Councillor McCann Meeting Report (March 3, 2026)
Near North District School Board Town Hall Meeting at Parry Sound High School
On Thursday evening, February 12, 2026, I attended the public meeting hosted by the Near North District School Board at Parry Sound High School. The meeting was hosted by Ontario Education Minister Paul Calandra, Parry Sound-Muskoka MPP Graydon Smith and newly appointed Director of Education Jay MacJanet. While Mr. Calandra blamed the school board for the ill state of affairs, he tried to assure that the ministry would fix the problems. An observer at the meeting would say that the public left the meeting with little to no confidence in a positive outcome especially regarding capacity concerns for a growing population. It's obvious that the public's frustration really wasn't eased at all.
West Parry Sound District Museum Monthly Board Meeting
On Thursday evening, February 26, 2026, I attended the West Parry Sound District Museum Monthly Board Meeting via Zoom. Regular business was conducted including receipt and approval of financial statements for January, 2026. The museum's Personal Policy was reviewed this past month and the board was satisfied that no changes were required at this time. The Busty Exhibit is together. We understand his family is thrilled with it. The exhibit, "Built for the Bay: Scoots and Everyday Ingenuity" has taken a little more time to put together, however it's open now through to December of 2026. The "The Burley Harris Quest: An Escape Room Experience" continues to be featured through to April 18, 2026. This is an exhibit that explores the life and travels of Burley Harris, a resident of Ardbeg. Participants will solve puzzles and explore the history of the area while re-creating Burley's journeys from Ardbeg to Sunny Slope to court his love, Ruby Whitmell. With Spring Break on the horizon, the Museum is planning on a variety of fun activities for that week. For more details on fun activities and games for all ages, please check out the website at https://www.museumontowerhill.com/. Strat Planning and Rebranding are on the front burners and finally it's always encouraging to see that traffic to our website and to our social media platforms continues to grow. Annual pass holder sales are also up.
Parry Sound Celebrates Megan Oldham on Winning Gold and Bronze!
On Saturday, February 28, 2026, my wife and I attended the Parry Sound Celebration in honour of Megan Oldham on winning Gold and Bronze! What a super day that goes into our town's history books. While Megan did herself and the Parry Sound Area proud, the people of the area returned the favour by coming out in record numbers to celebrate and commemorate Megan's performance and success at the 2026 Winter Olympics. I've never seen the Stockey Centre packed like it was on that day! Then, it was clear people were not done celebrating as the crowds proved to be testament to their pride and joy over Megan's medal success when they headed downtown for the great outdoor party. What was also tremendous was the success in staff and volunteers organizing all this in just nine days. Thank you to all those who made it happen and to the public for showing off our pride in Megan, her accomplishments and putting Parry Sound on the international stage!
March Break at the Parry Sound Public Library
The Parry Sound Public Library has fun and games for kids over the March Break this month! The events begin on Friday, March 13, 2026 with "Shrinky Dink Keychains", Saturday, "LEGO Club Mix-up Challenge", Tuesday, "Cozy Tales Storytime", Wednesday, "Pokemon Party", Thursday, "Tech Day" and also "Festival of the Sound Rhythm & Blues", Friday,"Georgian Bay Mnidoo Gamii Biosphere: Critters with a Bad Rap", and Saturday, "Crafternoon - Spring is Here!". For the most part, events are an hour in length. Get all the times and details from the library's website, https://www.parrysoundlibrary.com/.
