Fort Frances Mayor reflects on 2025

The mayor of Fort Frances is looking back at 2025 as a busy year.

The town was involved in several initiatives and programs over the past year.

The year brought new power to the mayor’s chair, including presenting a budget for council consideration.

Andrew Halikas says he was surprised by the province bestowing those powers on small communities like his and has no intention of using them.

“I feel that it takes away from the democratic process. We have a democratic system that works very well with the mayor getting one vote and councils getting one vote, and the majority prevails,” says Hallikas.

The town introduced new services, including pop-up elopement days as part of its civil marriage services.

“We had one out at the 8th Street trails. We had one recently at Rainy Lake Square, and a personal highlight of the year for me was when the clerks asked if I would officiate at one of the weddings. That was a very moving experience for me.”

Town council also supported the idea of creating a seat at the table for a youth councillor and introduced a new food truck pilot project in hopes of attracting more around the community.

A new official plan and zoning by-law, documents important to local development, received final approval from the provincial government.

There was a lot of road construction taking place, with motorists forced to contend with detours on Scott St. and 3rd Street W.

Those traffic interruptions will again occur in 2026 as the contractor was unable to complete both projects.

Several roads in the town’s north end were also resurfaced.

Hallikas says one of the big projects was the refurbishing of the water tower.

“What that means for the town is that we’re going to have consistent, safe and clean water delivered with good pressure for at least the next 30 years,” says Hallikas.

“A bonus was that we have beautiful new graphics on the water tower, including our town mascot. I have to say those graphics really, really pop.”

Hallikas adds that the project was done without having to impose water restrictions.

“There was a real fear that we’d have to have water restrictions this past summer, and we managed to avoid that. So we’re pretty proud of that. “

Hallikasa notes that the project was completed slightly under budget and on time.

On the recreational front, summer ice at the Ice for Kids Arena was made permanent.

A new tractor-mounted ice-surfacer for use at its outdoor rinks, while the highly popular AquaFitt program and a new Sensory Swim were introduced at the Memorial Sports Centre pool.

There were several new hires in 2025.

A new recreation supervisor position was created to support the community’s growing recreational needs, while a new Chief Executive Officer was selected to handle operations at the Fort Frances Library and Technology Centre.

A new economic development officer was also hired, the third since the town opted to end a contract with the Rainy River Future Development Corporation a couple of years ago.

The town reaffirmed its friendship with International Falls in the summer.

Talk from U.S. President Donald Trump about Canada becoming a 51st state prompted border communities to ally and help promote trade and relationships with their U.S. counterparts.

Hallikas reached out to International Falls Mayor Drake Dill, which led to a gathering at the Civic Centre in July.

“The mayor of International Falls and I issued a joint proclamation of friendship between our communities,” says Hallikas.

The town also joined with the cities of International Falls and Ranier in committing to reducing light pollution as part of Voyageur National Park’s Dark Skies Program.

Efforts were made to protect the region’s tourism industry from American anglers fishing in Canadian waters without having to report to Canadian customs, with Fort Frances joining a Border Waters Fishing Coalition.

“We have many American anglers coming into Canada, and while we welcome them into Canada, we don’t like the idea that they can come in without going through a border checkpoint,” says Hallikas.

“We don’t know who’s coming in, how many people are coming in, really what they’re doing in Canada or what they’re bringing in. So we’d like to see that border security is toughened up.”

Litigation over Point Park ended in 2025.

The communities that make up Agency One celebrated with a gathering at the park, with their leaders speaking about the importance of moving forward together.

Hallikas says his relations with the area’s First Nations are very good.

“My personal relationships with the chiefs are also very good. Our Indigenous Advisory Committee has been active and has drafted a reconciliation policy, which was going to be going out to the public for consultation. We’re going to send it out to our local First Nations for consultation and other stakeholders as well. The town is very, very serious about reconciliation.”