Audience at Barry’s Bay Legion Hall
Madawaska Valley residents filled the Legion Hall on October 11 for an All Candidates Meeting co-hosted by the Madawaska Valley Public library and the Royal Canadian Legion Barry’s Bay Branch 406. Seven of the eight candidates running for election were present to respond to questions from moderator James Di Fiore and members of the 115-strong audience. Councillor Ernie Peplinski did not attend and no reason for his absence was announced.
Di Fiore opened the evening by explaining the format. Each candidate had two minutes to make an opening statement. (See video link below.) Di Fiore then asked a set question to the mayoral candidates, before allowing questions from the floor for about twenty minutes. Next, Di Fiore asked a set question of each candidate for council, followed by questions from the floor until the evening ended at 9:00 p.m. Questions from the floor covered a variety of issues including:
- Community development (encouraging young people to remain in the community, recreational facilities, upkeep of parks, and support for culture and heritage)
- Council’s role during periods when the municipality is short-staffed
- Economic growth (support for business organizations, attracting new businesses)
- Governance issues (committee structure, powers of the mayor and the role of volunteer members on standing committees)
A question from Stephanie Park was met with spontaneous applause when she asked,
How is Council going to ensure that newcomers are welcome? Our motto says, “Come for a visit, stay for a lifetime.” We talk about increasing our tax base and retaining our kids here. But I have a lot of friends who weren’t born or raised here. They’ve lived here for ten, twenty years. They have businesses here. They’ve had their kids here. And I think that feeling of “not feeling local” doesn’t retain people here. And we want people to stay for a lifetime. This is a great community to live in. It’s so beautiful and we have so much to offer. But I think that feeling, that attitude needs to leave. I think these people need to feel welcome and that they are local.
The audience reacted the same way to Councillor Archer when she replied,
My response is short. The first thing I think we need to get out of our vocabulary is, “You’re not from here.”
Other candidates responded in a similar vein, also to applause.
Margaret Maika asked about a recent article in The Current regarding the legal claim by the previous Integrity Commissioner. This will be the subject of a separate article because it concerns The Current’s research and reporting on this case.
At the conclusion of the event, Di Fiore thanked the candidates, the audience and the volunteers from the Library and the Legion. He announced that Madawaska Valley CAO Suzanne Klatt told him that evening that 1700 votes have already been cast. She advises that residents should contact the Township office as quickly as possible if they have not yet received ballots or if they have any concerns about the voting process — please do not wait until October 22.
After the meeting ended, Library Chair Frances Mawson told The Current it would have been nice if everybody had come but the majority of candidates were there. She remarked that most of them stayed on to speak with constituents informally. Library CEO Karen Filipkowski said,
I was quite pleased to see the engagement that we had.
Click BELOW for a 15-min. video of the candidates’ opening statements. Please note the video quality is handheld. Candidate Andrey Kaminski did not give an opening statement.
I found the All Candidates Meeting to be very helpful and thank the Library and the Royal Canadian Legion for organizing it. It makes the political process so much more meaningful to actually see and hear the candidates in person. Also I would comment that this was a gathering of concerned MV residents who truly love the Valley and want the best for it. After the meeting, I was able to visit with old friends that I haven’t conversed with for months. Let us get back to bringing people together!
Miriam Hedderson
Thank you to the Current for providing this summary of the meeting and the video of opening statements. For voters like myself, who were unable to attend due to work or family commitments, the information will be helpful in making wise choices.