Ernie Peplinskie is returning to MV council to fill the vacancy left by Joseph Olsheski who resigned recently. Mr.
Peplinskie won the seat in a draw after two names were put forth April 1.

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Barry’s Bay – After a 27-month hiatus from sitting at the council table in Madawaska Valley (MV) Township, Ernie Peplinskie is back and will be attending the Tuesday, April 15 meeting sitting in the chair vacated by Joseph Olsheski.

In an interview Friday, he said he is ready and willing to do the job and is prepared to carry out the duties of a municipal councillor. The 80-year-old Combermere-area resident was chosen to fill the vacant seat last Tuesday after his name was drawn from a hat by township Chief Administrative Officer Sue Klatt.

Although Mr. Peplinskie finished fifth in the 2023 municipal elections – four councillors are elected in MV – Councillor Mary Blank and Mayor Mark Willmer nominated Linda Plebon for the position while Councillors Shelley Maika and David Shulist supported Mr. Peplinskie.

The council chamber in Barry’s Bay will be familiar territory for the retired Toronto police officer who moved back to his native Combermere after retiring from his policing career and then operated a small retail business for 11 years before embarking on yet another career in the insurance and financial advisory sector.

A seasoned municipal politician, Mr. Peplinskie sat on council in the former Township of Radcliffe for several years before the amalgamation of Radcliffe, Sherwood, Jones and Burns and Barry’s Bay in 2000 to create the new Madawaska Valley Township. At the time he was operating a small business in Combermere.

“Dad (Joe) served for 30 some years and I guess when it is in your blood…. “I am certain I have got the tools for the job,” he said.

Mr. Peplinskie was a member of MV council for two terms – 2014 to 2022 – until his defeat. He was largely responsible for the South of 60 Arts Centre being removed from the township-owned restored railway station in the heart of Barry’s Bay after claiming large sums of taxpayer money were subsidizing the group.

Not one to roll over easy and back down from controversy, Mr. Peplinskie feels it is important that everyone brings something different to the council table with the hope everybody has some strengths to offer solutions.

“That’s really what it is. You’re there to assess business and to make decisions, the right decisions, and I think that my background with the four elected terms and growing up in a political family, it more than prepares me.

“I am not afraid to stand up and speak out when the time comes,” he said. “We need more of that. Unfortunately, we don’t have it.”

High on his list of things to achieve is creating more housing in the township. Following the 2023 elections, he volunteered to sit on a local housing committee established after a huge outcry across Renfrew County about the lack of housing, but the committee there and in other municipalities had a short-lived existence.

“There are a lot of things we can do to create the environment (for housing) by controlling spending and taxes and freeing up land,” he said. “I was very vocal on that. We could be a partner with the county because there is a lot of county land that could be developed and sold.”

He said there is an abundant supply of natural building materials and sawmills in the area, but said red tape at every level is a challenge for home builders and small developers.

“But just to wash your hands and say we are not going to be involved with this…it’s just a very bad attitude,” he said. “We just have to do a lot more for the housing. A lot of the seniors have no place to go and the young people today, I don’t know how they are going to start off. Many of them don’t have family, parents and grandparents to help out. I don’t know how they are going to do it.”

Mr. Peplinskie said there many reasons why he wants to serve on council, not the least of which is it is home for him, his family and many relatives. He is proud to call Madawaska Valley Township home adding it is an area well known and envied across the province.

“I do it because I can help out,” he said.

Mr. Peplinskie has served on council with Councillors Maika and Shulist, and Mayor Willmer when he was a councillor. He felt the council worked well together and is looking forward to a harmonious relationship with his colleagues.

“Hopefully, at the end of the day things will be a little better,” he said. “I want to see the township remain strong.”

Mr. Olsheski was elected to council in the fall of 2022. He tendered his resignation two months ago due to increased business responsibilities following the death of his father, Mervin, last June.