Past President Tracy Bray was pleased to introduce the speaker today, His Worship Mayor Neil Ellis, the 77th Mayor of the City of Belleville, Ontario.  Mayor Ellis is a proud lifelong resident of Belleville, deeply rooted in our community.  He entered public office in 2006, first serving as Mayor.  In 2015 to 2021, Mayor Ellis served as a Member of Parliament for the Bay of Quinte until 2021, chairing the Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs and serving as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food.  He returned to municipal service in 2022 with a renewed focus on addressing the challenges facing Belleville, including healthcare recruitment, affordable housing and long-term economic and infrastructure planning, always with a strong emphasis on collaboration and community engagement.  Mayor Ellis holds a Bachelor of Arts in Law and Psychology from Carleton University and professional designations through McMaster University's Directors College.  A dedicated civic leader who believes that the work of municipal government matters most in the daily lives of people who live and work in the community.

 

Mayor Ellis was pleased to pause today to review and reflect on the past and future of the City of Belleville.  The municipality provides 65% of all services available and offered in the City.  Services that would be noticeable immediately.  The City budget will be released in the next week and he feels there will be much discussion around outside agencies and their presented budgets, user fees, garbage bag tags, social services being provided to the unhoused.  These are some areas where the City is subsidizing the services available, certainly all priorities.  Doctor recruitment is another major area that will be discussed.  Since 2006 the City of Belleville has recruited 60 doctors and the population has grown by 6,000.  It is felt that an additional 35 doctors should resolve the shortage.  Mayor Ellis spoke about the hard work and commitment by Karen Poste who is responsible for doctor recruitment.  She recruited 11 doctors in 2024 and 14 in 2025, 12 family doctors and 2 specialists.  The City is looking at a retention program similar to what Prince Edward County has in place where doctors receive $300 to $400 for every new patient they take on.  Another area of attention is industrial land available for new businesses.  It takes three years to prepare land for sale and with industry looking at Belleville, it is crucial to be positioned in the market.  Council will have to make decisions of expanding industrial land, probably to the north and west.  There is new building underway and a reduced budget with respect to the new Fairgounds and it is anticipated that the work should be done for the next fair.

 

Mayor Ellis mentioned the municipal election to take place in October.  He is committed to run for Mayor and to encourage members of the public to get involved and consider joining Council.  Thanked by Dave Allen for explaining some of the challenges of funding services and overseeing City budgets.  And for all Mayor Ellis does for the community.

ADG Sandi Hibbard-Ramsay attended the December 4th lunch meeting to offer congratulations on District 7070 being a recipient of a district grant for a project called A Ray of Hope, overall a $25,000 effort with ten other Rotary Clubs, spearheaded by Dr. Ruth Mathieson on behalf of the Rotary Club of Belleville.  This new project is associated with the original Amarok Society that was established 27 years ago with Gem and Tanyss Munro, Christian missionaries who moved with their family into the slums of Bangladesh to teach 25 mothers how to read and write.  This teaching was done for 2 hours a day from Monday to Friday for 5 years, the  mothers having achieved fluency and literacy.  Their job then was to go home and teach 5 children how to read and write.  The result of this original project was that 90% of the children could go to secondary school in the area because of their accelerated learning.  With this new district grant, a second Amarok school will be started in India and the grant monies will support that endeavour and also keep the current school in Bangladesh going.  The mothers, with the education and learning acquired, were able to advocate for sewing machines and a bridge in their community to provide infrastructure for five outlets of fresh water.  Many congratulations to the Rotary Club of Belleville, Dr. Ruth Mathieson and all involved. 

Rotarian Jennifer Savini, Chair of Mayors of the Week, advised that the program has been running since 1969, providing local high school students an opportunity to meet with various City staff and departments and get a first-hand look at how their municipal government operates.  This program gives students a preview of career opportunities they might not otherwise have been aware of.  This year there were four students who participated from Albert College, Eastside Secondary School, Nicholson and St. Theresa's.  The schools select students who show civic leadership and an interest in helping their communities.  Thank you to the Rotarian chaperones -- Karen Baker, Tracy Bray, Shannon Neely, Tracey Vandervoort and Tim McKinney.  Following is a recap of their experiences as Mayors of the Week.

 

Lexya Momo is a Grade 11 student at Albert College where she has been a student for 5 years.  She was surprised to see how much work is required to keep the City running and the responsibilities of the Mayor.  They visited the construction site at Memorial Arena and learned about the history of this arena, now being renovated to provide community space and opportunity.  Lexya enjoyed the visit to the police department and fire department and saw first hand how much was involved in protecting the City overall.  Everything she saw made her look at her own future with respect to career paths she has not considered.  The saying "no two days are the same" is a popular one when it comes to being the Mayor.  Thank you to the Rotary Club of Belleville for the experience.

 

Lila Healey attends Nicholson Catholic College and was very grateful for the opportunity to participate in the program and meet so many people.  As she met the heads of different City departments, she saw first hand the commitment of everyone involved and also noted that women were represented in all the work environments.  This gave her the confidence to realize she can chase her goals.  The City Council meeting proved to be informative following a passionate discussion on the topic of free parking downtown.  Lila learned many lessons during the week and found everything and everyone to be welcoming and inclusive. 

 

Juliana Sourati is in Grade 12 at Eastside Secondary.  Juliana enthusiastically shared some history on Mayor Ellis' career starting with Doug's Bicycle.  She found the Belleville Police Service fascinating and was excited to see the inside of a police cruiser and the technology attached to it such as breathalyzer equipment and automated licence place recognition systems.  Due to her love of reading, Juliana enjoyed the tour of the library.  She didn't say having lunch with the Mayor was her favourite part, but was very thankful for the opportunity to understand how the City has flourished and continues to grow.

 

Lauren Smith from St. Theresa Catholic College was unable to attend the meeting due to illness, but Tracy Bray shared Lauren's thoughts.  Seeing how each department works together helped Lauren appreciate how much teamwork and planning is involved in running the City.  Her favourite part was visiting the police station and seeing the technology used and how they work to keep the city safe.  The experience overall taught Lauren so much about leadership, service and the importance of community and thanked the Rotary Club of Belleville for the opportunity.

 

Rotarian Tim McKinney thanked the students for sharing their experiences. 

Honourary Colonel Suzanne Hunt introduced Colonel Allan Ferriss, Commander of the RCAF Aerospace Warfare Centre.  Colonel Ferriss joined the Canadian forces in 1997 as a naval communications and information operator.  In 1999, he attended the Royal Military College of Canada and graduated in 2003 with a degree in Electrical Engineering.  As Suzanne put it, the Colonel has been lots of places aka as deployment and has done lots, from specific officer training to project lead in 2007 for the Transportable Local Area Network, playing pivotal roles along the way.  In 2010 Colonel Ferriss assumed the position of Officer Commanding Support Squadron and was afforded an opportunity to return to RMC to complete his Master of Business Administration.  More postings followed and in June 2023, the Colonel assumed command of the RCAF Aerospace Warfare Centre.  He holds Professional Engineers of Ontario and Project Management Professional designations.  He is supported by his spouse and together they are the proud parents of two children. 

 

The Royal Canadian Air Force Aerospace Warfare Centre (RCAF AWC) is the centre of excellence for leading modern advances to techniques, technology, innovation and concepts for the RCAF while also acting as its steward for history and heritage.  Due to the unique composition of experience and capabilities, it provides a multitude of specialist services and courses supporting the creation of doctrine, professional courses, synthetic environments, operational testing and evaluation and electronic warfare support.  The RAWC has been tasked to actively pursue new ideas, concepts and technologies, thereby developing the collective innovative mindset to generate optimal solutions to Canad's air power needs.  They can and must communicate with all levels of command, receive ideas from everywhere and from all ranks and occupations and develop ideas to their full potential.

 

Colonel Ferris explained the centre's role in influence and the change force or the WHY.  We certainly think more about the threat of military conflict and adversity at the global level.  We have dealt with traditional adversaries such as Russia, China, Iran as well as non-state terrorists over the years and now with state-on-state situations such as Ukraine, we have to incorporate those into our thinking and look at ways to defeat these threats.  Lessons learned requires analysis and identification of gaps and how to close those capability gaps by collecting information within the science and technology areas.  Research and development becomes top priority, taking a model and running it through test after test.  Documentation is critical with implementation the final step after government approval.  The Vision of the RCAF AWC -- to be the engine of transformation that drives the RCAF from the Air Force of today to the Air Force of tomorrow. 

 

Colonel Ferris proudly shared some exposure he had to Rotary when he was a youngster participating in a local public speaking competition hosted by the local Rotary Club.  He considers public speaking to be a valuable tool during his career, thanks to the work of Rotary.  Many youth have benefited from the Rotary programs over the years.  Rotarian Ken Wheeler thanked Colonel Ferris for sharing his knowledge, building our confidence in his professional role for the security of Canada along with all members of the RCAF who work and support the operation.