As someone who has been a municipal governance nerd for 35 years, I am accustomed to empty council chamber galleries, even for important meetings like budget presentations. I get it, municipal governance isn’t for everyone: it isn’t sexy, it often isn’t exciting, but it certainly is important, and can impact us all.
Every now and then, typically due to a hot button issue, the council chamber gallery fills with residents, and some of those take the time to participate in the meetings through deputations or by asking questions of council.
Sometimes the issue is a road or a bridge, other times the focus is a municipal service or a proposed housing development, but no matter what draws a crowd on those relatively rare occasions, I am always thrilled to see residents engage in the process that is municipal governance.
I love seeing residents attend council meetings, and I love even more to see residents make presentations or deputations to council, or to ask questions during the public participation portion of the meeting agenda.
During this week’s council meeting, held on Monday afternoon, a handful of folks took the opportunity to engage in the process, and as a result, we had three presentations to council, focused on the highly contentious hydro-electric pumped storage facility that TC Energy is proposing to build on the grounds of the 4th Canadian Division Training Centre.
One of the presenters focused on the many environmental concerns that have been expressed since the proposal first became public nearly five years ago, while another presenter sought to compare pumped storage and battery storage, suggesting that battery storage would be a better investment for the province. A third presenter sought a commitment from council to hold a referendum on the issue on the next municipal election day, October 26, 2026.
I think it is healthy for ratepayers to ask questions of council face to face as opposed to in an email or phone call, and I think there is much value to be found when council is questioned or presented to in a public forum, so that the concerns raised are on the record and available for all to hear. Sadly, far too many simply complain about local issues on social media, and that never moves the needle on an issue; what is needed instead is true engagement in the process.
Any municipal council can benefit from advice provided by residents. Our community has a wealth of residents with a wide range of experiences and expertise that can be put to good use by a local council, provided that the council is truly open to community input, even if that input is critical of what council has done, or plans to do.
When I see ratepayers engage in the process by attending a council meeting and sharing their thoughts during the public participation portion of the agenda, I am always impressed with the wealth of knowledge and experience that some of our residents bring to the council chamber. Such engagement by the community, the folks that members of council are elected to represent, can help to broaden the vision of council as a whole by exposing members of council to opinions and ideas that they might not have otherwise entertained. And this is why I feel that community engagement with council is so crucial to the success of this or any community.
One of the presenters at Monday’s council meeting called upon council to commit to holding a referendum on the proposed pumped storage facility TC Energy hopes to build.
One of the things that I have written a time or two over the past few years, is that in the absence of a referendum, or any extensive polling data, our council has no clue of the actual level of opposition or support for the proposal. We can all make assumptions based on the significant voices of opposition that we have heard over the past years; on the other hand, as I have noted in the past, I have frequently heard from folks who either support the idea or are indifferent to it, but are reluctant to share their views. So it would be beneficial to all if we could have a better gauge, some hard data, and a referendum could help in that respect. I say could because there are of course several hurdles to clear when it comes to such a referendum, not the least of which is deciding upon the question itself, which can create its own debate.
A question on a ballot must be clear, it must not be leading, and it must be able to be answered in just two ways – yes or no.
Should council answer the call for a referendum, and I for one certainly hope that they do, we can expect some intense debate about the wording of the question to be asked, and that in itself could be a healthy exercise for this community.
If a question does end up on the ballot for our next municipal election in October of 2026, there will also be a need to get folks to vote, as a ballot question’s result can only be binding if more than 50 percent of the electorate actually casts ballots and answers the question on the ballot, and we all know that municipal election turnout is often extremely disappointing. In the 2022 municipal election in the Municipality of Meaford, only 37.4 percent of eligible voters participated, down from 43.8 percent in 2018, and 50 percent in 2014 and 2010.
No council should operate within a vacuum. Every council can benefit from hearing from those they are elected to represent, and I always commend anyone who takes the time and makes the effort to get in front of council to share their views and ideas on an issue, whether I agree with them or not, whether I share their concerns or not. It is important for the process, it is crucial for our collective faith in government, and sometimes such engagement can change minds. Or it can help to change the direction of the community at large.
