Innisfil Today asked all members of town council to pick, in no particular order, this council’s most significant accomplishments during the 2018-22 term of office. Separate stories have been written for the mayor’s, deputy mayor’s and councillors’ responses, which we’ll be sharing in the coming days and weeks.
When Innisfil Deputy Mayor Dan Davidson looks back at this term of council, he thinks less about what we could see during these four years and more about what’s to come down the road.
“This council, we’re not looking at our term, what did we accomplish in this term,” he said. “But what have we accomplished for the next 15-to-20 years…. That’s been a huge change of thinking.”
Perhaps the best example of that is the partnership between Innisfil and Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre, which was solidified as RVH announced it would be building its south campus at the corner of Innisfil Beach Road and Yonge Street. That was “a major accomplishment for this town,” Davidson said.
Also significant was the infrastructure work in the southwest quadrant of the Highway 400 and Innisfil Beach Road corridor, as well as the continued planning for the Orbit development.
“Getting the pipes in the ground for the Highway 400 corridor has been a huge achievement,” he said. “If the Orbit stays focused, I think that’s a great way to get obtainable housing to the younger generation. That’s something that a lot of municipalities aren’t looking at, but we are.”
Several other accomplishments spring to mind for the long-time resident of Big Bay Point who has served on three of the past four councils, including two stints as deputy mayor. Davidson pointed out the work done to date on the potential amalgamation of the Innisfil and Bradford West Gwillimbury fire departments and improved road safety and traffic mitigation with the introduction of roundabouts and other traffic calming measures.
New housing opportunities also are key for Davidson, such as the partnership with Habitat for Humanity and the new seniors complex being constructed at Big Bay Point. A unique facet of that development is the partnership that has developed between Innisfil and neighbouring Barrie, after years of chilly relations.
“We actually worked with the City of Barrie, instead of working against,” he said. “We’re sharing water and wastewater with Barrie and I think that’s a nice direction to be going in.”
Davidson also highlighted how Innisfil continued to support its residents throughout this latest term of council. The town’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic is a particular point of pride for the deputy mayor, even if the pandemic did slow council’s progress down.
“We were one of the first municipalities to go all virtual on our council meetings,” he said. “Through the COVID experience, we gave a lot of money to support food banks, to help people in need. That was easy for us to do; we had no problem with that at all.”
Davidson, who was first elected to council in 2006, will be running again in October’s election, vying to become mayor.
