Ward Three Candidates
By John Swartz
This week SUNonline/Orillia will publish information about each of the candidates running for Orillia council. Election Day is October 24. All candidates were asked to forward a brief bio about their connection to Orillia, and paragraphs outlining two of their platform issues.
In addition they were asked to answer two questions and all were subjected to a word count limit. So let’s meet the Ward Three candidates.
Jeff Czetwerzuk 
Jay Fallis
Jeff Czetwerzuk: My name is Jeff Czetwerzuk (pronounced Cheddar-chuck). I am a lifelong resident of the beautiful City of Orillia. I am 26 years old, and the youngest candidate running in the City. I have a bachelor’s degree in social work, an advanced diploma in child and youth care, and I work for a support agency assisting people with disabilities. This community gave so much to my grandparents who moved here from the Ukraine and I want to give back. I have been involved in politics before at Georgian College and was elected to both the Georgian College student’s association as well as the Georgian Colleges board of governors. At Georgian College, I planned and hosted many events and initiatives like Georgian College’s mental health awareness week, and also the first ever Cram-a-Cruiser events on the campus supporting local families during Christmas, with toys, clothing, and food. On the board of governors at Georgian I was able to advocate for many student issues at the highest level. I was a part of many student-wide decisions and was on the recognition committee. I am still very involved with both the Georgian College and Lakehead University, representing alumni at both. I am also the president of Rotaract Orillia which is a club that is a part of Rotary International and is for young adults. As a club, we do many community events, and our largest success so far has been collecting over 500 pounds of food for the Sharing Place Food Bank. I enjoy volunteering and participating in community events and initiatives. Being involved and connected to the community is my passion, because I enjoy giving back whenever I can.
Jay Fallis: I have been serving as one of your Orillia City Councillors in Ward 3 for the past four years. As a young professional, I am energetic and hardworking. If you have a problem, I’ll be the person on your doorstep making sure it gets fixed. During this past term of Council, I have responded to over 1,271 constituent concerns over the past four years. Additionally, I am very active in Orillia. I have been teaching part-time at Georgian College; I volunteer for both Helping Hands and the Lighthouse Shelter and I wrote for the Packet & Times as a political columnist. Growing up, I was a student at Park Street Collegiate Institute. I also have past experience in politics and journalism. I have a master’s degree in political science from the University of Toronto and I have worked as a political aide at Queen’s Park and the House of Commons. Additionally, I have been published in 30 newspapers across Canada including the Toronto Star, Ottawa Citizen, and Calgary Herald. Over the past four years as a city councillor, I have been passionate about participating in city politics. I have sat on over 15 different committees and you may have seen me around at various events throughout Orillia. Affordable Housing is a particular passion of mine. I have been a representative on the City of Orillia’s affordable housing committee, the County of Simcoe’s affordable housing committee, the Simcoe County Alliance to End Homelessness Orillia Committee, and the committee tasked with bringing a warming centre to Orillia. I continue to advocate for much needed access to affordable housing throughout Orillia. I always love to hear from people. If you ever have a comment, question, or idea, please feel free to reach out to me.
Zak Gariba 
Elizabeth Van Houtte 
NIck Wray
Zak Gariba: I have lived in Orillia for the past 15 years. I am the senior founding pastor of Jubilee Celebration Centre and have lived in, and served the community of Orillia for the past 15 years in this capacity. We have been a local church having weekly services, have a food program to help families in the city and launched a prayer line during the pandemic to provide support and encouragement and prayer for families in need. We have been involved in distributing backpacks with school items to support back to school programs for our city. For the past two years I have been on the Orillia Waste Management Committee during this time through the introduction of clear plastic garbage bags this has resulted in Orillia’s landfill being reduced by about 40%. I am a member of the ministerial of churches for Orillia and served as a president for two terms. During that time I organized the first city wide Good Friday church service in Orillia. This yearly multi-church event continues to this day. I am an ordained minister with Ministers network.
Elizabeth Van Houtte: I grew up the daughter of a post-war immigrant and worked on tobacco and vegetable farms in Norfolk County, On. I went on to a 38-year career in the mental health field and earned a doctorate in social work in 2012. Currently, I run my own counselling business in Orillia, where I live with my husband and twin daughters. In my career, I spent many years managing non-profit and for-profit programs in Ontario and the USA. In 1990, I established one of the first client-run small businesses in North America, in Brantford, On. This opened new opportunity for people with disabilities to direct their employment and earn real wages. The program became a model for others, and I was asked to replicate this in the USA. While in New Jersey, I spent several years developing work-related programming for mental health providers, teaching work-driven rehabilitation methodology, and helped set a standard for USA federal positions on education for rehabilitation professionals. I brought this knowledge to Orillia in 2010, where I began teaching at Lakehead, Laurentian, and Georgian. For me, community is always the basis for how we experience our lives. I’m concerned that too many decisions have been made about you, without you. My hope is that I can bring the voice of my constituents to the table when decisions are made. I know that Orillia has a great store of talent and knowledge among its residents. It is time we made good use of our citizens. It’s time we opened doors for our youth to build a life here. It’s time Orillia acknowledges its growing diversity. It’s time we support all our citizens to excel – and our city excels with them. The ability to listen intently and communicate effectively are essential strengths I have honed over many years. I value transparency, integrity, and honesty. I am not convinced we have had this with past councils. Hard work has never stopped me from doing what is best for my family or my community.
Nick Wray: I grew up in Oshawa, but spent a lot of my youth in the area. My grandparents retired here and we got to spend our summers enjoying the lakes and attractions. I moved to Ottawa to attend Carleton. After graduating with a B.A. in French, I have enjoyed a successful sales career that has allowed me to live in Montreal, Toronto, Calgary and now in Orillia. Out of all these places, we choose Orillia as we love the area and people.
Issue Number 1
Jeff Czetwerzuk: The issue that I have heard the most at the doors is the need to look after our roads and basic infrastructure. There have been numerous issues brought forward about this including traffic calming, better snow removal and fixing and maintaining roads, walkways and sidewalks. This is an issue I would advocate for and would like to see more be done to ensure our basic infrastructure is looked after.
Jay Fallis: Creating an affordable housing coordinator for Orillia. This person could help to attract potential affordable housing builders, assist in updating the city’s outdated affordable housing plan, make suggestions to update planning rules to make it more friendly for affordable housing projects, etc. Increase the city’s annual contribution to the Affordable Housing Reserve. This reserve is designed to offset some of the upfront costs for affordable housing builds in Orillia. It helps to incentivize non-profits and other affordable housing builders to take on such projects and can also accelerate such projects. Encourage County representatives to take on more ambitious targets for affordable housing, county wide.
Zak Gariba: I am concerned about health care including physician recruitment, health teams, nurse practitioners and walk-in clinics. My family and I don’t have a family doctor so this really hits home. Every man, woman and child should have their own family doctor and we are experiencing a critical shortage in Orillia. I will work hard to bring family doctors and nurse practitioners working in conjunction with Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital to set up new walk-in clinics in the city to meet the demands and to ease the pressure in the emergency department of the hospital. As your councillor I will work to do everything I can to keep healthcare as a top priority to recruit more physicians and health team workers to alleviate this shortage.
Elizabeth Van Houtte: Taxes and the cost of living are not news to most of you. Blame is often placed on local government. But municipalities are experiencing ever-increasing downloads from the province which evaporates municipal resources and prohibits effective planning. Holding the line on property taxes, crumbling infrastructure, the unreasonable cost of housing when you can find it, and food price-gouging are problems we all face. Local government is faced with triaging services or finding new revenue. Prioritizing needs and demands, including infrastructure, is increasingly necessary. For some, the property tax becomes the go-to. I disagree. One thought is to re-think how we do development in the city. Utilizing existing resources to the maximum and looking to those who profit from our city should always be considered before rate increases. Revenue can be sought from developers and others who are cashing in on our prime location. It takes councillors willing to do so.
Nick Wray: Community safety.
Issue Number 2
Jeff Czetwerzuk: We are currently in a housing crisis where housing and the cost of living are at an all time high. This is a large issue and is having a negative effect on our City’s most vulnerable. Having affordable and accessible housing options is important as well as having housing options for all as the middle class and first time home buyers who are struggling as well. If elected this is a priority for me and I would do my best to ensure I am working with the rest of council and community partners to ensure we advocate for solutions to this issue sooner rather than later.
Jay Fallis: Addressing climate change has been a major focus. I was pleased that the council adopted the Climate Change Action Plan which sets ambitious targets to get the city to zero carbon emissions over the next 30-40 years. I have also been a strong proponent of improving waste diversion in Orillia. I played a role bringing the Take a Bag, Leave a Bag program to Orillia stores to reduce the need for single use plastic bags. If re-elected, I intend to see through Orillia’s Climate Change Action Plan, which will require continued commitment from council. In addition, support for improved stormwater treatment, pollinator friendly gardens, community gardens, and further improvements to waste sorting and diversion (among other things), will further help to address climate change. It is so essential that we protect our community and keep it beautiful for our children and grandchildren.
Zak Gariba: Safety and security are important issues to residents this includes the handling of speeding on our city streets, snow clearing during the winter months and safety in our downtown core. I am also concerned about the degree of speeding on our city streets, l am committed to getting more traffic lights, stop signs or cross walks to enable our school children, families, daycare children, and seniors, to cross our streets safely. Our children are important, a new school in the West Ridge area is a must. Safety and security is important for small businesses too. I would like to see more free parking and increased police presence to create a more safe, secure and family friendly atmosphere in our downtown core to support local businesses. The clearing of snow is a safety issue in our community and I will work to keep this as a priority for our city.
Elizabeth Van Houtte: Of course, my experience is in mental healthcare, so it is of interest to me. Yet, if you consider events over the past several years it is clear there is a crisis building in mental health. This is not something affecting those others – it’s right here at home. The homeless population is often a result of lack of resources to address chronic mental health issues. Likewise, drug and alcohol use grows in relation to lack of hope. OSMH, before COVID, was overwhelmed and unable to provide more than temporary relief. Some of this is provincial and federal, but our local government can put pressure on those resources. Taking a passive approach, pointing to others, pointing to each other – none of these are going resolve the issue of people wandering about Orillia with nowhere to go. A pro-active council and collaborative efforts by all players is essential.
Nick Wray: Acting as a liaison for the constituents to help resolve issues, understand municipal and provincial programs and act as a conduit to understand available programs and initiatives.
SUNonline/Orillia Question Number 1
With regard to recent council decisions about Sweet Dreams Ice Cream and the Opera House story pole, along with other matters before council over the years, it looks like City administration sometimes puts information before council in line with what they’d like to see happen, even if that direction cannot stand up to scrutiny. The question is: Are you open to third options staff have not recommended when it becomes apparent all the information is not being presented to council?
Jeff Czetwerzuk: I think the more options presented the better. This will allow me, if elected, and the rest of council to make better informed decisions. I strongly believe in being properly informed before making a decision and I strive to seek out more information or educate myself more if I do not know the answer. City council deals with some very complex issues and the more information and discussion around these issues the better. It is also important to gather community input as public service is really about serving the public and that input should be heard and valued. Council should strive to better engage the public and have a streamlined process for public input.
Jay Fallis: I regularly look beyond the reports that staff have drafted, to get information. I ask community leaders, experts, and constituents to get the most accurate understanding on various issues. If I disagree with the staff decision, then I always speak my mind while remaining respectful. Democracy functions best when those elected do their homework and conduct research to get the best answers. On the Sweet Dreams Ice Cream booth matter, I did question why staff were not able to find a location other than the one proposed. I did support the decision for the city to negotiate with Sweet Dreams during the August meeting. I was disappointed when the council went in a different direction. On the story pole matter, I did suggest the motion staff proposed should be adjusted in order to consult further with indigenous groups that were directly impacted. Council, as a whole, supported this move.
Zak Gariba: As a councillor, and having access to all the relevant information, I will be glad to comment more fully on this issue when I am elected to office.
Elizabeth Van Houtte: Yes. I spent many years working to build effective operations, listening to all possible options, and speaking with those affected by the decisions I was making. I feel that too much discussion at the Council level is done behind closed doors. This precludes input from people outside of city hall who can inform the decisions and lays most of the power in the hands of a few staff. Without looking at all options, we are bound to choosing the lesser of two evils. Thinking outside the box and pushing the envelope are two of my greatest attributes. Council has been willing to let staff direct the process and content of public discussion. Over-complication, limiting the time or focus of presentations, and opening public discussion a day or two before the deadline are very effective at stifling public awareness and input. I’ve worked with many bureaucracies – these tactics are not new.
Nick Wray: In short, yes, if limited information has been presented. This does not mean that the third option would then be the best option. For example, the case of the pole, health and safety triggered the removal. Regardless of whether the artist feels the work could be done on site, we should still rely on the HS findings.
SUNonline/Orillia Question Number 2
Council has had two initiatives on its agenda this term that could position the City nicely at the vanguard of the digital economy, especially in terms of job creation. With the existence of the OPP, Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital, Lakehead University and Georgian College – and a North/South and East/West communications hub located in Orillia it seems to make sense the Innovation Hub and developing a cyber security cluster are good projects to aggressively pursue. The question is: Would you be in favour of the municipality putting more resources toward those projects? Why?
Jeff Czetwerzuk: The innovation hub seems to be a great imitative and I believe there is great benefit to come from partnerships as well as creating jobs. Supporting safety and security in our community is important and this hub could bring some great value. Being involved with alumni at both post-secondary institutions I know the value of these partnerships and the great value that it can bring to the community. I have been a part of many great things between both institutions and the community and there is a lot more opportunity to come with these types of partnerships including but not limited to research projects and more initiatives. My student council role at Georgian was VP External which was tasked with partnering and working with the community which provided much benefit to both. I would support this project as it can provide many positives for our community, partners, and the post secondary institutions.
Jay Fallis: I would certainly be supportive of attracting any economic opportunities that involves digital innovation. If an opportunity comes to Orillia, I am on board. I look to the most recent project that the council has been working on as a guide on how to focus our energies. I am referring to the innovation hub led by a Dr. David Potter. For the past few years he has been working with students at Lakehead, the City of Orillia, the CDC and others. He and his team have been exploring a variety of different economic development opportunities and what would be the easiest sectors and businesses to attract to Orillia. I have been supportive of the project and look forward to hearing back further on the recommendations for what the city can do to attract innovative businesses to Orillia as well as what specific sectors might be most effective to seek out.
Zak Gariba: As a councillor, and having access to all the relevant information, I will be glad to comment more fully on this issue when I am elected to office.
Elizabeth Van Houtte: I will commit to prodding all the players to commit to innovation and a digital environment. It’s where the world is today, and we need to be a part of that or be left behind. However, I would need more information on the commitment by the partners, the expectation of the city, and whether this will create additional, perhaps unnecessary, growth in our local bureaucracy. Maybe. It is not the sole responsibility of the city to make this happen. Rather, the city can facilitate this (and other efforts such as housing) by changing by-laws and offering incentives. Orillia needs to stop giving away tax dollars on empty promises. The easy pledges of jobs, or ratables are too often fleeting and diluted by increased costs to the municipality. Council needs to focus on building opportunity for the residents of the city and not just the corporations. Nick Wray: Yes, I fully support looking for opportunities to upgrade our digital infrastructure. This can be achieved by strategically partnering with the providers to cover costs. New labour markets continue to emerge that are rooted in technology.
NOTE: Deval Brahmbhatt did not respond.
(Photos by Swartz – SUNonline/Orillia and Supplied)
