After more than two decades on the board running minor hockey in Ontario, Rob Ring is stick-handling a run for local politics.
He’s running for one of seven council seats in the municipal election this month.
“I’m born and raised in Collingwood, I’m a diehard, I’m a Collingwoodite through and through,” he said. “I love living here, I’ve never lived anywhere else and I don’t plan on living anywhere else and I like to give back to the community … I just basically want to do what’s best for the town and hopefully council can be the best it can be.”
Ring’s first job was at the Collingwood Shipyards in 1972 where he learned the welding trade and stayed there until the yard closed in 1986. He spent his career in “blue collar” work as a welder, then millwright and foreman. He retired in 2018.
He’s been a volunteer for 40 years, mainly in minor sports including hockey. He played hockey until his late teens, then became a coach and was elected to the Collingwood Minor Hockey Board of Directors at 22 years old. He spent 17 years on the board, then became the area convenor for the Ontario Minor Hockey Association (OMHA) and was elected to the board of directors of the OMHA and remained part of the board for 24 years, finishing his time there as the longest-serving president of the OMHA.
While Ring was leading the OMHA, he said he worked toward cohesiveness among board members. He’d like to lead by example and help contribute more cohesion to Collingwood’s council if he’s elected.
“I’m a big believer in democracy, and when you make a decision you accept that decision, whether you voted for it or against it and you all work as a team,” said Ring.
He acknowledged that everyone will come to the table with what he calls a “wish list.”
“We all should have a wish list, we all should have priorities, but everybody’s got to realize that there’s going to be nine people sitting at that table and you’re one vote,” he said Hopefully your vote matters or counts at the end of the day, but all you can do is press, work hard to prioritize and get your wishes to council.”
Like most other candidates, he sees affordable housing as the number one issue this election.
“I don’t remember… 10 to 15 years ago … seeing as many homeless people as I see now,” said Ring. “That should be addressed, and it all comes down to affordable housing … my feeling is, when a community doesn’t have affordable housing, there’s an economic issue that burdens the town as well.”
He noted an unaffordable town gets higher taxes, a decline in generational diversity, fewer jobs, decreasing job retention and ultimately the local economy suffers.
“That’s going to affect us all, not just the people who can’t afford housing,” he said.
He noted the town is working on reducing the barriers to adding accessory units onto existing homes, such as basement apartments or garage lofts.
“People have to buy into the program to make it work,” he said.
He said buy-in will also be important as the town works to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.
“I didn’t think I was big on growing trees, but the more I researched it, the more I see that’s just a natural way of cutting gas emissions … trees absorb carbon dioxide,” he said. “Once you plant a tree, it will do the work for you.”
He said tree planting, the preservation of green space and supporting a more aggressive greenhouse gas emission reduction target will be some of the easier decisions for him to support in the next term.
Ring said his wishlist for next term also includes improvements to roads, a new multi-use recreation centre and a new multi-use theatre for arts and culture, if the town can afford to build and manage them.
“My attitude is, you can’t promise the world,” said Ring. “Every decision you make has to be, as the number one goal, for the betterment of the community. Change is going to happen, growth is going to happen … change is good … but I also maintain that you don’t make change for the sake of change.”
There are 12 candidates running for the seven available councillor seats for Collingwood in the 2022 municipal election taking place Oct. 24. The candidates include: Chris Baines, Steve Berman, Ian Chadwick, George Dickenson, Deb Doherty, Cam Ecclestone, Brandon Houston, Kathy Jeffery, Steve Johns, Steve Perry, Chris Potts, and Rob Ring.
You can find out if you’re on the voter list by visiting the town website here.
Advance voting started Oct. 8 with internet or paper ballot voting options available. You can vote at the library in-person starting Oct. 8, or online anytime after Oct. 8 at 10 a.m. Library voting will take place Saturday and Wednesday, Oct. 8-22 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and on Oct. 24 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Voting will close on election day, Oct. 24, at 8 p.m.
