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Tillsonburg POST
FEBRUARY 5, 2026
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VOLUME 2 • ISSUE 18
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Tillsonburg approves Community Safety and Well-Being Plan update JEFF HELSDON Editor
Tillsonburg council gave the nod to an update of its Community Safety and Well-Being Plan. Sarah Hamulecki, Oxford County’s Manager of Strategic Initiatives and Intergovernment Affairs, and county Warden Marcus Ryan gave an overview of the plan. In Oxford, all eight municipalities agreed to adopt a single plan and have the county lead implementation. Called Safe and Well Oxford, the plan must be reviewed and updated every four years. “They’re quite unique in the sense, yes, they’re legislated, but the plans themselves don’t actually hold a lot of power per se,” Hamulecki said. “The plans aren’t necessarily what’s actually doing the work; it’s our community partners, our service providers, and our stakeholders that are advancing the goals and investments of the plan itself. The plan is an opportunity to collaborate to bring the partners together, to help problem solve and get creative with our solutions as we work towards the goals and solutions.” Ryan explained that the review, led by StrategyCorp, began in 2025. The company reviewed the data, surveyed area municipal staff, councillors, and residents, and presented the information gar-
nered at a summit in October. The plan was at the point where it was ready to be endorsed. One of the priorities was to add gender-based violence as one of the priority areas. The original plan had four priority areas. The new plan has six priority areas: mental health and well-being, housing for all, people and belonging, substance use and addictions, gender-based violence, affordability and economic stability. Another change is the addition of a fulltime coordinator for the plan to provide support. “It was pretty loud and clear at the summit there was a need for resources, both people and financial, from our service providers,” Hamulecki said. Communities will remain engaged on an ongoing basis, with a particular focus on youth. Throughout the process, things will be looked at through both urban and rural lenses. “For instance, homelessness looks different in urban areas than what is seen in rural centres,” Hamulecki said. “By ensuring we are looking at situation through both of those lenses will ensure we are looking we will hopefully be able to better reflect our unique environment here in the county.” CONTINUED TO PAGE 2
AND THE OTTER PREDICTS . . .
(JEFF HELSDON PHOTO)
Move over Wiarton Willie, Tillsonburg’s Olive the Otter is joining the weather prognostication scene. Tillsonburg Mayor Deb Gilvesy, left, and otter handler/curator Kate Bakos brought Olive out of her den at high noon on Groundhog Day. In this case, Olive saw her shadow, meaning six more weeks of winter. The mayor and handler didn’t want to hear anything about an extended winter and pointed to the technicality in the lore stating after seeing the shadow, the prognosticator must return to its den immediately. In this case, Olive enjoyed the sun before returning to her den, meaning spring is hopefully on the way.
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