Heather Wright/The Independent

If Bill Dennis gets elected mayor of Sarnia, he may have a hard time making a new planning deal at Lambton County council.

Oct. 19, Dennis raged against the planning process which forces Sarnia to go through county council to get approval for zoning amendments to the Official Plan.

The relationship between Dennis and county councillors has been strained for a while. In 2025, during an Integrity Commissioners investigation into the Sarnia politician’s conduct, Dennis hurled insults at county councillors, including Marriott who holds the top political post in Lambton. His yelling in an ante room could be heard in the council chamber.

Then in September, county councillors, many of them from farm communities, voted against a zoning amendment which would have allowed two large housing developments, including a high rise in Sarnia near Cargill Grain on the waterfront.

Agriculture leaders urged county councillors to stop the development, worried that complaints about the elevators operation would eventually lead Cargill to close down.

That infuriated Dennis at the time who called the concerns “unproductive and sneaky.”

Oct. 19, at the Sarnia Chamber of Commerce debate, Dennis picked up that thread saying Sarnia has a “horrible relationship with the county.

“They have unelected people from Watford and Petrolia and all over the place, who have a say in our business,” Dennis
said. “I’ll tell you right now, when I’m mayor, that nonsense ends tomorrow. We’re going to negotiate a better deal.”

Dawn-Euphemia Mayor Al Broad says Dennis is talking about four mayors, himself, Joel Field in Petrolia, Kevin Marriott
in Enniskillen and Todd Case in Warwick, who ran unopposed.

“He says we’re not voted in… We can’t be really a municipal politician because we weren’t voted in,” says Broad calling that “ridiculous.”

Broad doesn’t like the new planning system created by the province where the zoning amendments to Official Plans
have to go through county council either. Several years ago, his township wanted to make it easier to sever houses to create more homes in the community. Dawn-Euphemia was also turned down by county council.

“So, this isn’t the first time these issues have come up and have been voted on by people that not necessarily – whether you agree or not – should be voting on them,” he says.

However, Broad says, the rural community needed to weigh in on the Cargill Grain issue which would affect farmers directly.

Broad says there may be reason to review the process; but Dennis likely won’t have a lot of support.

“I agree that maybe he (Dennis) needs to look at, or maybe the City of Sarnia and the county need to look at it, but don’t start hurling a bunch of insults and expect us to sit down and expect us to support oit.”