Owen-sound Council-meeting Meeting Transcript — October 5, 2026

00:00:00 SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: Okay.

00:00:01 SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: Right on.

00:00:01 SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: Welcome everybody.

00:00:02 SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: My name is Jared, and this is a meeting that we decided to throw because, well, it felt like there was not enough chance to meet the people who are running for council this year.

00:00:14 SPEAKER_UNKNOWN: So we thought we'd throw something together here, and because of the number of candidates, we've decided to go with a bit of a different format.

00:00:21 SPEAKER_002: The standard sort of question and answer town hall with this many candidates—once you do the math, you're only going to get a couple of questions in,

00:00:30 SPEAKER_002: so we felt like we could turn this into a little bit more of a community discussion.

00:00:37 SPEAKER_002: So I'll explain how that's going to work in a moment.

00:00:40 SPEAKER_002: Before I do that, a little bit of housekeeping.

00:00:43 SPEAKER_002: I want to explain also: this is not a Harmony Centre event.

00:00:48 SPEAKER_002: This is just something that I decided to do because a number of people in my life were frustrated with the lack of availability of being able to hear the candidates talk,

00:01:03 SPEAKER_002: so I decided to rent a room and ask everybody to come.

00:01:07 SPEAKER_002: And so, thank you all for coming.

00:01:09 SPEAKER_002: Thank you to the candidates for coming.

00:01:10 SPEAKER_002: I also want to make sure that it's known: please don't read into someone not being here.

00:01:16 SPEAKER_002: This was not an event that was on the calendar when they signed up.

00:01:20 SPEAKER_002: So there's a number of different reasons why they might not be here.

00:01:25 SPEAKER_002: So it's okay, but thank you for all who did come.

00:01:29 SPEAKER_002: Little housekeeping.

00:01:31 SPEAKER_002: The exits are pretty clearly marked: two on the door there.

00:01:35 SPEAKER_002: For emergencies, there will be people to help you out to find them.

00:01:41 SPEAKER_002: The bathrooms: if you're wondering, there's a bathroom in the front lobby there.

00:01:45 SPEAKER_002: There is a bathroom up through the commons room there.

00:01:49 SPEAKER_002: There's one upstairs and there's two downstairs.

00:01:51 SPEAKER_002: If you have trouble finding them, please find a person with a red vest, and they can help you find the bathroom.

00:01:58 SPEAKER_002: The red vests; these are the ushers.

00:02:01 SPEAKER_002: The ushers will help you out if you need to find your way around this place.

00:02:07 SPEAKER_002: This place is a bit of a maze, so sometimes you might need to ask for directions.

00:02:14 SPEAKER_002: On that note, I would also like to point out there are a couple of ushers like yourself who have Tamara's gear on.

00:02:24 SPEAKER_002: They are actually with Tamara's campaign, and they're helping us out.

00:02:29 SPEAKER_002: We were showrunners, so they're helping us out, and we appreciate that.

00:02:32 SPEAKER_002: Thank you, Tamara.

00:02:32 SPEAKER_002: Also, we have a fair amount of security here.

00:02:39 SPEAKER_002: They're just over there in the back corner, and they are lovely.

00:02:44 SPEAKER_002: And if you have any questions, feel free.

00:02:48 SPEAKER_002: And if there are any issues, if you feel unsafe or if you feel that, well, if for whatever reason you feel uncomfortable or unsafe, feel free to approach them and ask them to help.

00:03:05 SPEAKER_002: I'd also like to point out James is videoing, and we also have Eric back here videoing, and so there is the possibility that you could end up on a video that goes up online.

00:03:20 SPEAKER_002: Really, the only thing we're videoing is the introductions because trying to video the groups is really not going to work—not in a way that we had time to put together.

00:03:32 SPEAKER_002: Code of conduct.

00:03:33 SPEAKER_002: This is going to be a very interactive situation.

00:03:39 SPEAKER_002: So what that means is there will be a lot of opportunities for people to talk over each other,

00:03:46 SPEAKER_002: for people to feel like they—they may not get the opportunity to say what they want to say.

00:03:51 SPEAKER_002: This is a conversation, so the rules of a polite conversation exist here.

00:03:57 SPEAKER_002: So, no profanity, no threats or anything like that.

00:04:02 SPEAKER_002: Please remember that everybody here isn't here in good faith, and everyone is trying to put forward their ideas or to listen to other people's ideas about what we can do to help our community.

00:04:19 SPEAKER_002: So generally, just treat everybody with respect.

00:04:23 SPEAKER_002: Now, how the groups are going to work, and this is why there was no assigned seating for you folks.

00:04:29 SPEAKER_002: The way that we're going to do the groups is after the introduction.

00:04:32 SPEAKER_002: So everybody's going to do a two-minute introduction.

00:04:35 SPEAKER_002: We're going to set up four groups: one here, one there, one there, and one in the back.

00:04:40 SPEAKER_002: And we will then divide the candidates into those groups, and we're just going to do a simple numbering system.

00:04:51 SPEAKER_002: And that's so as we number through the candidates, that's who's going to go to each group.

00:04:56 SPEAKER_002: Depending on how much time is left by the time we get to that point, that's how much time: divide that by four,

00:05:01 SPEAKER_002: and that's how much time each group is going to get with those candidates.

00:05:04 SPEAKER_002: So there will be several candidates with each group.

00:05:08 SPEAKER_002: Can't remember what our final number is here.

00:05:10 SPEAKER_009: We've got one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen.

00:05:16 SPEAKER_002: So one group will be a number of candidates.

00:05:19 SPEAKER_002: One will be four, and the other three will be three.

00:05:24 SPEAKER_002: Okay.

00:05:26 SPEAKER_002: So on that note, I think what I'm going to do is I'm going to quickly introduce.

00:05:32 SPEAKER_002: We've got Ann, and we've got Eric, and Ted.

00:05:37 SPEAKER_002: Thank you.

00:05:38 SPEAKER_002: I'm sorry, Ted.

00:05:40 SPEAKER_002: Ted has got the sign.

00:05:42 SPEAKER_002: So this is for the candidates.

00:05:44 SPEAKER_002: We have two minutes.

00:05:47 SPEAKER_002: When we hit two minutes, the stop sign is going to go up.

00:05:49 SPEAKER_002: Please finish your statement, your sentence, and politely pass along the mic to the next person.

00:05:57 SPEAKER_002: If you keep going, Eric does have a mic.

00:06:01 SPEAKER_002: He's going to come on and he's going to ask you to wrap it up and please pass the mic along.

00:06:06 SPEAKER_002: So as long as we can all follow that, shouldn't have any problems.

00:06:11 SPEAKER_002: Okay, and I think that is everything that I've got on my notes to go through.

00:06:18 SPEAKER_002: So, with no further ado, I think I will pass the mic along, and we will just jump right into the introductions.

00:06:28 SPEAKER_002: Okay.

00:06:28 SPEAKER_002: Hello, good evening, residents of Owen Sound, and fellow candidates.

00:06:38 SPEAKER_002: My name is David Walton, and I've lived in Old Town since 2013.

00:06:41 SPEAKER_002: You gotta hold the mic, right?

00:06:44 SPEAKER_002: Can you hear me now?

00:06:46 SPEAKER_013: This is my first time running for municipal office, but I've been involved in many nonprofit organisations.

00:06:52 SPEAKER_013: I'm running because I've seen previous councils sit back and wait for the great county or the province to make changes.

00:07:00 SPEAKER_013: My belief is that Old Town needs to be a leader to push for changes at the county and provincial level.

00:07:06 SPEAKER_013: As strong, we believe in fiscal responsibility.

00:07:09 SPEAKER_013: And while door knocking, I'm hearing about high taxes, high water bills.

00:07:13 SPEAKER_013: I will never promise to any of these residents that I will reduce their bills, but I will work to keep them as low as possible.

00:07:20 SPEAKER_013: I do explain to them that the city is just covering the cost of operations.

00:07:25 SPEAKER_013: I will propose that every city department convene a meeting with all of their staff to get ideas to improve and eliminate overlaps in services.

00:07:34 SPEAKER_013: The front line workers are out on the streets every day, and they know their jobs better than the upper management.

00:07:39 SPEAKER_013: In my opinion, I believe in keeping public services public, not privatized.

00:07:46 SPEAKER_013: Because I believe in democracy, I post strong mayor's powers, and I will also oppose ministers zoning orders as well.

00:07:54 SPEAKER_013: I won't tell you that I have a solution to the problems downtown with homeless people and open drug users.

00:08:00 SPEAKER_013: This is a complex issue, and council needs to work with the county on the problems to hopefully solve the problem.

00:08:07 SPEAKER_013: I'm an environmentalist, so I believe that the environment needs to be a top priority when making decisions.

00:08:14 SPEAKER_013: The downtown bus service has a lot of issues.

00:08:16 SPEAKER_013: So I mean, so I rode on all four bus routes and talked to people riding the bus.

00:08:21 SPEAKER_013: They want longer bus hours through the week and Saturday, and part day on Sunday.

00:08:26 SPEAKER_013: And buses break down frequently, and people are late getting to work.

00:08:29 SPEAKER_013: That's an issue.

00:08:32 SPEAKER_013: If elected, I will make a time and place for residents to meet with me and discuss their issues.

00:08:36 SPEAKER_013: Thank you.

00:08:37 SPEAKER_013: Hey, I'm Jeff Rockwell.

00:08:48 SPEAKER_013: I didn't write a speech like David's, but I decided to run, I guess, because I didn't even think there was going to be an election when I decided to sign up.

00:09:00 SPEAKER_013: It looked like there were too few people, and a bunch of people joined, which I was really happy to see.

00:09:04 SPEAKER_013: Actually, I feel like I win if we have a strong council at all.

00:09:08 SPEAKER_013: I don't care if it's me on it or not.

00:09:10 SPEAKER_016: I would like to win, but I'll be happy if we just have a strong one and a good election.

00:09:16 SPEAKER_016: There's quite a few good people up here who've worked with some of them over the years.

00:09:20 SPEAKER_016: I've lived here for six years.

00:09:22 SPEAKER_016: I grew up in Halifax.

00:09:24 SPEAKER_018: Since then, I've been volunteering about 60 to 80 hours a week, especially in the last couple of years.

00:09:30 SPEAKER_018: I bought a line and founded Owen Sound Food Not Bombs.

00:09:34 SPEAKER_018: So we've served over twelve thousand free meals to the community in that time.

00:09:38 SPEAKER_018: You can join us Sunday, starting November first, downstairs for solidarity.

00:09:43 SPEAKER_018: Some of the faces I recognize here from there.

00:09:46 SPEAKER_015: And I cook at Safe and Sound every Friday, both with anyone who will join me in the spirit of community.

00:09:51 SPEAKER_015: You know, community building: rich or poor doesn't matter.

00:09:54 SPEAKER_015: Everyone is welcome to eat together and encouraged to.

00:09:58 SPEAKER_015: So I'm involved in a number of other groups.

00:10:01 SPEAKER_015: Climate Action Team with David here.

00:10:04 SPEAKER_015: I volunteer for Summer Food with Jared.

00:10:08 SPEAKER_015: I've worked with quite a few other groups, and I do just about everything I can for the community.

00:10:12 SPEAKER_018: I've been hired to work at the shelter at Safe and Sound that opens November first as well.

00:10:17 SPEAKER_018: So I look forward to that.

00:10:18 SPEAKER_015: I know all of the homeless people here by name.

00:10:22 SPEAKER_015: They know me by name.

00:10:23 SPEAKER_015: I do everything I can.

00:10:24 SPEAKER_015: I bend over backwards to try to help them every day.

00:10:28 SPEAKER_015: Every single day, I can recount things I did just this week.

00:10:32 SPEAKER_015: But it has nothing to do with me around here.

00:10:35 SPEAKER_015: I just keep doing that work, you know.

00:10:38 SPEAKER_015: I care about this community.

00:10:40 SPEAKER_015: I've read all of the paperwork to do with this.

00:10:42 SPEAKER_015: I'm on my third read-through of every manhole cover.

00:10:46 SPEAKER_015: Some of it's painful, but I'm interested.

00:10:49 SPEAKER_015: I want to do well.

00:10:50 SPEAKER_015: I've been at council every council meeting this year, and I've been to more of them than any of the other candidates for mayor, for council, for anything.

00:11:01 SPEAKER_015: That's it.

00:11:02 SPEAKER_015: This is uh.

00:11:12 SPEAKER_015: Hi, I'm Mike Simon, and since I was a kid living on 14th Street West, or that across the road from Harrison Park, I always heard about the old boys' club.

00:11:24 SPEAKER_015: Always alone, and people go, "Oh yeah, here we go again."

00:11:28 SPEAKER_015: And people would say, "It doesn't matter who you vote for or what you say; they're going to do what they're going to do anyway."

00:11:35 SPEAKER_034: And there's some human nature in that because people look out for their friends.

00:11:40 SPEAKER_034: And whether you're a new councillor or you've been there for a dozen years, you kind of want to play along to get along.

00:11:52 SPEAKER_034: It's human nature.

00:11:53 SPEAKER_034: It's not a conspiracy theory.

00:11:55 SPEAKER_034: That's just the way the world goes around.

00:11:58 SPEAKER_034: But there are limits to that, because lately, well, not lately, but everything seems to be revolving around inside City Hall instead of outside City Hall, where the voters are living.

00:12:16 SPEAKER_034: We spent eight million dollars on City Hall.

00:12:19 SPEAKER_034: About a million dollars of that is glass walls.

00:12:21 SPEAKER_034: As glass walls at two thousand dollars a sheet instead of fifteen dollars a sheet for drywall.

00:12:27 SPEAKER_034: I mean, it's really nice, but is it necessary?

00:12:30 SPEAKER_034: We've got people literally dying on their streets, and we can't have a proper transit system for the kids to go to their part-time job after high school,

00:12:41 SPEAKER_034: or people who don't drive a car anymore because they're getting on years, or they just can't afford the car anymore.

00:12:52 SPEAKER_034: People talk about taxes and where are we going to get the money to do all this?

00:12:55 SPEAKER_034: Well, I outline it and grab a pamphlet.

00:12:58 SPEAKER_034: I can't tell you how in two minutes for everything, but we can fix this.

00:13:07 SPEAKER_034: And the beauty of it is, we've got only three incumbent councillors, so whoever gets elected, the majority is going to be fresh-faced.

00:13:19 SPEAKER_034: Fresh faces.

00:13:21 SPEAKER_034: Hello, I'm Michelle Hawkins, and I'm running for council.

00:13:31 SPEAKER_034: I currently sit as a public member on the operations committee.

00:13:37 SPEAKER_038: I'm running because I'm a little tired of seeing public members bring concerns to council, and council turning a blind eye to them.

00:13:47 SPEAKER_038: The last order that was brought, a motion was brought to council, was vetoed because there was an election.

00:13:55 SPEAKER_038: Well, accidents still happen regardless of an election.

00:14:00 SPEAKER_038: My background has been working with the YMCA Employment Services, so I have had experience front-line at Osher every two weeks doing the SOS market.

00:14:14 SPEAKER_038: I've had the pleasure of working with some of these individuals on the council, getting to know them.

00:14:22 SPEAKER_038: They're great people, but we need to move forward.

00:14:26 SPEAKER_038: We definitely have a problem with our transportation and our transit.

00:14:29 SPEAKER_038: It doesn't meet the needs of those individuals that are looking for jobs or trying to get around.

00:14:35 SPEAKER_038: We also need to attract more business to Owen Sound so that the tax burden is not on the residential homeowners.

00:14:43 SPEAKER_038: It becomes shared.

00:14:43 SPEAKER_038: Become shared, and we share some of the wealth of bringing revenue into Owen Sound.

00:14:50 SPEAKER_038: I think there's a lot of work that needs to be done.

00:14:53 SPEAKER_038: We need affordable housing, but it works to be affordable to the incomes that people are making.

00:15:01 SPEAKER_038: So when the living wage in Grey Bruce is 24.62, and you're asking people to survive on 17.95 an hour, there's a big gap there.

00:15:13 SPEAKER_038: So I'm hopeful that everybody listens to all the candidates, has some really good questions, and we can move forward collectively as the city that we are.

00:15:25 SPEAKER_038: Thank you.

00:15:26 SPEAKER_038: Hi there, my name is Mayor Sargent, and this October 26, I hope you'll vote Sargent for council.

00:15:38 SPEAKER_038: If elected, I'll advocate for three things.

00:15:40 SPEAKER_038: The first is improved bus service.

00:15:43 SPEAKER_038: Right now, the buses don't run on Sundays, and they stop running at six o'clock, and that is not serving our working neighbours.

00:15:50 SPEAKER_038: The second thing I'll advocate for is increased library hours of operation.

00:15:54 SPEAKER_038: They're closed half days on Mondays, and they're closed entirely on Sundays, when most of us have the time to visit.

00:16:00 SPEAKER_038: So I want the library open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

00:16:03 SPEAKER_042: And the third thing that I'll advocate for is that every household that owns a home get two free bags of garbage on garbage pickup day.

00:16:10 SPEAKER_042: It's an affordability issue.

00:16:12 SPEAKER_042: There are some families in our community that are struggling financially.

00:16:16 SPEAKER_042: They're making the decision between groceries or bag tags.

00:16:20 SPEAKER_042: I say it's time to return basic municipal garbage pickup as a basic municipal service, and then to pay for these programmes, I'll advocate that Owen Sound adopt a vacant residential property tax.

00:16:33 SPEAKER_042: So according to the last census, and we'll have updated data soon, that according to the last one, there are 511 vacant properties here in Owen Sound.

00:16:42 SPEAKER_042: So I say let's encourage those property owners to find tenants or to sell to someone who will live there, and that will help address our housing crisis.

00:16:51 SPEAKER_046: But if they don't want to do that, then they can pay this tax, which will generate money that we can use to invest in our community.

00:16:58 SPEAKER_046: So this October 26, I hope you vote Sargent for council.

00:17:09 SPEAKER_046: Good evening.

00:17:10 SPEAKER_046: My name is Thomas Arakam.

00:17:12 SPEAKER_046: I am asking for one of your seven seats on Owen Sound City Council.

00:17:16 SPEAKER_046: I am a taxpayer, husband, and father of two girls.

00:17:20 SPEAKER_048: I work at Canada Post and ASMC, and also the president, vice-president of CUPW Local 582.

00:17:26 SPEAKER_048: I have also worked as operations manager and have background in technology and financial planning.

00:17:34 SPEAKER_048: These experiences have taught me to listen.

00:17:34 SPEAKER_048: Experience has taught me to listen, solve problems, examine costs, and see things differently.

00:17:43 SPEAKER_048: At residents' doors, I hear about rising taxes, unreliable transit, and concerns about downtown safety.

00:17:51 SPEAKER_048: People want their concerns heard and followed through.

00:17:55 SPEAKER_048: That is why I propose geographical ward responsibility.

00:18:00 SPEAKER_048: Keep all seven councillors elected citywide, but assign primary responsibility for a particular area.

00:18:08 SPEAKER_048: You would know whom to contact, who should follow up, and who to hold accountable.

00:18:14 SPEAKER_048: You could still approach any councillor, and every councillor would continue serving the ward city.

00:18:21 SPEAKER_048: I also want the meetings after supper, so the working residents can participate, and to restore the public speaking time at council back from three minutes to five minutes.

00:18:33 SPEAKER_048: On affordability, I support a reliable transit, two-year municipal property tax freeze, while we review spending and find efficiencies, protecting essential services and infrastructure.

00:18:47 SPEAKER_048: On homelessness, I want practical temporary shelter and a pathway for housing, and appropriate mental health and addiction support, alongside firm enforcement against illegal drug trafficking.

00:18:59 SPEAKER_048: For every initiative, we need clear costs, measurable goals, and public reporting.

00:19:06 SPEAKER_048: One councillor cannot promise every outcome, but I can come in doing homework, asking difficult questions, explaining my decisions, and work respectfully with others.

00:19:16 SPEAKER_048: Thank you.

00:19:26 SPEAKER_048: Good evening.

00:19:26 SPEAKER_048: I'm your mayor, and on Saturday Ottawa and Owen Sound is my home.

00:19:31 SPEAKER_050: I was born and raised here, and my fiancée Valerie and I are raising our blended family here.

00:19:36 SPEAKER_050: I've spent more than 17 years working in healthcare, and over 14 years coaching youth sports.

00:19:45 SPEAKER_050: As a nurse, a union steward, care coordinator, and transportation manager, I've learned to listen, work through difficult situations, and make responsible decisions.

00:19:56 SPEAKER_050: I'm running because residents deserve a strong relationship with the city; you should feel heard, get clear answers, and know how your money is being spent.

00:20:08 SPEAKER_050: You work hard for your money.

00:20:11 SPEAKER_050: Every municipal dollar needs to have a clear purpose and result.

00:20:16 SPEAKER_050: That means questioning spending, maintaining infrastructure, supporting local businesses, and encouraging responsible growth and housing.

00:20:25 SPEAKER_050: We need a downtown where people feel safe, businesses succeed, and those struggling receive meaningful help.

00:20:34 SPEAKER_050: I'm not going to sugarcoat it.

00:20:37 SPEAKER_050: On the cost of living, housing, homelessness, addictions, and public drug use, provincial and federal governments have failed to deliver the solutions our communities need.

00:20:47 SPEAKER_050: Municipalities are faced with dealing with these problems.

00:20:52 SPEAKER_050: Residents turn to us for answers, and we're forced to find band-aid solutions to get by until meaningful changes happen provincially and federally.

00:21:03 SPEAKER_050: We cannot simply wait.

00:21:05 SPEAKER_050: We need practical, local action while pushing those governments to do their part.

00:21:11 SPEAKER_050: I'll listen before deciding, research the facts, ask the tough questions, and acclaim my votes.

00:21:18 SPEAKER_050: Your views will matter, including when they challenge my own.

00:21:23 SPEAKER_050: I won't promise to fix everything.

00:21:25 SPEAKER_050: I won't promise to be approachable, available, honest, and transparent, even when conversations are difficult.

00:21:33 SPEAKER_050: I'm Joe Carter, and I'm asking for your vote.

00:21:36 SPEAKER_050: Hi, everyone.

00:21:46 SPEAKER_050: My name is Justin Bianco, and I'm running for Owen Sound City Council.

00:21:49 SPEAKER_050: I am a husband, a father of three young children, and I am proud to call One Sound home.

00:21:57 SPEAKER_050: During this campaign, I've knocked on doors across One Sound, and one thing I keep hearing from residents is they don't feel safe going downtown day or night.

00:22:06 SPEAKER_050: That needs to change.

00:22:08 SPEAKER_050: Residents should feel comfortable going downtown for a walk, checking out the shops, having dinner at a restaurant, or going to see a show at the Roxy.

00:22:17 SPEAKER_050: Our downtown should be a place where people want to visit, support, and enjoy—not a place they feel that they need to avoid.

00:22:26 SPEAKER_050: Public safety needs to be a priority, while recognizing that homelessness, addiction, and mental health are connected issues that require cooperation between the city, police, healthcare providers, community organisations, and other levels of government.

00:22:42 SPEAKER_050: We also need to focus on affordability, responsible spending, and growth.

00:22:48 SPEAKER_050: Council needs to carefully review the budget, question spending, encourage new investment in housing, and make Owen Sound a place where families and businesses want to stay and grow.

00:23:01 SPEAKER_050: Accountability matters too.

00:23:03 SPEAKER_050: Council works for the residents of Owen Sound.

00:23:05 SPEAKER_050: I will listen, communicate openly, ask questions, and make myself accessible.

00:23:12 SPEAKER_050: I am Justin Bianco, and I am asking for your support for Owen Sound City Council.

00:23:16 SPEAKER_050: So together we can build a safer, stronger Owen Sound.

00:23:27 SPEAKER_050: Good evening, everyone.

00:23:28 SPEAKER_050: Firstly, thank you for coming here tonight at seven to listen to all of us, and special thank you to Jared for putting it all together.

00:23:37 SPEAKER_050: My name is Suleen Kukreja, and I thought to myself after my first term of council: why am I running again?

00:23:44 SPEAKER_050: The reason I'm running again is because I believe in Ovensound.

00:23:48 SPEAKER_050: I believe in my community, as I am a part of the community.

00:23:52 SPEAKER_050: I have spent all my life working with people, working with community services.

00:23:56 SPEAKER_050: I have a background working in social services and community services.

00:24:01 SPEAKER_050: I know nothing better.

00:24:03 SPEAKER_055: Over the past four years, I've had the opportunity to serve Ovensound, and I'm honoured to be a part of the Ovensound City Council.

00:24:11 SPEAKER_055: Throughout my term, I learned what the council can do, what they cannot do.

00:24:16 SPEAKER_055: I do hear changes, definitely good, but experience also matters.

00:24:21 SPEAKER_055: Over the past four years, I have participated on almost every committee, every board that the city has.

00:24:28 SPEAKER_055: I have voiced my concerns.

00:24:30 SPEAKER_055: I have listened to what we can do.

00:24:32 SPEAKER_055: I have participated in budgets.

00:24:34 SPEAKER_055: I have advocated for development, for growth, for our community members who are less fortunate and are on the verge of homelessness or are on our home.

00:24:42 SPEAKER_055: On our homeless on the streets, things do not change overnight.

00:24:47 SPEAKER_055: A lot of promises can be made, but yes, what it requires is a vision.

00:24:51 SPEAKER_055: I do have the vision.

00:24:53 SPEAKER_055: I do have accountability.

00:24:55 SPEAKER_055: I will work towards accountability, honesty, and I am available to and readily available to answer any questions, concerns that the residents of Ovensound might have.

00:25:06 SPEAKER_055: Over the past term, I have realized that things do not change over time.

00:25:11 SPEAKER_055: The municipality is tied up with the provincial, federal, as well as the county levels.

00:25:17 SPEAKER_055: Throughout my term, I have always educated at my personal level, at the provincial level, at the federal level, even at the county level.

00:25:25 SPEAKER_055: So I'll be honoured, and I'd seek your votes.

00:25:28 SPEAKER_055: Thank you very much.

00:25:29 SPEAKER_055: Hello, everyone.

00:25:36 SPEAKER_055: My name is Melanie Mellowbro.

00:25:37 SPEAKER_055: I am current councillor, current councillor elected for the first time in 2022.

00:25:43 SPEAKER_055: Thank you everybody for putting your names forward.

00:25:44 SPEAKER_064: It really takes a lot of guts to put your name on a ballot, and I really appreciate everyone for stepping up.

00:25:53 SPEAKER_064: I have been a resident of the area for 22 years.

00:25:57 SPEAKER_064: I was a chiropractor here and owned Sound for 13 years until I had to retire after a motor vehicle accident.

00:26:04 SPEAKER_064: I have since then been the owner of the Rocking Horse Toy Store from which Toy Store, which is located downtown, Ovensound.

00:26:12 SPEAKER_064: I've really enjoyed my first round on council, and all I can say to all of those folks who haven't done this job yet is, it's a steep learning curve,

00:26:20 SPEAKER_064: and you'll learn a lot about what you can and what you can't do.

00:26:25 SPEAKER_064: And the thing that I've learned is that I'm not going to make any promises.

00:26:30 SPEAKER_064: I'm one vote of nine, and all you can do is you can do the hard work, you can read the reports, you can ask the questions,

00:26:36 SPEAKER_064: and you have to be ready to make hard decisions, sometimes really unpopular ones.

00:26:41 SPEAKER_064: And you can want transit twenty-four-seven, and you can want the library open, but the fact is that we have a major budget problem.

00:26:49 SPEAKER_064: We have eighty-two percent of our budget tied up in staff wages.

00:26:52 SPEAKER_064: We have a fire service that costs us over sixty million dollars a year that we can do absolutely nothing about.

00:26:57 SPEAKER_064: Our police service is almost approaching ten million dollars a year.

00:27:02 SPEAKER_064: I had to make a decision to put a motion forward to get an OPP costing, and that wasn't a very popular decision, considering you have two family members that are on the police force.

00:27:12 SPEAKER_064: But you need to be ready to make hard decisions.

00:27:15 SPEAKER_064: So all I'm asking is for your support for four more years, and you know that I'll show up, I'll be ready, I will have done my research, and I'll make hard decisions.

00:27:26 SPEAKER_064: Thank you.

00:27:33 SPEAKER_064: Hi everyone.

00:27:35 SPEAKER_064: I'm Megan Robertson.

00:27:36 SPEAKER_064: I've been a tradeswoman for 25 years, and I work really hard to advocate for women in trades.

00:27:41 SPEAKER_068: I'm owner and operator of Meg's Drywall, and I'm also operations manager at Graver's Contracting.

00:27:47 SPEAKER_067: My shop is downtown, so that is one of my biggest priorities because we see it every day and every night.

00:27:54 SPEAKER_067: I see it on my video cameras throughout the night.

00:27:56 SPEAKER_067: We see the issues that we're having.

00:27:58 SPEAKER_067: There are also some other things that we should look at.

00:28:01 SPEAKER_067: We are funded for our population.

00:28:04 SPEAKER_067: We service almost twice our population.

00:28:07 SPEAKER_067: We wonder why we have these shortages.

00:28:09 SPEAKER_067: It's time to start asking higher up for more money to support the amount of people who are here.

00:28:14 SPEAKER_067: We do need a better bus transportation system.

00:28:18 SPEAKER_067: That is up in twenty-twenty-seven.

00:28:20 SPEAKER_067: I've actually spoken to a few bus drivers, and I think we need to get them on the discussion because they know their job best.

00:28:27 SPEAKER_067: We all love Ovensound.

00:28:28 SPEAKER_067: I've grown up here.

00:28:28 SPEAKER_067: I want Ovensound to be better for my kids.

00:28:30 SPEAKER_067: I want it to be better for my kids.

00:28:31 SPEAKER_067: I want them to want to live here in the future, and maybe take over my business.

00:28:35 SPEAKER_067: Hopefully, but just like everyone else, we all have the same vision.

00:28:40 SPEAKER_067: We all want the same things, but we want to make sure there's accountability and that the taxpayers are taking care of.

00:28:47 SPEAKER_067: I mean, I'd love to give free garbage, but I want you to know that's a part of our green strategy in Westham.

00:28:52 SPEAKER_067: That's why we got green bins and recycling programme.

00:28:55 SPEAKER_067: I know that there's a lot of seniors that have actually cut back on their garbage because of the green bins, and that's an excellent programme.

00:29:01 SPEAKER_067: So we need to make sure that we're taking care of the environment and taking care of the business part of Ovensound.

00:29:07 SPEAKER_067: So on October 26, I hope you vote for Megan Robertson.

00:29:09 SPEAKER_067: Thank you.

00:29:10 SPEAKER_067: Good evening, everyone.

00:29:18 SPEAKER_067: Thank you for being here.

00:29:23 SPEAKER_067: My connection to Ovensound is 22 years ago.

00:29:25 SPEAKER_067: When I met my wife, who's born and raised here, I visited from Hamilton, fell in love with the communities.

00:29:30 SPEAKER_067: When we married, I knew without a doubt this is where we'd raise our family.

00:29:35 SPEAKER_067: Sorry, the city has immense potential.

00:29:37 SPEAKER_072: It's not perfect, but I always believe in our slogan: Ovensound is where you want to live.

00:29:42 SPEAKER_072: I'm running for city council because I know firsthand what it feels like when the system fails you.

00:29:47 SPEAKER_072: Our neighbourhood dealt with an active drug house, multiple overdoses, constant crime, and our mail delivery was even cut off due to dogs.

00:29:55 SPEAKER_072: My family knows exactly.

00:29:56 SPEAKER_072: My family knows the exhausting fight required just to make a street safe for our children.

00:30:00 SPEAKER_072: We know what it means to feel unheard.

00:30:03 SPEAKER_072: I'm deeply disappointed that the current council has failed to confront these escalating challenges.

00:30:08 SPEAKER_072: Residents across our community have shared their deep concerns regarding high taxes, public safety, and open drug use.

00:30:15 SPEAKER_072: Meanwhile, we see wasteful spending on unnecessary legal proceedings, like litigation over mail-in public garbage containers.

00:30:23 SPEAKER_072: I want a sound.

00:30:24 SPEAKER_072: I want an old town we can all be proud of.

00:30:26 SPEAKER_072: I don't have all the answers, but I promise to listen and drive real solutions.

00:30:30 SPEAKER_072: Enhancing the downtown safety, directing the focus to open drug use and safety in the River District, fiscal responsibility, reviewing city hall staffing, operational costs to eliminate waste, reforming waste management,

00:30:45 SPEAKER_072: reintroducing one free bag per household, and increasing summer collections to at least once a week.

00:30:51 SPEAKER_072: So change starts with leadership that listens.

00:30:53 SPEAKER_072: I ask for your trust, your support, and your vote on October 26.

00:30:57 SPEAKER_072: Thank you.

00:30:57 SPEAKER_072: I'm new to this kind of thing.

00:31:09 SPEAKER_072: Dale Finsten.

00:31:10 SPEAKER_072: Sorry.

00:31:10 SPEAKER_072: Thank you.

00:31:17 SPEAKER_072: Thank you, everybody.

00:31:18 SPEAKER_072: My name is Jared Coop, and I'm running for council.

00:31:20 SPEAKER_002: So I moved here ten years ago with Long McQuaid and opened the store up there.

00:31:27 SPEAKER_002: I worked for them for seventeen years.

00:31:30 SPEAKER_002: For eight of them, I was in management.

00:31:32 SPEAKER_002: Prior to that, for a couple of decades, I was a working musician.

00:31:38 SPEAKER_002: Did a number of different projects.

00:31:39 SPEAKER_002: I have worked a ton of different jobs.

00:31:43 SPEAKER_002: Everything from you know warehouse working to management, and I own my own company.

00:31:48 SPEAKER_002: I've done a lot of self-employed work.

00:31:51 SPEAKER_002: So I've sort of had a lot of different experiences.

00:31:55 SPEAKER_002: And along the way, came to own Sound, ran the store for a few years, and decided it was time for a change.

00:32:04 SPEAKER_002: I left the store in 2019 to go back to being self-employed.

00:32:09 SPEAKER_002: Right at the start of the pandemic, and then my entire industry disappeared, and I ended up working for summer folks.

00:32:17 SPEAKER_002: So that's how I got here.

00:32:18 SPEAKER_002: And the last few years, I have been the operations manager for Southfork.

00:32:23 SPEAKER_002: And the reason that I am running for council is because one of the things that I've seen in the last ten years is I have seen a shutting down of the conversation.

00:32:36 SPEAKER_002: I see a break in the ability between the public and the public servants who serve the public to actually talk to each other.

00:32:46 SPEAKER_002: I have seen, for a lot of real reasons, I have seen a shrinking of the ability to engage with the public and with public servants.

00:33:00 SPEAKER_002: So, what I would like to do is I would like to reengage the public in a conversation, a communication with City Hall,

00:33:09 SPEAKER_002: so that we can start drawing on the full community to deal with the issues that we have.

00:33:15 SPEAKER_002: Because everybody here knows what the issues are, and there are a ton of different ways we can go at it,

00:33:22 SPEAKER_002: but the only way that we are going to do anything positive in this community from here on out is if we work together as a community, all of us.

00:33:32 SPEAKER_002: It's not going to be fixed by council.

00:33:33 SPEAKER_002: It's not going to be fixed by a mayor.

00:33:36 SPEAKER_002: It's going to be fixed by the talent and the passion that exists in our community, and City Hall has to be a conduit for that.

00:33:44 SPEAKER_002: So that's why I'm running.