About Marilyn
We moved to the Town of Ajax in 1992, and have raised our family in the same home in Westney Heights for 30-years. I am the proud mother of 2 wonderful children, who are now both adults, the wife to my husband of 37 years, and a proud grandma to our granddaughter.
I came into politics in 2000 when I put my name on the ballot for School Board Trustee at the the Durham District School Board (DDSB). During the 3 terms I served as Trustee, I was a member of the Special Education Advisory Committee ("SEAC"), Vice-chair of the Board, and later I served as Chair of the DDSB.
In 2010, I was elected to serve the Town of Ajax as Local Councillor for Ward 1. During my first term, I was one of the first Town of Ajax Councillors to offer monthly open meetings with residents to discuss issues pertinent to Ward 1 and the Town. These meetings were well received and were continued to be hosted during my second term as Local Councillor. Many meaningful discussions took place while serving at this post from 2010-2018.
In 2018, I was elected to serve Ajax as Regional Councillor for Ward 1. During this past term I have been committed to maintaining strong communication with those I represent. Throughout this most recent term, Councillor Rob Tyler Morin and I have held more than 40 community meetings, moving to a virtual format during the 2020 and 2021 pandemic lock-downs. I believe in being approachable and during this past term I have been active on many social media channels. Being proactive in posting ongoing business for both the Town of Ajax and The Region of Durham, as well as, being reactive to messages that are either sent directly to my attention or posted on a social media group or page post, is just one way I have served the residents of Ajax. I wish to continue this practice if re-elected to Regional Council for a second term. I am proud of the connections that have been made with fellow residents and any assistance I have been able to provide. However, more importantly, I am so happy that my fellow residents have had an opportunity to get to know me, and I them.
As Deputy Mayor for the Town of Ajax from 2018-2019 and recently from June 16, 2022 to the present, I have been able to represent the Mayor at the following events:
- Cyberlympics
- Multiple business openings
- Culture events
- Ajax-Pickering Board of Trade ("APBOT") Business Excellence Awards
- First Mayors and CAO meeting
- Big City Mayors Meeting
- Black History Month
- C40 and Ontario Mayors
COMMITTEES I HAVE SERVED ON SINCE JOINING COUNCIL IN 2010
- Library Board 2010 - 2018
- Pickering Village Business Improvement Area ("BIA") 2010 - 2018
- Recreation and Culture Advisory Committee 2010 - 2014
- Active Transportation 2014 - 2018
- Ajax Municipal Housing 2010 - 2014
WORKS COMMITTEE:
- Regional roads
- Regional garbage, recycling and compost
- Water and sewage
VISION ZERO COMMITTEE:
- Regional Automatic Speed Enforcement ("ASE") cameras and Red Light cameras
- Improving road safety
OTHER BOARDS AND COMMITTEES:
- Durham Regional Round-table for Climate Change
- Ontario Climate Committee
- Ontario Active School Board
- Panelist on Women in Cyber Security
- Attended all Durham Regional Police Service Board Meetings as a non-board member
Platform
COMMUNICATION
I will continue community meetings in the next term. This is something that has been my focus since 2010, when I started on as a local councillor. During the past term we have held 30 community meetings, the majority of which were held online during the pandemic lockdowns.
During the past term, I have mailed out three newsletters and I have done multiple blogs on my website about the issues that concern both you and I as residents of the Town of Ajax\'s Ward 1 and I have been sure to also blog about the solutions we are working towards to resolve these issues. I am active on all my social media including Facebook, Instagram, Nextdoor, and Twitter.
I ensure that I send out pertinent and timely emails to a Ward 1 list of residents on issues I feel are important and relevant to you, the residents I represent.
ENVIRONMENT
Council started this term by declaring a Climate Emergency, which are only words until actioned. Since then, we have set out the following aggressive goals to reducing greenhouse gas emissions as follows:
- 10% reduction in emissions by 2025 (below 2019 levels)
- 30% reduction by 2030
- 100% by 2050
We are also developing a Green Development and Environmental Design Guidelines, including an applicant guidebook and checklist for any new developments.
If I am re-elected I will ensure this fight for our environment will continue.
TAXES
At the beginning of this term the council hired a grant specialist whose sole job was to source out grant opportunities from both provincial and federal governments. We applied for $48 million in grants and we have been successful in receiving over $20 million - these monies were used to fund the cricket club renovations and upgrade our senior facilities.
If elected, I will continue to support sourcing out ways to receive non-taxable income.
When we were elected last term we had no idea we would become the distribution centre of Durham, however, these huge facilities net millions of dollars of taxes to the town.
Our casino continues to be a source of income for our capital projects even though it was closed for almost 2 years and with the opening of Durham Live - I will continue to support the fight to keep our casino open.
EMPLOYMENT
We know that Ajacians would love to work where they live, or have their children be able to work where they live.
We had aggressive goals this term to attract business and increase employment. Even with a worldwide pandemic we were able to increase businesses and jobs by 10,000. Over the course of this term, we have seen 9,000 applications for development in the Town. Ajax has become a magnet for development, jobs and innovation.
While new development is important, retention and supporting our small to medium businesses must be our focus as we emerge from 2 years of pandemic lockdowns and closures.
This has always been the focus of the council and my focus personally, and it will continue to be so after I have been re-elected.
COMMUNITY SAFETY
As a Durham Regional Councillor I have been fortunate enough to be a part of Vision Zero at the regional level. As such, I have been apart of bringing the following endeavours to reality:
- We have implemented an aggressive Automotive Speed Enforcement ("ASE") and Red Light Camera program.
- ASE cameras have now been implemented in many of the local municipalities.
If re-elected I would be advocating for this program to continue to expand for greater effectiveness
I have always been an advocate of Neighbourhood Watches in Ajax, Wards 1&2 have had the most watches in all of Durham region. If re-elected I will continue working with the police to further expand and enhance the Neighbourhood Watch program in Ajax.
INCREASED VIOLENCE
It is concerning to be seeing an increase of gang and gun violence in our town. As your Regional Councillor, I will continue to meet with both our police Inspector and Chief to have those hard conversations around these issues. I will support any initiatives by the police to reduce this in our region.
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