe the mine has to be developed before the up-grader and that, as far as the media indicates, can depend on a lot of things the county or yourself have no control over being that world markets and local politics are miles apart.

    This leads to another question that a voter might ask themselves before casting their ballot:

    What new development has been added to the heartland development area on the sturgeon county side in the last 10 years.( I would put my money on none).

    There has been millions of dollars of infastructure money,plus promotional travel etc. spent over the last few years to support this non-development. Perhaps I misunderstand the basic plan and am open for enlightenment at any time.

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