With council being on their annual summer break for the month of August, it occurred to me that, at this time next year, some of our current members of council along with (hopefully) a full roster of new candidates will be well into their campaigning for a seat at the council chamber after voters cast their ballots on October 26, 2026.
When council returns to the chamber on September 8, after their August break, they are essentially heading into the fourth and final quarter of their term.
It is never too early to begin thinking about the next election, and voters in Meaford will no doubt have a laundry list of issues that they will want candidates to have on their radar should they be elected next October.
What will voters be looking for in council candidates in 2026?
Many of the hot button issues that will face council candidates next year are the very issues that we hear about with regularity. From roads in dire need of repair or rehabilitation, to the ever rising cost of our water and wastewater services, to the proposed pumped storage plant to be located on our local military base, the issues will be wide-ranging, and some will be more important to voters than others.
Voters will also be looking for candidates that they feel will be fiscally responsible. The past five years have been challenging for many, and there just isn’t room in most people’s budgets for significant increases to property taxes. Talk of property taxes and municipal spending often leads to suggestions that the municipality has too many employees on the roster, and I expect to hear some residents insist that Meaford needs to cut staff in order to save some taxpayer money, as it is something we hear as every municipal election approaches, and during budget season each year.
While we hear complaints and frustrations expressed throughout the year, as I wrote in August 2022 prior to the last municipal election, it is at election time that we hear all of the things wrong with this municipality.
“I hear it all the time from readers, and I see it often on social media, but during election campaigns, the laundry list of Meaford’s flaws gets updated and discussed at length by some,” I wrote in August 2022. “We have all heard folks share their thoughts of what is wrong with this municipality. There are some roads in rough shape, there is not enough policing, our taxes are too high, we don’t have sports leagues for kids, we should have an outdoor skating rink, why don’t we have a recreation centre, there is not enough parking downtown, there is nothing for kids to do, there are no well paying jobs, there is not enough green space, the municipal staff roster is too large, there are too many municipal services, there are not enough municipal services, and on, and on.”
Perhaps interestingly, all of those issues that I mentioned in that brief blurb from that 2022 editorial are issues that I hear from residents with regularity today, three years later, and they will all be issues that will be raised once again during next year’s municipal election campaign period.
“With the large number of complaints people have about this municipality, it would be fair to question why anyone lives here at all. Why would anyone subject themselves to the horrors of living in such a terrible community?” I also asked in that editorial three years ago.
Not that many of the frustrations expressed by residents aren’t real, or important, they often are, and once elected, members of council have to constantly navigate through the various issues and challenges facing this municipality, and that can be a challenge indeed.
As was reported at the end of April, when we do cast our ballots next October, we will do so using internet and telephone voting. No paper ballots, much to the chagrin of those who prefer putting pencil to paper when casting a vote.
In a report presented to council in April, municipal staff noted that virtually all the municipalities in Grey County have selected either internet only or internet and telephone as their voting methods for next year’s municipal election.
“It should be noted that some municipalities are offering an Internet Only Voting method. Staff would recommend this option but recognize there may be some willingness to offer a second method for voters not comfortable with the internet. However, should Council wish, Internet Only could be considered as an alternative to internet and telephone voting,” staff advised council in their report.
As was highlighted in the staff report to council, the combination of internet and telephone voting offers the most flexible and accessible methods for voting by all residents, including seasonal residents, and it allows voters to cast their ballots at their own convenience from wherever they happen to be. Additionally, results are provided quickly once the voting period has ended.
Council opted to approve both internet and telephone voting for next year’s election.
While I recognize and appreciate the simplicity and efficiency of online voting, and I even had a brief period several years ago where I thought that online voting could make the most sense in years to come, this ole scribe still prefers paper ballots, but I suppose sometimes we must adjust to the times.
Voting method aside, with each municipal election comes the hope of increasing voter turnout, as voter participation has been on the decline in recent years. In 2014, 50.09 percent of eligible Meaford voters cast ballots, while in 2018 that dropped to 43.84 percent. In the last municipal election in 2022, just 36.77 percent of eligible voters in Meaford cast ballots, though that was still (barely) higher than the provincial average of 36.3 percent.
So we are just a year away from council candidates knocking on doors and plunking signs on lawns as they make their case for deserving a seat at the council table. What we don’t yet know, but will by this time next year, is who those candidates will be, along with their visions of how Meaford should governed be in the coming years.
