Collingwood’s 2026 Municipal Election, Part One

“Politicians are the same all over,” said Nikita Khrushchev. “They promise to build a bridge, even when there is no river.” That quote came to mind recently. More than 400 municipalities across Ontario are holding an election for their local councils. The actual vote is on Monday, October 26, 2026, but the campaigns have already started. Local elections finally bring the community’s politicians out of their townhalls, some of whom residents are seeing for the first time despite their previous four years in office. Campaigning brings out the candidate wannabe-politicians, too, armed with their grievances, their new deals, and their skeptical disapproval of councils past.*

All candidates come laden with promises to be better, to do better, to fix the past, to grant the electorate’s wishes, and to finally get things done right. It’s a familiar, albeit tired, song. Their critics are awakening, too, sharpening their quills to post on blogs and social media and spread the feathers of their umbrage. And local media… well, critical analysis, investigative journalism, and editorial opinion are, it seems, a memory of media past, not part of the modern, digital, and pastel coverage. Asking tough questions is apparently not part of the job these days. Nor is questioning some of the dubious decisions incumbents made in the past.

This is all part of the legislated four-year cycle of municipal elections in this province. Regional school board trustees will also be elected. Although municipal elections are intended to be non-partisan (candidates cannot publicize party affiliations), local residents all know what those affiliations are, and often local riding associations are involved behind the scenes to promote and donate to ideologically aligned candidates. I advise readers in Collingwood to check to be sure you are on the voters’ list and are eligible to cast your ballot (voting will again be done electronically, online this election).

Most Ontario municipalities have a varied slate of candidates. Collingwood has four candidates for mayor, two for deputy mayor, and 19 for the seven councillor seats. Some of those on the ballot are incumbents, some are former incumbents; some are aspiring do-gooders, some are in it for themselves. Some have the community’s best interests in mind and some, far too many I suspect, prefer their own interests over the greater good. Some mean well, and some are oblivious. Some bring experience and knowledge; some are gormless. Some are awake and vibrant; some are sleepy. Some come with open arms; some bring grudges and anger. Some are new; some have the toxic taint of a former mayor, now our MPP.  Some are vivid characters; others are colourless. But I digress (and I will provide more comments and opinions about candidates and their past in a future post).**

While voters generally are aware of big-picture issues that get media attention, like inflation, Putin’s war on Ukraine, Trump’s war on Canada, the separatist threat of the Maple MAGA, Gaza, Trump’s war on Iran, Trump’s tariffs, and Doug Ford’s ongoing corruption, it is far more difficult to engage voters over local issues. Infrastructure, roads, sidewalks, and sewers are not sexy, nor even interesting for most folk, although those are the very things we all depend on, daily. Policing, fire service, municipal debt, too. So are parks, libraries, museums, homelessness, litter, wastewater treatment, cyclists riding on downtown sidewalks, water quality, stop signs, property standards, building permits, swimming pools and ice rinks, plowing roads and sidewalks, festivals and events, farmers’ markets, stormwater management, dog licences, property taxes, traffic calming, boulevard trees, waterfronts, humane society, commercial licences, hospital redevelopment, growth… look around you and what affects you, your home, family, neighbours, and community friends is probably under municipal jurisdiction.

But candidates seldom run on a pragmatic platform based on local needs, seldom promise to look after the ordinary things that matter. Promises of new recplexes, new art centres, new speedways for vehicles to race through town are more often campaigned on than, say, repairs to pot-holed roads or crumbling sidewalks. The tax implications of these new, shiny and usually very expensive facilities are buried under the glamour and glitz of promising to meet the wants of a minority, rather than the needs of the majority. It would be ideal if local media asked candidates, “Where’s the money coming from?”

Over the next few weeks, we’re going to hear a lot of promises for those bridges where we don’t have a river to cross. I’ll take a look at some of those pie-in-the-sky offers in a later post.***

Notes:

* The former leader of the USSR made that remark, impromptu, during a visit to the USA, at Glen Cove, NY, Oct. 1960. Recorded in the Penguin Dictionary of Epigrams (ed. M.J. Cohen, 2003).

** In the meantime, I encourage readers to search for the names of incumbents and former incumbents on this blog. I also recommend you look into the disgraceful way former councillor Tina Comi was treated by some of them. And while you’re here, look up how our public electricity utility was sold by a previous council to a for-profit corporation without any public input. Ask yourself if these are the sort of people you want to vote back onto council.

*** I also recommend you read Ron Shulman’s blog posts on his Substack titled Two Towns, One Failure. While I don’t agree with everything Ron says or proposes, his ideas and his arguments should be part of the public dialogue about our future. He also has a list of questions for candidates.

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