Maxville councillor challenger launches campaign

The only candidate challenging an incumbent ward councillor in North Glengarry Township in the coming municipal election recently kicked off her campaign with a community barbecue and fundraiser.

Carma Williams, a Maxville community activist and businesswoman, told the more than 70 people who attended the barbecue that "binging life back to Main Street in Maxville will be the theme for my campaign."

"Maxville is a terrific place to live, with an enviable quality of life," she told supporters.  "But in order to maintain our community base and ensure prosperity, a number of things have to change."

Central to her platform is attracting new businesses to Maxville, such as a grocery store and pharmacy, specialty retail shops, and a restaurant to occupy the existing Main Street buildings. She would also like to see more professional people relocate to Maxville, such as a dentist or a lawyer.

"There are number of seniors living in the village," Williams noted. "I would like to see expanded medical services and rural more transportation initiatives for them, as well as good educational services for young families."

An affordable water solution is crucial to this revitalization strategy, according to the candidate, who promises a fresh perspective on the issue and to champion the subject at all decision-making levels.

Williams has been a board member on the SD&G Community Futures Development Corporation for four years and is the council's nominations committee chair. She was president of the Maxville and District Chamber of Commerce for three years and has long served on the executive.

She is also a board member of Eastern Ontario Network Inc., a church warden at St. Michael and All Angels Church in Maxville, and has served as a volunteer member of the North Glengarry Economic Development Group and of the Glengarry Pioneer Museum.

Williams runs an innovative mobile hair salon from her Maxville home and is married to Jim Stephenson, the general manager of Staples in Cornwall. They have two children, Jesse 17, and Lauren, 14.

In addition to her broad range of experience, Williams has a B.A. in Applied Social Science from Concordia University and has taken courses in leadership, board governance and community economic development.