Dave Mowat, neighbouring mayors offer congratulations to Brighton’s new council
As municipal council members across Northumberland County were sworn into their roles in recent ceremonies, Alderville First Nation Chief Dave Mowat was in Brighton Nov. 15.
The chief made the point of attending the Municipality of Brighton Council’s inaugural meeting at King Edward Park Community Centre to express his appreciation for the relationship Brighton has fostered with Alderville.
“Congratulations mayor and council,” Mowat said, “and I wish you all the best in the next four years.”
“I had the pleasure of getting to know (Mayor Brian Ostrander) during the last term and I just want to commend him for the outreach,” Mowat said.
The chief told the Brighton Independent he particularly appreciates the leadership of Ostrander and Brighton’s previous council, which endorsed initiatives in support of the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in 2021. This included the painting of an orange band around the perimeter of Memorial Park that bears the words “truth and reconciliation” and “every child matters.” Preston Parkinson, Brighton’s previous director of public works and infrastructure, and Mowat collaborated on the project, which council approved.
“(Ostrander) and I have a good relationship, primarily from the first inception of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. I find him to be very progressive insofar as building bridges with us here (and with) the Indigenous community in general.”
Brighton’s inaugural meeting for the 2022-2026 term of council encompassed the introduction and declaration of the mayor, deputy mayor and councillors. Ostrander, Deputy Mayor Ron Anderson and councillors Anne Butwell, Byron Faretis, Emily Rowley, Jeff Wheeldon and Bobbi Wright were sworn in and took their oath of office presided over by Brighton municipal clerk Candice Doiron.
Other speakers included mayors from the Quinte region and Northumberland County, former Brighton politicians, and Northumberland-Peterborough South MPP David Piccini shared a short video message.
Ostrander, in his speech, welcomed back Anderson and Rowley to council and congratulated the four new councillors who will be joining them in chambers.
“As I reflected on your choices for this new council, I came to realize that I was quite right to campaign on a theme of progress and stability for the next four years,” Ostrander said.
“I see in my six council colleagues an eagerness to learn how to make life better in Brighton, and to do so with a staff team that is dedicated to our community and its progress. I see a team that is ready to do some proverbial heavy lifting.”
Access to health care, improved infrastructure, and parks and recreation renewal are issues top of mind for the mayor as the new term begins.
Earlier in the evening, members of the Royal Canadian Legion Brighton Branch 100 ushered in the new council, Trinity-St. Andrew’s Church Reverend Wanda Stride offered a blessing, and East Northumberland Secondary School’s choir, Razzmajazz, led the singing of the national anthem and provided a musical interlude.