To the newly-appointed mayor of Kincardine - good luck, and have at it!

The quality of municipal democracy has been questioned due to three crucial factors: low voter turn-out; high re-election rate of incumbent candidates; and corruption and other scandals that have tarnished the image of local democracy.
Municipal democracy in Canada suffers from a representation deficit. Accountability and responsiveness at the municipal level is an important first step in building high-quality comparative information on the politics of Canada’s municipalities.”
It seems as if the current members of Kincardine council like to pay lip service to the idea of democracy, but nobody wants to actually pay for it.

That’s what we saw at the kangaroo court, April 19, when council refused to call a by-election and appointed Ward 1 councillor Gerry Glover to the position of mayor, replacing Anne Eadie who resigned, effective April 9.

So, now, both the mayor and deputy mayor positions are being held by ward councillors who were not elected by the entire electorate. Meanwhile, we have the Ward 3 councillor position also appointed, as will the Ward 1 councillor, meaning there is an incredible deficit in proper representation on this council.

When elected in 2018, council had a mayor and four councillors voted in at-large, meaning they won the most votes in the entire municipality – the councillor-at-large with the highest number of votes became the deputy mayor. Council also includes two Ward 1 (former Town of Kincardine) councillors, one Ward 2 (former Kincardine Township) councillor, and one Ward 3 (former Bruce Township) councillor.

At the April 19 meeting, there appeared to be some desperate need for haste, as councillors Bill Stewart and Dorne Fitzsimmons almost tripped over their own tongues in their efforts to see that the mayor’s position was filled that evening.

Despite a compelling delegation by a group of concerned citizens, "Our Kincardine," calling for a by-election so that all the voters could elect the person they wanted as mayor, council roared on ahead and appointed Glover, dismissing the $53,000 by-election as too expensive.

It’s not only disappointing, but distasteful, to watch council pretending to make decisions in the best interests of the municipality when the opposite is happening and so obviously evident.

Glover claims he is the chosen one who can right this ship, stop the in-fighting and name-calling, and bring some decorum back to the council table. He also believes he is the saviour who can heal all the bitter disputes that have been festering since amalgamation 20 years ago.

“I will do my best as the appointed mayor,” he says. “We need to set up the next council for success. We need to be more proactive, and we need to deal with the inherent problems at the council table. We need to review the reports and make decisions that benefit the municipality.”

Good luck. Have at it. And see what you can do.

Because in October, 2022, we know for whom the bell tolls ...