Heather Wright/The Independent

Raising taxes, finding grants and opening up council meetings to public questions were among the topics at the only All-Candidates debate in Brooke-Alvinston.

About 200 people were in the Community Centre Oct. 7 to hear from the four mayoral and six council candidates.

The event started with a surprise, when candidate Tom Scott announced he was withdrawing from the race due to a health problem.

After the mayoral candidates thanked Scott and wished him well, they began presenting their vision.

First-time candidate Marcus Deloughery admitted he’s not well known in the community even though he and his wife moved to Alvinston 16 years ago and started a family. “I’m just the guy with six kids that run around town,” he said. “But 16 years ago, I found out that there’s a really cool place in this world. It’s called Alvinston.” he said, adding it has allowed his family to live a “rich and wonderful life.”

Deloughery didn’t speak about specific issues, saying he put his name forward because he cares about the people here.

“I put my name forward because there are people whose voices matter.”

Jamie Armstrong has a few goals for the next four years if he’s elected mayor.

The former councillor who ran for mayor in 2022 wants to work with the Lambton Area Water Supply System to secure more water for housing developments planned for the community.

Armstrong told the crowd he also wants to “Collaborate with our neighbouring municipalities so that we can try and come up with some cost savings.”

And he wants to reopen question period at council meetings.

“If you’re going to take the time out of your day to go to a council meeting, you need to be able to ask a question.”

Don McCabe, current councillor and former president of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, says he wants to advocate for the municipality at higher levels. “I know how to get under or through politicians, depending on how it works, and that includes bureaucracy,” McCabe said.

As more families move into the community, “I want to extend the future of this municipality and give those kids the chance to realize Brooke-Alvinston is always home.”

During the question and answer period, council candidates were asked if they planned to raise taxes as provincial grants continue to shrink. Brooke-Alvinston’s treasurer says the provincial government has clawed back about $2 million in grants a year.

“In my own self-interest, I’m going to work really, really hard to find every cent we can – look for efficiencies, look at
investing in some technologies that might give us some return on investment, maybe defer some labour in some places, and continue to apply gentle pressure in the right places with our upper levels of government to make sure that Brooke gets its fair share when the handouts and grants are there,” said Greg Hillyard. He’s making a second attempt at a council seat during this election.

Craig Sanders, who is seeking a second term, says Brooke-Alvinston has to work with other small municipalities to get the province to provide more funding.

“Once you get support of everybody and you keep pushing that government, something’s abound to happen,” said Sanders.

Jenny Redick, who is completing her first term as well, says they have to make the upper levels of government understand rural infrastructure is “failing.

“Our funding has been cut dramatically, and it’s really, really hard for the small rural communities to survive. I think it’s very imperative and important to apply to look for every grant that is possibly out there.,” Redick said.

On spending on the Brooke-Alvinston-Inwood Community Centre, incumbent Frank Nemcek, former council members Ian Lehrbass and newcomer Diane Mac Dougall all agreed the arena has to be maintained.

“We definitely can’t let things fall back. I’ve always had a theory that money spent in recreation is less money spent on policing,” said Lehrbass.

Mac Dougall said the arena is “an important part of our community. So if we don’t have that, we will have a hard time
attracting new families to come.”

Nemcek agreed, but said it was time to invest elsewhere, too.

“We just spent $2 million here, and we’ve got a first-class facility here,” he said. “We got to start working on the roads, and we all know that y’all driving roads. You know how bad some of them are.”

The mayoral candidates were also asked about their opinions on data centres in Brooke-Alvinston. Armstrong said he
doesn’t have enough information yet to know. McCabe said he’d be willing to listen to developers but doesn’t want them on farmland.

Deloughery added; “Really, it comes back to what Brooke-Alvinston wants if the opportunity is there.”

Election Day is Oct. 26. Online voting begins Oct. 16.