A man who served his community...

The upcoming new term of Council will mark the end of an era in Halton. For the first time in many years. Our Council chambers will not have the sage advice and the learned wisdom of Fred Oliver.
Fred has withdrawn from the election race and announced his retirement. Fred has dedicated his life to public service. He was appointed Police Chief of the former Trafalgar Township in 1948. He also served as Chief of Oakville Police. After the amalgamation of the Police services under Halton Region, he served as its Deputy Chief until 1980.
He switched in 1980 and ran successfully for Oakville and Halton Council. He served until 1994 and returned in the 2000 election. Do the math; he has given over 60 years to public service to this community.
Fred remains the longest serving Police Chief in Ontario’s history and has been honoured for that by the Ontario Police College. Halton Regional Police have recently honoured him with the Community Room at the new Oakville station being named in his honour.

Fred had originally filed to run as a local Councillor in Oakville for this election. He wanted to see the Councillor who had served with him as a local rep run for the seat. He was one who believed in succession planning. In May of this year a illness caused Fred to lose his voice. It has not returned. Knowing the importance of communication to a Councillor he withdrew on Thursday.

I have sat beside Fred at Regional Council for 7 years. He has always been one to offer his thoughts and opinions. He always has had a straight forward practical common sense way of looking at things. He was one to remind us that sometimes our decisions can affect things that other services like Police have to work with.

He also had a social heart and knew we needed to invest in our community. Fred always had a passion for children and making sure they had the services they needed. A she would say “It is an investment in our future not a cost.” He had a booming voice that made you sit up and listen.

Fred was never one to speak on each item, but when he rose to speak you knew it was because he felt strong about what was being discussed.

I wish Fred and Irma well in his second retirement. I know he will be watching and if he does not agree with what I had done or said, I will get a call!

Fred, thanks for caring about Halton and for helping to build the great Region we have today. You have left a legacy to be proud of.