CFN – I love visiting Brockville Ontario. It’s amazing to see this beautiful waterfront city as it tackles some of the problems we face in Cornwall and other Eastern Ontario cities. Their downtown core especially has been revitalized with many waterfront attractions and all sorts of businesses and services filling every nook and side street available!
I had the chance to meet 25 year old City Councilor Leigh Bursey and was impressed that he and Brockville are attacking the issue of youth retention. Essentially finding solutions to keeping a city’s best and brightest home and happy.
For more information about Beautiful Brockville Ontario you can also visit their city website: LINK
Brockville always did have vision & gave a ear to young people,Their youngest Mayor, Clarke I think was only around 20 & had great ideas that were implemented & helped them proper
Brockville is a pretty town with lots of stately mansions and such, but the beauty is only skin deep. Most of the decent paying manufacturing jobs have disappeared in the last twenty years, just like the rest of eastern Ontario. It’s a very conservative, white, and Bible-centric town. Sure, when Steve Clark was the mayor many years ago, he was touted as the youngest mayor in Canada, but he was just a junior member of the conservative ruling clique. He’s now a more senior member of that clique. With few decent job opportunities and a deep-seated conservative culture, Brockville has a hard time keeping young people around.
Ed they say that recognizing an issue is half the cure. Having a young council member and focusing on the issue amazing. From the looks of it Brockville is doing more right than some other cities.
@Admin. I truly hope that that the young councilor isn’t just another clone of the old guard like Steve Clark was/is. In the meantime, without decent job opportunities, why would, or how can young people stay there? BTW, Leed-Grenville (Brockville) has elected ONLY Conservative MPPs for the last NINETY years! And that ain’t about to change soon. On the positive side for a lot of folks, you won’t hear any French being spoken in Brockville, and visible minorities are few and far between.
Too bad there isn’t an editing option on this site….
that that should be that.
Ed/Furtz I dropped partisan politics. I think there are good and bad in all political parties.
” I think there are good and bad in all political parties.”
So do I. But in Leeds-Grenville (Brockville) they have elected a Con MPP in every election for the last ninety years!
Well Ed as we’ve seem in our own ridings; MPP’s can have zero impact on a community…not sure a city’s success all comes down to one or even a handful of politicians. Obviously the good people of Brockville have been working together and doing some things right. Just drive through and you can see it clear enough.
Lowell greene likes Cornwall apparently a ‘thriving community” …media has power to make or break a community too.. not just politicians but it depends on which ‘media ” stream you follow,,,,
That’s funny Admin. I’ve driven through hundreds of towns many times from coast to coast. There’s no way that I could seriously assess any place without spending a bit of time working or living there.
Ed what makes you think I’ve spent no time there or don’t have good friends who live there?
Your comment about just driving through it to see it clear enough gave me that impression. I will say that the current mayor, Dave Henderson, seems to be refreshingly progressive, and not afraid to bump heads occasionally.