Central Frontenac council voted on May 26 to add new language to the township's standing land acknowledgement and to hold a National Indigenous Peoples Day flag-raising on June 19, passing the change the same night it reached the floor and over two councillors who said they had never seen the wording.

The acknowledgement is the statement the township reads at the opening of every council meeting. On May 26, as on the four meetings before it, the mayor opened by acknowledging "that the land on which we gather is the traditional and unceded territory of the Algonquin Nation." Councillor Susan Irwin's motion keeps that line and adds a second sentence: "In particular, we recognize the enduring presence and stewardship of the Indigenous peoples and honor their connection to the lands and waters within Central Frontenac." The same motion authorized a flag-raising ceremony for June 19 at 11 a.m. at the Sharbot Lake Beach, in partnership with the Shabot Obaadjiwan First Nation.

The sequence was the news. Irwin presented the new wording from the floor, and two of her colleagues said it had not been circulated to them in advance. "We've not seen the proposed amendment because it wasn't in our package," Councillor Phillip Smith told the table, according to the meeting recording. "I'm not opposed to authorizing the flag raising because we have done that in the past. But I would like some time to review the amendment." Councillor Cindy Kelsey raised the same concern, saying what was "disturbing" was that the wording "wasn't in our package, and it wasn't discussed before."

Irwin framed the change as the product of consultation rather than a staff draft dropped on council. She told the meeting she had been invited to meet with Chief Doreen Davis and other members of the Shabot Obaadjiwan First Nation, and she credited the township's deputy clerk with suggesting both the flag-raising and a review of the acknowledgement wording with the First Nation. "I'd like to credit our deputy clerk for suggesting the flag raising event and for suggesting that we review with the First Nations our land acknowledgement," Irwin said. Asked by Councillor Lynn Klages whether the new phrasing had been written jointly, Irwin said it was "a joint initiative of staff, township staff, and the [Shabot Obaadjiwan] First Nation."

When the mayor moved to call the vote, Smith asked to defer the acknowledgement portion to the next meeting so councillors could read it. A deferral motion needs a seconder to proceed. No one seconded it, and the mayor declared the deferral defeated. The acknowledgement change and the flag-raising then carried on the main motion. The companion National Indigenous Peoples Day proclamation for June 21, which Irwin also brought, had already passed without objection moments earlier.

The May 26 vote modified a statement that had been read in identical form at the openings of the March 24, April 14, April 28 and May 12 meetings this year, so council was amending a long-standing standard text rather than adopting a one-off.

Also at the May 26 meeting

The chief building official resigned. Mayor Frances Smith announced in her remarks that Andy Dillon, Central Frontenac's chief building official, has submitted his resignation effective June 2. The township is holding a barbecue send-off for Dillon at the township office that day. Don Reed, the chief building official for the Township of North Frontenac, will provide coverage while Central Frontenac recruits a replacement, and Dillon is to leave a transition list of files in progress. The resignation lands in a township with active building work, including the Sharbot Lake housing project and the Garrett Street geotechnical file.

Following up on the Garrett Street housing corporation. Council adopted the minutes of its May 12 meeting on a motion by Councillor Dan Meeks, which moves the May 12 vote to explore a municipal services corporation for the Garrett Street site � reported by NFNM last week � from draft onto the township's official record. Council took no further action on the project at the May 26 meeting. After last week's story published, NFNM sought comment from Mayor Frances Smith, CAO/Clerk Cathy MacMunn, manager of financial services Michael McGovern, and Lindsay Blair of 2B Developments, the consultant whose report recommended exploring the corporation. None has responded.

The procurement by-law raised the open-competition threshold. By-law 2026-27, which amends the schedules of the township's procurement policy to incorporate the requirements of the Buy Ontario Act, passed first, second and third reading. Manager of financial services Michael McGovern told council he raised the open-competition minimum from $50,000 to $75,000 "because of the cost of living increase to keep the authority levels about the same," and to avoid being forced to switch from an open competition to an invitational process when a vehicle supplier does not bid. "I don't like the optics of that," he said. McGovern said Buy Ontario Act compliance "may result in us paying more," that a provincial worked example put the added cost at $500,000 while in Central Frontenac's reality he expected it would more likely run one to a couple hundred thousand dollars more, and that he left a procurement flow chart out of the council package "to not confuse," telling members that "anybody wants to see it, they can come in and go through the maze with me." The change also touches an open question from NFNM's earlier reporting. NFNM reported last week that the township paid its housing consultant, 2B Developments, $29,719 over two payments this winter with no public tender on the record � below the dollar threshold at which an open competition is required. Raising that threshold to $75,000 widens the range of spending council can approve without an open competition. NFNM will examine the township's procurement of 2B, and the higher threshold, in a follow-up report.

Budget policy ran into election-year limits. Council received a budget-policy report and is to give staff feedback by June 10. McGovern walked members through the mechanics of budgeting in an election year, explaining that the September 2026 mayoral budget date applies to the 2027 budget, that a budget cannot be approved in an election year until the new term begins in January, and that lame-duck status will not be known until nominations close. Council would "know in August" who is running, the discussion concluded. The direction in the room was to keep the budget "as low as possible."

Council appointed its compliance audit committee. Members approved the establishment of the Joint Frontenac Compliance Audit Committee for a term running November 15, 2026 to November 14, 2030, and appointed Alida Moffatt, Sam Arraj and Wayne Robinson, with the enabling by-law (2026-28) passing later in the meeting. The committee is shared with the other Frontenac townships, Frontenac Islands and the two local school boards.

A Highway 7 motion is coming. Councillor Bill MacDonald told the meeting he is drafting a motion asking the province to examine adding passing lanes on Highway 7 in Frontenac County. MacDonald said Frontenac is the only county in eastern Ontario with no passing lanes on Highway 7, that the highway is the county's only provincial highway, and that the stretch near Arden has seen "two or three fatal accidents." He plans to bring the motion to the next meeting, and council adjourned to that meeting, set for June 23.

- Editorial: North Frontenac, Reconciliation, and the Right to Ask Questions - Who Owns Canada? (Part 1) and (Part 2) - Central Frontenac, the MSC, and Garrett Street