The Town of Fort Frances welcomes Karyn Haney, the new deputy clerk. Haney began her new role in December, after Kathy Lawson retired following 24 years of service in the town.
“I’m still training,” Haney said. “Kathy [Lawson]’s position was fairly in depth. I’m just trying to pick up where she left off. I’m working with a great group of people. This is an exciting time for the future of Fort Frances.”
Haney was born in Fort Frances and lived in town until she moved to British Columbia in 2006. Prior to moving, Haney worked 20 years at Rainycrest long-term care home in the administrative department.
In B.C., Haney worked at the B.C. Emergency Service for 10 years, including four years in the human resources department with the remainder working in operations supporting the management team.
In 2018, Haney returned to Fort Frances where she accepted the position with Community Centre NW coordinating the Supervised Access Program.
Haney said one of the reasons she decided to come back to Fort Frances was because she did not see an opportunity to progress at her previous job.
“I would have had to move on to Vancouver in order to achieve further growth,” Haney said. “I just wasn’t willing to do that at the time. Because we’re from here, we moved back to Fort Frances. It’s a steep learning curve.”
Haney said she is currently undertaking a Parliamentary Meeting Protocol Course to assist in her training for the role of deputy clerk. Once fully trained, Haney will act as a registrar under the Vital Statistics Act for vital statistics forms.
“I will prepare and issue marriage licenses and will, once qualified, provide marriage ceremony services,” Haney said. “I will act as a statutory signing officer for the Corporation and will provide services to the public as commissioner of oaths and affidavits.
Besides her training, Haney is also responsible for administering the Moffat Family Fund grant for the community and coordinating the Citizen of the Year award.
“I will coordinate meetings, track receipt of applications, facilitate the awarding of the funds, follow up on reporting requirements and other tasks as required,” Haney said. “I will also be responsible for coordinating the Citizen of the Year award which will include advertising, collecting submissions, coordinating meetings, ordering awards, and attendance of award winner at recognition ceremonies.”
The Fort Frances community has again been allotted $93,750 of charitable funding through the Winnipeg foundation, Haney said.
“The primary goal of the funding is to support and advance the economic, social, physical and intellectual wellbeing of children and families consistent with the vision of the Moffatt Family Fund,” Haney added. “Registered charities or affiliated organizations submit an application for funding and then all applications will go to the Moffat Family Fund committee, and then the committee makes the decision.”
Haney said besides having the charity registered, the organizations that received funding last year should submit a report as to how those funds were used, in order to make them eligible to apply again this year.
It is a significant amount of money, Haney said, and depending on how many applications we have, the money could go to different good causes.
Applications will be available online on Feb. 22 until March 26.
After resuming her new role as deputy clerk, Haney is also now the secretary for the following committees: Administration and Finance Executive Committee, Economic Development Executive Committee, Fort Frances non-profit Housing Corporation, Fort Frances Police Services Board and the Planning and Development Executive Committee.
Outside of work, Haney said she enjoys travelling, camping, the outdoors and spending time with her family and grandson.
Haney said her goals for this position are improving her networking skills and educating herself further on the Municipal Act.
