I hope you and your households had a very Happy Thanksgiving. Things are a little different this year and we all have much to be thankful for. I am very proud of the Scugog community for their resiliency, generosity and caring attitude. I applaud our residents for staying the course and we will continue to be diligent and follow the health measures put in place for our protection. Thank you for doing your part, wearing masks, physically distancing and tightening up our social circles. For Halloween this year, I encourage families to visit durhamhealth.ca/covid19 for alternative celebration ideas and guidelines. This Remembrance Day, people are encouraged to view a service virtually. The National Service in Ottawa will be available live at Facebook.com/CanadianLegion. Poppies and official Royal Canadian Legion masks are available through the Port Perry Legion. Call 905-985-8502 to support the local poppy fund. Members of our Emergency Control Group continue to meet, to assess and evaluate the status of COVID-19, public health guidelines and information. Through pandemic response planning, our staff have created protocols and procedures to ensure we are ready to implement changes or restrictions in Scugog if needed. I thank our staff for putting the safety of residents first. Road and pedestrian safety is an important issue this year, and every year, as we head into the autumn and winter. Please drive to the conditions, and pedestrians and cyclists remember to wear reflective clothing. I was saddened to hear of the passing of a young man recently here in North Durham. We need to work together to make our streets safer. Recently, staff brought forward the results and recommendations of the Speed Limit Review Study. The report recommends speed limits in built-up areas be reduced to 40 km/hr, except for collector roads and arterial roads which would remain at 50 km/hr.
As well, speed limits on rural roads would be reduced to 60 km/hr. The study also recommends measures be taken to improve compliance with speed limits, through: creating Community Safety Zones adjacent to schools with speeding fines doubled; the creation of a Traffic Calming Policy; targeted speed enforcement and expansion of the Region’s Automated Speed Enforcement program to Scugog. The report was well received by all of Council and implementation can begin with Council approval, on October 26th. A sense of community and respect is an integral part of how we have been able to come through this pandemic so far. Our communities need to continue to show love, compassion and kindness towards one another. There is no place for racism and intolerance in any community. I am proud that Durham Region is leading the way to dedicate budget and resources to forming an Anti-Racism Task Force and establish a new Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Division. Scugog looks forward to joining the effort to address systemic racism and promote healthy communities. Supporting community is a Scugog trait. As we turn to thoughts of holidays, please remember to support our local businesses as well as Operation Scugog. This year, they are requesting donations in the form of gift cards, in lieu of toys and food. Cards will be distributed to families so they may do their own shopping. Thank you Scugog for your ongoing generosity.