Rain didn’t put a damper on the spirits of some of Collingwood’s more politically engaged citizens on Tuesday night.
People started lining up outside the Collingwood Legion on Ontario Street at 5 p.m. for the 7 p.m. all-candidates meeting for the mayor and deputy mayor candidates, hosted by the Collingwood Chamber of Commerce. In the end, all of the nearly 300 seats available at the legion were taken up and some attendees were turned away at the door.
Yvonne Hamlin, Mariane McLeod and Norm Sandberg are running for the mayor’s seat, while Tim Fryer and Bob Madigan are running for the deputy mayor seat.
The candidates were given two minutes to introduce themselves, and were given one minute to respond to a question submitted by community members, chosen at random from a jar. Candidate order was also random.
The first question posed to candidates was concerning beautification of town streets, specifically in regards to the downtown, First St. and Highway 26 coming into Collingwood.
McLeod noted that councillors had received reports on beautification in the past, and she said listening to staff regarding beautification was important.
“There’s a safety issue on 26 along the Pretty River Parkway. As mayor, you can’t only be concerned with the beauty, but you also have to be concerned with the safety of the people who work for our community,” said McLeod.
Sandberg said he’d want to speak with horticultural experts, such as the Collingwood Horticultural Society to come up with a plan that all residents have some input in.
“We could see that vision then come to fruition,” he said.
Fryer said that with any local issue, he would rely heavily on staff and ask for a report before making promises. He also noted that any proposed changes to the downtown would include consultation with the Collingwood Downtown Business Improvement Area.
“They’re doing it with the beautiful downtown,” said Fryer.
Madigan noted he’s had a downtown business for 30 years.
“I won’t support continuing to rip up our greenery downtown,” said Madigan. “Our downtown is one of the best in Ontario. You can’t deny that. But we can always get better.”
Hamlin said more work needed to be done to improve beautification. She said that if elected, she would look into starting a volunteer committee that would be tasked with walking town streets and reporting back on which areas of town need attention.
“I’m going to be honest with you. We need to work on this,” said Hamlin. “Some of our flower beds look great. Some are filled with debris from last summer still. Some of the hydrants need to be repainted. Some of the light standards need to be repainted. Some utility boxes have wires hanging out of them.”
Another question asked of candidates was what previous experience they would be bringing to the table.
While four of the candidates listed off their credentials, McLeod’s comments brought the most feedback of the evening from the audience.
“I’m the only one up here that’s been a deputy mayor,” said McLeod, to groans from the audience.
“Really? That’s how we’re going to be tonight?” she said in response. “I’m already doing the job. I was at county council this morning. I make decisions already. I’ve been at it for a while. The mayor drives the policies.”
“One of the skills is standing firm against people who want to waste your money. We need to be strong, be brave and be collaborative and not take any crap,” said McLeod.
In response to a question about priorities, all candidates spoke about Collingwood’s need for affordable housing, however Fryer was the only candidate to reference homelessness specifically.
“We need to figure out ways to deal with the rental capacity, homelessness, these types of things that are affecting our community,” he said. “We need to work together with the federal government, provincial government to come up with ways in that regard.”
A question about climate change and weather events, Sandberg said he wanted climate impact included in every staff report as a consideration for any action the town may take.
Currently, Collingwood staff reports do contain a section of "considerations" including a line item referring to the climate change impacts and sustainability of the recommendations included in the report.
“I think we need to make the wetlands a stronger priority than we have to date,” he said.
When making closing comments, Madigan encouraged voters to choose candidates that have Collingwood’s best interests at heart.
“You couldn’t find two more passionate guys about our community than Tim and I,” he said. “I firmly believe that after two terms as a councillor, that it’s time to move up, or move out. We need to make way for new people who are coming in with new ideas, whether they’re new or old residents. The key word there is residents; they’re both now locals.”
“You have two choices for deputy mayor. Both are quite valid. Choose where your heart is,” he said.
The full meeting will be broadcast on RogersTV in the coming days.
A second all-candidate meeting hosted by the Collingwood Chamber of Commerce will be taking place on Thursday, Sept. 29 at 7 p.m. at the legion where candidates for the seven council seats will answer questions. Doors for that meeting will open at 6 p.m.
To read our profiles of the Collingwood candidates for mayor, click here. For our profiles of the deputy mayor candidates, click here.
