Ed Christie brought business acumen to council role

 In News, Obituaries

The community is shocked by the death of Ed Christie, Clearview Township councillor for the Nottawa area.
Christie died Nov. 30 at Mt. Sinai Hospital in Toronto from acute Leukemia.
He was a very youthful 79, active in council business and present at many community events.
“It is with deep sadness that I learned of Ed’s passing,” said Clearview Mayor Doug Measures in a statement released Monday. “He was a gentleman and a dedicated councillor to Clearview Township. His business experience and great interest in our community growth was an asset to our council.”
In his first year on council, Christie championed the purchase of speed signs for Nottawa, in response to residents’ concerns. He also championed the reinstatement of a trails committee and was an advocate for snowmobilers.
“Ed was a supporter of the trail network in Clearview Township and wanted us to connect our community with multi-use trails,” said Measures. “He will be missed at our council table and I will fondly remember our many debates and talks about Clearview.”
The 43-year Nottawa resident was first elected to Clearview council in 2018 but he was a past council member in Collingwood, where he owned and operated Christie’s Clothing.
Born and raised in Collingwood, Christie went to the Ontario Agricultural College in Guelph after graduating from Collingwood Collegiate Institute. He bought the menswear shop in 1976 and broadened it to carry fashion for men and women. Christie had retired, leaving his son and daughter to run the business.
Christie was also a past member and chair of the Collingwood BIA, Rotary Club, Heritage Committee, and sign committee. As a councillor he sat on the hospital board, NVCA and was involved in the early stage of trail development.
He often took a pro-business approach to politics. For example he was the only Clearview councillor to vote in favour of opting in for cannabis retail when the issue came to the table.
He could always be counted on to make a humourous comment, and go straight to the heart of the issue.
Both Nottawa residents, Measures said he and Christie spent a lot of time chatting about local issues
“I’ve lost a friend, because he visited me quite a bit here when I was a councillor and I was quite pleased when he decided to put his name forward to run for Ward 1. It was nice to see that he wanted to come back to politics and serve Clearview Township,” said Measures.
Christie was married to Diane (nee McKee), who died one year ago, also from Leukemia.
He is survived by son Michael, and his wife Sandra, and daughter Dana, and her husband Shawn. He was grandfather to Matthew, Michael, Kelly and Rachel.
The funeral service was held at Trinity United Church in Collingwood on Thursday, Dec. 5.
Donations to the Blue Mountain Snowdrifters Snowmobile Club would be appreciated by the family to continue working on a trail bridge project that Christie was involved with, or Hospice Georgian Triangle.
Flags at all municipal facilities were flown at half-staff until Friday morning.

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