There was a surprise announcement on Friday, October 16, the opening day of the 11-day voting period for the October 26 municipal election, when mayoral candidate Caryn Colman issued a media release announcing her withdrawal from the race.
Municipal elections often include some surprises during the campaign period, but I don’t think that anyone was expecting one of the three mayoral candidates to withdraw on the day that the voting period began.
While Colman expressed her desire to withdraw in her media release, as the municipal clerk told me on Friday morning, given the late withdrawal announcement, her name will remain on the ballot, and her votes will still be counted. The last day that a candidate was able to officially withdraw their name from the ballot was nearly two months ago, on August 21.
When Colman attended The Meaford Independent’s Meet the Candidates event at the Riverside Community Centre on Wednesday, October 14, she gave no indication that she would be withdrawing. She was the first candidate to arrive at Riverside, an hour before the event was to begin, and she had put time and effort into creating a large display which she placed behind her table for the event. When I chatted to her as the event was beginning she seemed prepared with some handy notes to refer to resting on her table. Just two days after that event, she issued a media release announcing her desire to withdraw her candidacy.
Colman, who describes herself as a artist and nature enthusiast committed to environmental stewardship and climate action, is a vocal opponent of the hydro-electric pumped storage facility proposed by TC Energy, and that opposition, along with highlighting green energy solutions for the municipality, was the core of her mayoral campaign. For our October 1 election guide issue, in her response to the question of what she considered the top priorities for the next term of council, Colman said that she would: “Immediately revoke Meaford’s ‘willing host’ status because support was given under pressure, was premature, and not unanimously approved by Council.”
Colman said in her October 16 media release that she didn’t want to split the vote, however given that she is still on the ballot and will still receive votes, I’m not so sure that her desire to not split the vote will come to fruition.
So the withdrawal of her candidacy is certainly throwing a spanner in the works, but hopefully, given that she announced her desire to withdraw with all 11 days of the voting period remaining, many who had planned to cast a ballot for Colman will instead vote for another mayoral candidate. But as I mentioned previously, I suspect that there will still be a number of Colman votes to be counted on October 26.
As I have written a number of times before, during this and previous municipal election campaigns, I do not endorse candidates, nor do I tell people who they should or should not vote for, but in this unique case, I will suggest that Meaford voters should cast their ballots for one of the other two mayoral candidates, Shirley Keaveney or Justin Perks, and not for Caryn Colman.
By the time I write this column next week we will know the results of the 2026 municipal election, and we will know the seven members of the next term of council which will be sworn in on Monday, November 16. We will also know at this time next week the percentage of eligible voters who cast ballots in this election, and it will hopefully be more than the 36.77 percent that voted in the last municipal election in October 2022. Additionally, we will know how many supporters of Caryn Colman voted for her in spite of her last minute withdrawal from the race.
While October 26 is officially election day, there is an 11-day voting period that began on Friday, October 16 and ends on Monday, October 26.
Voters in the Municipality of Meaford, and throughout most of Grey and Bruce counties, will be voting by internet or telephone for this election.
Some have expressed concern that some voters might find those voting methods to be a challenge, however the municipality is providing voter help stations for the duration of the voting period.
The dates and times for the help stations are as follows:
Meaford Public Library:
- October 23, 24, and 25, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- October 22, from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Sydenham Centre, 458372 Grey Rd 11, Owen Sound:
- October 23, 24, 25, and 26, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- October 22, from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.
And at the municipal office on election day:
21 Trowbridge Street West, Meaford
- October 26 from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Municipal election information can be found on the municipality’s website by visiting:
https://www.meaford.ca/2026-election/
Also be sure to check meaford.ca/news, as I was told by municipal staff on Monday that the municipality will be sharing a ‘voting snapshot’, highlighting voter turnout and other key statistics gathered since the beginning of the 11-day voting period.
Best of luck to all of the candidates, and a note of appreciation from this ole scribe who is always thankful to see residents of this community step into the ring at municipal election time.
