The Grey Bruce Public Health Unit. (Matt Hermiz/Bayshore Broadcasting)
Grey Bruce Public Health is considering changing some of its board of health election policies.
During the board’s meeting on January 25th, they discussed making changes to the selection of the chair and vice-chair positions, as well as term length.
The discussion comes form the board of health electing Nick Saunders as their chairperson.
The existing policy states that “The positions of Board Chair and Board Vice-Chair are selected based on a rotation between Bruce County and Grey County.”
As Saunders is from Nawash, he technically isn’t a from either county, given the separate governance of local First Nations communities.
Medical Officer of Health Dr Ian Arra mentioned that it was possible to change the policy, to either add Saugeen and Nawash as options, or to remove the clause altogether.
Provincially-appointed member of the board Helen-Claire Tingling had brought the issue up to the board prior to electing Saunders that the policy could cause issues in the future, but supported allowing diversity in the voices who can lead the board of health, and continuing to consider the autonomy that First Nations communities have.
It also would allow a wider range of voices to lead, as the board of health is a separate entity from the county governments for Grey and Bruce.
Georgian Bluffs mayor and Grey County representative Sue Carleton offered to the discussion that there shouldn’t be a restriction as to where the chair and vice-chair come from, as long as they are a member of the board, and they should be chosen based on merit.
Kincardine mayor Ken Craig said he agreed that the policy should be changed, but the board should have direction before acting on making those changes. “I would prefer some consideration by the executive committee, supported by our medical officer of health, and do it in a fashion that we would normally amend policy rather than just having the debate here… I don’t want to fix a first mistake by making a second one. I want it considered for the reasons that we’re trying to do it rather than just fixing something.”
Tingling added that a diversity of voices was important, as was choosing the best people for the executive positions, but being overly specific in the wording of the policy might cause an issue further down the road. “Just because someone doesn’t come in as a specifically Indigenous member appointed…by the province does not mean that any number of other people around this table might not also be Indigenous.”
The board also discussed the benefits of extending the term of the chair person to two years instead of one year, allowing the selected chairperson to become comfortable in the role and achieve goals in the role.
Carleton, who had led the board of health in 2024, said she may have benefited from a second year in the position, saying that the first year is mostly used learning the role and how to lead the board, which other members agreed that changing to a two-year term may allow the chairperson and the vice-chair to become comfortable in their roles, and help the board of health accomplish more goals while providing consistency and stability.
The proposed policy changes have been referred to the board of health executive committee and a report will be brought forward in the board of health’s February meeting.
