Municipal election day will soon be here. As of the publication of this column, there are just 11 days remaining before Meaford voters cast their ballots to elect the next term of council.
Some residents that I have talked to recently have decided who they will be voting for, and they are ready to cast their ballots, while others have been undecided thus far. With election day fast approaching, time is running out to decide on the candidates who deserve your vote.
While October 26 is officially election day, there is an 11-day voting period that begins 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 elderly voters might find those voting methods to be a challenge, however the municipality will provide 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 17, 18, 19, 23, 24, and 25, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- October 20 and 22, from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Sydenham Centre, 458372 Grey Rd 11, Owen Sound:
- October 18, 19, 23, 24, 25, and 26, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- October 20 and 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.
After watching video from the candidate debates held at the Meaford & St. Vincent Community Centre, Bognor Hall, as well as the debate hosted by the Meaford 55+ Club, along with the brisk sales of The Meaford Independent’s municipal election guide issue published on October 1, it is clear that many Meaford voters are engaged in this election, and they have been doing their homework as they search for the candidates that most align with their vision of the municipality over the next four-year term.
If you weren’t able to make it to any of the candidate debates, you can find videos on social media.
While I was discouraged at the low number of candidates to register for this election (just 13 total candidates, one of whom will be acclaimed as Deputy Mayor due to a lack of a challenger), I have been encouraged by the full houses that the candidate debates experienced, and I am hoping that the seeming high interest in this election will translate into a healthy voter turnout, as the past few elections have seen as little as 37 percent of eligible voters casting ballots.
Voter participation in 2014 was 50.09 percent, and in 2018 was 43.84 percent, using the telephone and internet voting methods in both of those elections.
In the last municipal election, held in 2022, the municipality used in-person voting and mail-in ballots. That election saw just a 36.77 percent voter participation rate. Though Meaford’s voter turnout in 2022 was low, it was still slightly higher than the province wide turnout of just 36.3 percent.
There are many issues driving voter interest in this municipal election. The pumped storage proposal is of course one issue that is a top concern for some voters, but there are many other issues that will be on the plates of those elected to the next term of council.
Many voters are concerned about managing the growth of this municipality, with some who would like to see no growth at all. Managing growth is a real challenge as there are a wide range of opinions related to growth, and no council will ever make everyone happy, but it is important nevertheless as shaping the future of this municipality is a heavy responsibility for every new council. As more people choose to move to Meaford, and as more new homes are built, there are new pressures that impact the existing community, and so planning for growth needs to be a top priority for the incoming term of council.
Infrastructure needs and how to fund them is another huge responsibility for a municipal council. This municipality has hundreds of kilometres of roads to maintain, along with nearly 80 bridge and culvert structures, and maintaining that transportation infrastructure is costly. Also costly is maintaining the water and wastewater treatment plants along with all of the pipes in the ground, some of them still more than a century old. Our next council will spend plenty of time over the next four years debating infrastructure needs and funding, so I hope that those who are successful in getting elected have already begun doing their homework when it comes to infrastructure.
If you have already decided upon the candidates for whom you will vote, then you can cast your ballot beginning next week, and if you, like many, are still undecided, you have 11 days to make some decisions before voting.
In recent days I have been asked by a few Meaford residents to make recommendations to help them decide who to elect, but I don’t offer that sort of advice, and I don’t endorse candidates. As I have written before, the candidates that I lean toward are those who have a good knowledge of how a municipal council operates, an understanding of Ontario’s Municipal Act, and who exhibit an understanding of the wide range of issues that will come before them in the council chamber over their four year term. I avoid single issue candidates, or candidates who focus on just one or two issues, ignoring everything else, and I avoid casting a vote for candidates that make promises that are clearly outside the purview of council, or would be impossible to keep as one vote on a council of seven.
Municipal election information can be found on the municipal website by visiting:
