Editor’s note: Roger Prince, candidate for Mayor in Madawaska Valley, has provided the following statement in response to The Current’s request:
Thank you for allowing all candidates to share their backgrounds, experience, and ideas for Madawaska Valley Council and our community.
I believe our role as council members is to support our large, active retirement community and growing families, create opportunities for young people and children, and help local businesses prosper so everyone in Madawaska Valley can thrive.
Born in Toronto, I spent my formative years on the Prince family farm in the Madawaska Valley and attended Madawaska Valley District High School. There, I learned the value of hard work, strong communities, and good neighbours. Like many young people from the area, I left after high school to pursue higher education and build a career. My family was among the area’s 12 original settler families and contributed significantly to its growth. This is my opportunity to serve. My vision is a thriving, inclusive, and sustainable community where residents feel safe, heard, and supported.
I am proud to call the Madawaska Valley home, and I am deeply committed to this community and its potential. Its natural beauty is virtually unmatched, with thousands of lakes and more than 2,500 kilometres of rivers, streams, and tributaries flowing through the valley and surrounding landscape. We are stewards of this land and the eastern gateway to Algonquin Park, which welcomes more than one million visitors each year.
My Priorities for Madawaska Valley
- Property taxes: Conduct a thorough review of existing expenditures to mitigate significant property tax increases of recent years and ensure taxpayers receive clear value for every dollar.
- Comprehensive Zoning By-law: Review proposed updates carefully and communicate clearly about how the changes may affect residents, property owners, and local businesses.
- Infrastructure and asset management: Plan responsibly for the maintenance and renewal of essential assets, including the water treatment and sewage treatment plants.
- Municipal fees: Ensure fee adjustments are fair, transparent, and supported by a clear explanation of the services they fund.
Working together, we have an opportunity to elect strong, effective leaders who are transparent, act with integrity, and value open, honest communication. Council must address the community’s immediate needs while pursuing sustainable growth that can fund our future without creating a greater tax burden. Our community deserves a council that works with residents and with one another to make informed decisions, improve our quality of life, and create opportunities throughout the community.
Trust in government starts with transparency. I will ensure that we publish clear, accessible financial reports and hold regular, open town halls where residents can ask questions directly. I will modernize how our municipality communicates by using social media, newsletters, and the municipal website to keep people informed. I will also establish a citizen advisory panel to ensure diverse voices are included in key decisions, not treated as an afterthought.
Taxpayer Concerns
Residents have raised many concerns in community meetings. Here are a few:
Why are you running?
I am deeply committed to our community and believe in its potential. I want to use my business and public service experience to help. This is not a career ambition; it is a calling rooted in genuine care for everyone.
What is your vision?
My vision is a thriving, inclusive, and sustainable community for today and future generations. I want real solutions to our critical housing issues, expanded economic opportunities, investment in local infrastructure, green initiatives that protect our natural environment, and stronger community services. People at every stage of life should feel that this is the best place to call home.
How do you plan to address housing issues?
In brief, the municipality must pursue all available federal and provincial housing funding, set clear timelines, and require accountability for new housing projects. We must also simplify the process. The 22 building permit applications received last year will not sustain our community.
How will you support local economic development and small businesses?
Small businesses are the backbone of our local economy. I will create a business-friendly office within the municipal government to streamline permits and reduce red tape. I will support events and initiatives that bring more customers to local retailers. I will also create a mentoring program for people who want to start a business.
What experience do you have that makes you qualified to lead this municipality?
During my business career, I served every municipality in Ontario, as well as provincial and federal government agencies. I have experience managing budgets, leading teams, and building consensus among people with different views. I understand how municipal government works—its strengths and limitations—and I have the relationships and skills needed to get things done for residents.
My Experience
I built a 35-year career as a senior business executive. During that time, I led teams of more than 100 employees and a top line revenue of $540 million. We developed software solutions for all 444 Ontario municipalities, provincial and federal government departments, and major Canadian public companies. I also consulted with the City of Mumbai.
My leadership style is grounded in service. As council members, we serve you. Through executive coaching with the Ontario Centres of Excellence and membership on IBM’s Venture Lab Advisory Board, I mentored established business leaders, young entrepreneurs, and start-up companies.
Community service has always been important to me. As founder and president of 100 Men Who Care, I helped support numerous not-for-profit charities. While serving on the Durham Hospice board and chairing its Advocacy Committee, I worked to advance end-of-life care.
Expanding Physician services is critical to our community. To date, over the past three years, we have opened our home to more than 50 medical students. We actively introduce them to our community and the lifestyle with the intent that when they set up their practice, they will consider making this their home.
Thriving communities give people the space and support to live, work, and play.
Kelly and I live in Barry’s Bay. Together, we are blessed with seven children and eleven grandchildren.
“To every resident of this community: I hear you, I see you, and I am asking for the honour of serving you. I am not offering easy answers or empty promises. I am offering my full energy, integrity, and commitment to making this municipality the best it can be—for today’s residents and for generations to come. Together, we can build a community we are proud of. I ask for your trust and your vote, and I will work every day to earn both.”
Web: Prince4Mayor.com
Phone: 613-602-2857
Email: Princeleadership@gmail.com
Photo submitted.