Rod Bovay, RPP

Join our summer camp team this summer! Apply now ⤵️ cityofbelleville.applytojob.com/apply

Public Consultation | 📣 Help shape Belleville’s future! We’re updating the City’s Official Plan, and your input matters. Review the draft amendments, speak with the project team and share your feedback during our upcoming public consultation centre and public meeting. Public Consultation Centre 📅 April 21, 4 to 7 p.m. (drop-in) 📍 City Hall (169 Front St.), Sir Mackenzie Bowell Room (third floor) Public Meeting 📅 May 4, at 5:30 p.m. 📍 City Hall (169 Front St.), Council Chambers (fourth floor) This update is being undertaken to ensure the City’s Official Plan aligns with recent changes to provincial legislation and continues to reflect local priorities, such as supporting a range of housing options, including missing middle housing. 🔗 Learn more, review the draft amendment and provide feedback at: GetInvolved.Belleville.ca/official-plan-…

Notice | Reminder! 🔔 Your garbage, recycling and organics collection is one day earlier this week. ➡️ Tuesday collection will move to Monday ➡️ Wednesday collection will move to Tuesday ➡️ Thursday collection will move to Wednesday ➡️ Friday collection will move to Thursday  Collection will resume as normal next week (April 6 to 10).  Search your address and find your full collection schedule for 2026 at portal.belleville.ca/gis/CurbsideWa….

Didn’t know @BrentToderian personally when I booked him for today’s OShow but I knew people would value his opinion. I was not wrong. It’s a 🔥 episode 🇨🇦👊youtu.be/K5KOIbEmJZ0?si…

''When Small men begin to cast big shadows, it means that the sun is about to set.' - Lin Yutang

Municipalities deliver the services people rely on every day. With a declining share of government tax revenue at a 14-year low and a greater share of infrastructure and social services costs, this is a pivotal moment to reset municipal fiscal sustainability. AMO continues to call on the province to review the municipal-provincial funding model and who pays for what. amo.on.ca/policy/finance… #OnPoli

Remember what you're fighting for

Probably the most honest and truthful assessment you will hear on Trump’s State of the Union address. I’m aware Ezra Klein is an acquired taste for some, but don’t let that get in the way of listening to the truth. With thanks to the New York Times Opinion desk for the clip. 🎥 TikTok - vm.tiktok.com/ZNR5WL5o4/

Opinion: A new age of ‘total war’ may be approaching. Are young Canadians ready? - The Globe and Mail apple.news/AxiiszD5_TtapX…

The numbers don’t lie: The housing crisis is not caused by a supply shortage - CCPA policyalternatives.ca/news-research/…

And I’m supposed to be worried about this self-abnegating idiot? We’re supposed to negotiate concessions, promise yet more unnecessary pipelines, to placate his largely imaginary constituents as he unloads both barrels of a 12-gauge into his foot?

Just got out of emergency at Belleville General. Used the waiting time to write a column about Venezuela. The health care system doesn't get a lot of props, but I can say that my treatment was excellent and I am grateful.

Preschool Winter programs start in January! Registration is open. Call 613-966-4632 or visit QSWC.ca to learn more.

Youth Winter programs start in January! Registration is open. Call 613-966-4632 or visit QSWC.ca to learn more.

I own a small bakery. We aren’t famous, but we pay the bills. Last Tuesday, a woman came in. She was gripping her purse so tight her knuckles were white. She looked at the display case for a long time—too long. She pointed to the smallest plain vanilla cupcake we had. 'Just that one, please,' she whispered. 'Could you… could you put a tiny candle on it? It’s my daughter’s 6th birthday.' I looked at her shoes. They were wet. It was raining outside, and she had walked here. I looked at her eyes. Red-rimmed. I knew that look. It’s the look of a parent who has to choose between rent and a party. 'I’m sorry,' I said, putting on my best acting face. 'I actually have a huge problem. See this 8-inch chocolate cake with the unicorn frosting?' She looked at the expensive cake on the counter. 'My new decorator messed it up,' I lied. 'The icing is… uh… uneven. I can’t sell it. I was about to throw it in the trash. Would you do me a favor and take it off my hands? No charge. It saves me the guilt of wasting food.' She stared at me. She knew. The icing was perfect. She started to cry, right there in front of the croissant tray. 'Are you sure?' she asked. 'Please,' I insisted. 'You’re doing me a favor.' She walked out with a cake that would have cost $65, holding it like it was gold. Yesterday, I found a card slid under my door. It was a drawing from a 6-year-old girl. A unicorn with a big smile. And in wobbly crayon letters: 'Thank you for making my mommy happy.' Best profit I’ve made all year.

This is literally one of the most pathetic things I’ve ever seen, anywhere.

Careers | Hey students! 👋 Looking for an exciting, rewarding summer job next year? Our Community Services department is now hiring for the following summer camp positions:  ➡️ Camp Coordinators ➡️ Senior Camp Leaders ➡️ Junior Camp Leaders ➡️ Camp Helpers Learn more and apply by Jan. 9: Belleville.ca/Careers

"My name's Raymond. I'm 73. I work the parking lot at St. Joseph's Hospital. Minimum wage, orange vest, a whistle I barely use. Most people don't even look at me. I'm just the old man waving cars into spaces. But I see everything. Like the black sedan that circled the lot every morning at 6 a.m. for three weeks. Young man driving, grandmother in the passenger seat. Chemotherapy, I figured. He'd drop her at the entrance, then spend 20 minutes hunting for parking, missing her appointments. One morning, I stopped him. "What time tomorrow?" "6:15," he said, confused. "Space A-7 will be empty. I'll save it." He blinked. "You... you can do that?" "I can now," I said. Next morning, I stood in A-7, holding my ground as cars circled angrily. When his sedan pulled up, I moved. He rolled down his window, speechless. "Why?" "Because she needs you in there with her," I said. "Not out here stressing." He cried. Right there in the parking lot. Word spread quietly. A father with a sick baby asked if I could help. A woman visiting her dying husband. I started arriving at 5 a.m., notebook in hand, tracking who needed what. Saved spots became sacred. People stopped honking. They waited. Because they knew someone else was fighting something bigger than traffic. But here's what changed everything, A businessman in a Mercedes screamed at me one morning. "I'm not sick! I need that spot for a meeting!" "Then walk," I said calmly. "That space is for someone whose hands are shaking too hard to grip a steering wheel." He sped off, furious. But a woman behind him got out of her car and hugged me. "My son has leukemia," she sobbed. "Thank you for seeing us." The hospital tried to stop me. "Liability issues," they said. But then families started writing letters. Dozens. "Raymond made the worst days bearable." "He gave us one less thing to break over." Last month, they made it official. "Reserved Parking for Families in Crisis." Ten spots, marked with blue signs. And they asked me to manage it. But the best part? A man I'd helped two years ago, his mother survived, came back. He's a carpenter. Built a small wooden box, mounted it by the reserved spaces. Inside? Prayer cards, tissues, breath mints, and a note, "Take what you need. You're not alone. -Raymond & Friends" People leave things now. Granola bars. Phone chargers. Yesterday, someone left a hand-knitted blanket. I'm 73. I direct traffic in a hospital parking lot. But I've learned this: Healing doesn't just happen in operating rooms. Sometimes it starts in a parking space. When someone says, "I see your crisis. Let me carry this one small piece." So pay attention. At the grocery checkout, the coffee line, wherever you are. Someone's drowning in the little things while fighting the big ones. Hold a door. Save a spot. Carry the weight no one else sees. It's not glamorous. But it's everything." Let this story reach more hearts.... Credit: Mary Nelson

Community | One week left to give your feedback on VIA Rail train service from Toronto to Kingston! We have joined other municipalities in our region in gathering public feedback on additional VIA Rail service, including a late-night train option from Toronto to Kingston. Take the survey by Nov. 17: survey.alchemer-ca.com/s3/50457931/66…

Federation of Canadian Municipalities - Canada risks stalling nation-building without strong local i... @MINnews municipalinfonet.com/social/p13x/ar…