Blake Ellis/The Independent

The Township of Enniskillen will reach out to the Ontario Plowmen’s Association (OPA) to meet about plans for the International Plowing Match to be hosted in the township in 2027.

During the Sept. 8 council meeting, Councillor Tim Williams questioned whether the township had been notified about the 2027 International Plowing Match.

It was announced in April 2025 that a local committee had been awarded the opportunity to host the provincial event at the Brigden Fairgrounds.

Local organizers put out a press release on July 3 that it was withdrawing its offer to host in Bridgen.

In late August, the Ontario Association announced the IPM would be held on the farm of Clayton and Linda McLauchlin, east of Petrolia in Enniskillen Township.

While the Ontario association has been positive about the move, the municipality has been left in the dark about what may happen.

“I have not received an official request for anything,” said Enniskillen’s Administrator-Clerk Christine Poland.

Enniskillen Mayor Kevin Marriott indicated organizers as well as Sarnia-Lambton MPP Bob Bailey had contacted him informally.

The mayor described support as splintered right now. “The old group is not talking to anybody,” said Marriott. “The tension is very tight out there.”

And that may hinder the local group from attracting what it needs most; volunteers.

While there hasn’t been any information given to council, there is a lot of speculation in the community about the local IPM’s move, according to Williams and Marriott.

Williams said an IPM committee told him the Brigden group never had a full agreement with the Ontario Plowmens’ Association. Marriott had heard the OPA didn’t like the Bridgen Fairgrounds as a location and kept stalling making a site agreement with the Brigden group. That committee decided if it didn’t have an agreement by July, it was withdrawing.

Marriott understands there is not an agreement yet with the current location either.

The big concern surrounding the event is finding volunteers, which according to Marriott, was something the Brigden group was able to do.

The OPA said in August it would announce the new IPM Local Committee soon, hoping to attract more volunteers.

Marriott said organizers only have one year to put together what is needed for the 2027 event. When the IPM was hosted in Lambton County in 1991, it took four years to organize.