MORRISBURG – Judging by the amount of chatter on social media since the list of certified candidates was released towards the end of August, it was expected that an all candidates meeting in South Dundas would be a raucous event, so much so that a local pub organized a watch party, something usually reserved for a sporting event.

However, as the evening drew to a close both the candidates and the audience were congratulated for being on their best behaviour by moderator David Lapier.

The event, which was hosted by the South Dundas Chamber of Commerce at the Morrisburg Legion got underway at 6:00 p.m. The doors were opened around 5:30 p.m. and by the time the event started a crowd of approximately 200 had gathered.

Following an introduction and some housekeeping by Chamber President Randy North, Lapier took the podium and explained the format for the evening:

  • 40 minutes would be allotted for those running for Councillor
  • 20 minutes would be allotted for those running for Deputy Mayor
  • 20 minutes would be allotted for those running for Mayor

Preselected questions would be asked of the candidates, after which questions would be taken from the audience.

First though, each of the 11 candidates would be allowed three minutes to introduce themselves. The order for this was as follows:

  1. Louis Hauteclocque (Councillor)
  2. Nancy Van Allen Marcellus (Councillor)
  3. Tom Smyth (Councillor)
  4. Marc St. Pierre (Deputy Mayor)
  5. Christian Major-Mueller (Councillor)
  6. Jason Broad (Mayor)
  7. Ky-Lee Hanson (Mayor)
  8. Randy Merkley (Councillor)
  9. Bill Ewing (Deputy Mayor)
  10. Mike Thompson (Councillor)
  11. Dylan DeJong (Councillor)

For the most part the introductions were quite reserved. The candidates introduced themselves, explained their connection to South Dundas, the skills and experience they believed made them a good choice as a representative and a bit about what their platform was with transparency, fiscal responsibility, and accessible and responsible to the taxpayer being the most popular traits.

A person with any awareness of social media in this area would have expected a bit more of an edge when it came to the six and seven spots, Jason Broad and Ky-Lee Hanson, the two candidates for Mayor. Broad, the incumbent, moved quickly to the podium, obviously eager to not only explain his platform, but to dispute some of the claims that had been levelled against him on Facebook by Hanson and/or those who support her. He ended his three minutes stating that he had never made any negative comments towards his opponent on social media, nor would he.

Hanson for her part expressed her dissatisfaction with things like the property standards bylaw in its current form and how it is being implemented, as well as what she sees as the Council and municipality’s restrictiveness and unwillingness to talk with people rather than fine them. She included two quotes in her introduction. The first, which she erroneously attributed to George Orwell states that “The further a society gets from the truth, the more it will hate those who speak it.” This quote is often attributed to Orwell but was actually coined in 2009 by American writer and columnist Selwyn Duke.

The second quote, with which she closed off her introduction was by the late American right wing political activist Charlie Kirk which stated “…when people stop talking, that’s when things happen.”

With the introductions completed, the meeting moved into the next stage where preselected questions were asked of the candidates, starting with the seven candidates for Councillor. Questions ranged from the subject of transparency and communication, how to ensure that community voices were heard and listened to, how to get young people more involved, and their position on a clear yard bylaw. A variety of answers were received, but as each candidate received polite applause at the completion of their answer, you would have to say that there was some support for any of the answers given.

The discussion became a bit more animated when the focus moved to the two candidates for Deputy Mayor, and the question that set it off was in regard to the Council working with the Chamber of Commerce, the Iroquois Business Group and the currently defunct Morrisburg Business Association (MBA). Candidate Bill Ewing made the statement that the Council should not have disbanded the MBA, suggesting it should have just been shelved temporarily. A person from the audience made the comment that it ceased to exist because it could not recruit volunteers. Marc St. Pierre asked to speak to the claim and agreed with the audience member that it was not disbanded by the Council. Ewing then asked to rebut St. Pierre, and in the end, they seemed to agree to disagree.

When the event moved into the final stage, the opportunity for the candidates for Mayor to answer questions, both Hanson and Broad seemed a bit more restrained than earlier. When they talked about affordability, Broad had more hard data, as you would expect from an incumbent, but he didn’t sugar coat anything, explaining that there continuously was infrastructure in need of repair, and if the repairs were delayed, they would only become more expensive. He spoke of how the money had been spent, the services it had provided and the assets that had been replaced or updated.

Hanson spoke more of how the Municipality needed to be more creative and that the administration had to look for different ways of doing things, and offered ideas on the economic benefits of tourism, but how everyone would have to work together to get to where they need to get.

Moderator Lapier, as the evening drew to a close, commended everyone, both the candidates and the audience for the way they conducted themselves, and reminded those still in the room that the second all-candidates evening would take place the following evening, Oct. 14, in Iroquois at Seaway District High School.