2026 Municipal Election: Kincardine Candidate Q + A

Simply put, I am running for Mayor to protect what makes the Municipality of Kincardine special while building a strong future for the next generation. Our municipality is at a defining moment. We have an opportunity to benefit from Bruce Power’s potential growth and create multigenerational prosperity, but realizing that promise will require us to balance infrastructure, taxation, recreation, municipal assets, housing, agriculture, environmental protection and effective representation.

I want to help ensure our community remains kind and caring—a place where diversity is embraced and seniors can remain active and connected. While many communities across Ontario and Canada are facing economic hardship, Kincardine and our neighbouring communities near Bruce Power have a bright future. We must lay a strong foundation for that future through meaningful community engagement, collaboration and courageous decision-making. I have the vision and experience to lead that work and move our municipality forward.

I offer a proven track record of experience that positions me well to serve as Mayor of the Municipality of Kincardine. I have worked at both the Pickering and Bruce nuclear sites, giving me firsthand knowledge of an industry central to our local and regional economy.

I served three terms on Kincardine Council, including two as Reeve and the municipality’s representative at Bruce County Council. There, I worked collaboratively on regional initiatives for the betterment of the area. Locally, I helped establish municipal human resources policies and procedures, served on the Finance Committee and Council’s economic development committee, and represented Kincardine at the Saugeen Valley Conservation Authority for many years.

I was also elected as a Member of Provincial Parliament and served as Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. These roles strengthened my understanding of legislation, rural priorities, intergovernmental relations and effective advocacy.

My decades of volunteer service include Women’s House Serving Bruce and Grey, Big Brothers Big Sisters, the hospital capital campaign, the Kincardine Hospital health team, the Chamber of Commerce and various sports groups. Together, my public service, nuclear-sector experience and community involvement have prepared me to lead with sound judgment, collaboration and a

I believe, together, we will build a team that makes effective decisions.  I bring years of leadership and experience, and training gained through management positions, elected office, and service both as a member of teams and as the leader of collaborative teams. These roles have taught me to listen carefully, assess the facts, consider long-term impacts and make timely, well-informed decisions.

My leadership style is collaborative and inclusive. I am a team-builder, a proactive problem-solver and a forward-looking leader focused on making a meaningful difference. I value diverse perspectives and believe the strongest decisions come from respectful dialogue, clear communication and a shared understanding of the challenges and opportunities before us.

As Mayor, I would bring greater community engagement and communication into local governance. I would support establishing subcommittees that draw on the experience, input and insights of community representatives from across the municipality. These groups could help guide dialogue, examine issues in greater depth and provide practical advice to Council.

Effective leadership is not about having all the answers; it is about asking the right questions, bringing the right people together and being accountable for the decisions made. I am committed to an open, thoughtful and results-focused approach that

Municipal government cannot control every factor driving the cost of living, but it can make practical decisions that ease pressure on household budgets. That begins with disciplined financial management: setting priorities, reviewing services for value, pursuing efficiencies and shared-service opportunities, and securing provincial, federal and private-sector funding before placing additional costs on taxpayers.

Housing is one of residents’ largest expenses. Council can help increase supply by streamlining approvals, setting clear timelines and keeping development charges and municipal requirements reasonable and predictable. We should encourage rentals, smaller homes, townhouses, secondary suites, seniors’ housing and supportive housing so people have options at every stage of life. The municipality can also make suitable land available, partner with non-profit and private-sector providers, support purpose-built rental projects and advocate for senior-government housing funding. Growth should be directed where existing roads, water and wastewater services can be used efficiently.

Reliable regional transportation, affordable recreation and accessible community services can further reduce everyday costs. Supporting local businesses, agriculture and workforce development will also strengthen the economy and create jobs.

Above all, Council must consider how every decision affects residents with limited or fixed incomes, balancing responsible taxation with the investments needed to keep Kincardine strong, welcoming and affordable.

Kincardine is in generally sound financial condition, with a substantial asset base, diversified revenues and sizeable reserves. However, that strength must be balanced against aging roads, bridges, water and wastewater systems, recreation facilities and other assets requiring major investment.

Using a constant residential assessment of $255,000 and including municipal, county and education taxes, the annual tax bill increased by approximately $699, or 18.6%, between 2022 and 2025. Kincardine’s 2025 municipal increase was 7.13%, including a dedicated 3% capital levy. Continued increases at this level are not sustainable.

Reserve funds are an important strength, but they must be managed carefully given the projected gap between planned capital work and available lifecycle funding. Council should use reserves strategically, pursue grants and other revenues, and apply disciplined financial management to reduce pressure on taxpayers.

Projected housing growth could expand the assessment base and help stabilize rates, provided development charges and agreements ensure growth pays its fair share of infrastructure and service costs. If Bruce Power’s proposed Bruce C is approved, the Province should also review the payment-in-lieu formula so Kincardine receives fair, predictable revenue to meet growth-related pressures without overburdening existing taxpayers.

After affordable housing, as noted in Question 4, the next issue facing residents is how we manage the growth and change that could come with Bruce Power’s proposed Bruce C expansion. This is a tremendous opportunity, but success will require more than building houses and infrastructure. We need a holistic plan that recognizes the direct connection between a healthy economy and a healthy community.

Growth must make Kincardine more livable and affordable for the people who are already here, as well as those who will join us. That means expanding housing options, infrastructure and transportation while supporting workforce development, health care, child care, recreation, emergency services and other social and community services. We must also understand the additional demands growth may place on local non-profit organizations and ensure they have the capacity to continue serving residents.

Our planning must create a caring, safe and connected community where seniors can remain active, supported and engaged, and where diversity is welcomed and everyone has the opportunity to belong. We must protect the qualities that make Kincardine special while preparing confidently for the future.

Bruce C may be the catalyst, but our focus must be the broader community. Through early planning, meaningful public engagement

A regional transit system should be practical, affordable and designed for rural travel patterns rather than modelled on an urban network. I see the value in a hub-and-spoke system that combines reliable fixed routes along major corridors with flexible, on-demand service for smaller and more remote communities. For Kincardine, that means dependable connections to employment centres, hospitals, education, shopping and regional hubs, including Owen Sound, Walkerton, Port Elgin, Wiarton, Orangeville and Guelph.

The system should offer coordinated schedules, a unified fare and booking platform, accessible vehicles, safe transfer points, and connections with SMART, municipal transit, GO Transit and private operators. Service should operate often enough to support shift workers, medical appointments, students and seniors, with performance measured by ridership, reliability, cost per trip and access to essential destinations.

Funding should be shared fairly among provincial and federal governments, participating counties, fares and partnerships with major employers, health-care institutions and educational providers. The Province’s start-up support is important, but municipalities should not adopt a system without a sustainable long-term funding plan. County contributions should reflect population, service levels and kilometres operated, while fares remain affordable.

A phased launch, beginning with the strongest corridors and expanding as demand grows, would manage financial

Maintaining reliable services and infrastructure without imposing unsustainable tax increases requires disciplined planning and clear priorities. Council must distinguish essential needs from desirable projects, use long-term asset-management plans to schedule repairs before they become costly emergencies, and assess programs and services for value and results.

I would support regular service reviews, shared-service opportunities with neighbouring municipalities and Bruce County, competitive procurement, and partnerships with community organizations and the private sector. We must aggressively pursue provincial and federal grants and ensure development charges and agreements require new growth to pay its fair share of roads, water, wastewater, recreation and other services.

Kincardine’s reserves are an important financial strength. They should be protected, used strategically and not relied upon to fund recurring operating costs. Sustainable annual contributions to lifecycle reserves will reduce borrowing and help prevent sudden tax increases.

As the assessment base grows through housing and economic development, new revenue should support priority infrastructure and services. Council must engage residents early, explain costs and choices clearly, and consider the impact on families, seniors and people with fixed incomes. Responsible management is not about indiscriminate cuts; it is about efficient delivery, forward planning and thoughtful investments that protect both community assets and affordability.

I will work with Council to apply a stringent, evidence-based analysis to every data centre inquiry. I will engage early with other municipalities and the Province to learn from their experiences. I will also engage early with the  community to hear residents’ perspectives and ideas.

Municipalities should prepare now for possible AI data centre proposals by reviewing planning policies, zoning, servicing capacity and approval requirements. Clear criteria should address location, electricity and water demand, wastewater, noise, emergency response, environmental impacts and compatibility with neighbouring land uses.

Ontario’s proposed Data Centre Playbook will help municipalities assess projects and their electricity-grid connections. Kincardine should use that guidance while ensuring local planning authority and community priorities are respected. If any proceed, projects should cover their infrastructure and energy costs so existing taxpayers and ratepayers are protected.

Every proposal should include transparent studies, public engagement and a community-benefit agreement. Council must consider permanent jobs, municipal tax revenue, infrastructure costs, workforce training and opportunities for local suppliers—not simply construction investment.

AI data centres could bring new assessment and economic activity, but approvals should depend on demonstrated long-term value. Responsible development must protect residents and resources while delivering measurable benefits to the entire community.

The Municipality of Kincardine’s Housing Action Plan provides a foundation by calling for more housing choice, streamlined approvals, infill and redevelopment, secondary and garden suites, seniors’ housing, partnerships, and better use of serviced land. Project 160 adds an important goal of creating below-market rental and ownership homes. The priority now must be implementation, with measurable annual targets and transparent reporting. However, Project 160 does not include housing targets, housing mix or timing associated with demand resulting from Bruce Power’s proposed Bruce C expansion. That work must be done immediately.

To increase supply across the affordability spectrum, I would support pre-zoning appropriate serviced areas, pre-approved designs for suites, duplexes and small multiplexes, and predictable approval timelines. Suitable municipal land could be offered through long-term leases for affordable housing, preserving public ownership while lowering project costs. A revolving housing fund could reinvest repayments and project proceeds into future developments.

Kincardine should also explore partnerships with non-profits, co-operatives, community land trusts, major employers and private builders; incentives for purpose-built rentals; and acquisition funding to preserve existing affordable units. Larger developments could provide affordable homes in return for density or fee incentives.

Housing policy must address the full continuum—from supportive and deeply affordable

Over the next four years, we should strive toward a more diverse and vibrant local economy that gives residents more reasons to shop, dine and spend time in Kincardine. If elected Mayor, I will work with Council to re-establish an economic development subcommittee that includes community representatives to help shape and implement a business strategy for the next decade.

Residents want more choice in clothing, restaurants, entertainment and everyday goods, while preserving the charm of our downtown and communities. Our focus should be on growing Main Street businesses, filling vacant storefronts, supporting independent retailers and entrepreneurs, and strengthening year-round tourism—not creating large concentrations of big-box stores.

The Municipality can support this growth through Community Improvement Plan incentives, streamlined approvals, active business recruitment, downtown events and partnerships with the Chamber of Commerce, Business Improvement Area and regional economic-development organizations.

We should also attract services that meet changing needs, including child care, health and wellness providers, professional and financial services, skilled trades, senior home supports, arts and cultural venues, family entertainment, co-working space, and businesses connected to agriculture, tourism and the nuclear supply chain.

By listening to residents, supporting entrepreneurs and recruiting businesses that fill local gaps, we can strengthen our

I am running for Mayor of Kincardine to bring financial stability back into our budgets and to provide a stronger and more decisive position on our council.

Strong leadership and negotiation skills combined with 8 years of council experience.

Finding a solution to control taxes and spending will ultimately help our seniors and low-income families. I will address this by keeping the budget at inflation rates.

Improving Healthcare Access:

Giving the current 2,000 people without a doctor a place to go is a top priority. I will address this by working to establish a walk-in clinic with a flexible schedule.

Definitely Bruce C and preparing for it. I will address this by continuing with the preparation already underway for the arrival of Bruce C.

[I have] served Kincardine as Councillor-at-Large and was acclaimed as Deputy Mayor for the 2026–2030 term.

[My] council work has focused on community development, infrastructure safety and good value for taxpayers.

[I have] chaired the Kincardine Pier Safety Committee and served as Vice Chair of the South Bruce Detachment Police Services Board. I also sit on the Nuclear Advisory, Healthcare Access, 2028 Reunion and Community Grants committees, as well as the BIA Board.

[My] education in municipal administration includes municipal law, human resources, and land use and planning.

[My] priorities include practical housing options, walkable neighbourhoods, waterfront and beach safety, and Kincardine’s role as a nuclear host community. An active community volunteer, I value plain speaking, transparency, and a collaborative approach to council work.

Five years ago my wife and I chose Kincardine on purpose. We looked at other towns and picked this one. Our five boys are in school here, my business runs from here, and most weeknights I’m on a soccer field with a few hundred of your kids and grandkids.

I’m running because everything I care about comes back to one idea: a town our kids can afford to come back to. That means bills we can see coming, housing a 25-year-old can reach, and a municipality ready for the growth already pointed at it rather than surprised by it.

I spent September listening more than talking, and the clearest thing we heard wasn’t a demand for one project. It was a request to be told before a decision is made, not after. So the way I’d work is simple: do the research, engage the public, and show the math before the vote. I’ve done that all campaign at voteshah.ca, with the document beside every number, and I’d keep doing it from the council table.

I don’t have all the answers. Nobody does. I’d rather show the work than pretend to.

By trade I’m a researcher. I’ve run my own data and analytics company for eighteen years, the last five from here. Before that I led the rollout of waste management modernization across Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon, a million and a half people, which is why our waste collection contract, expiring December 31, interests me more than it probably should. I’ve managed construction projects, so I’ve felt budgets, timelines and change orders from the inside. And I coach youth soccer, which is its own kind of governance: volunteers, parents, a budget, and people who notice when you’re not prepared.

A councillor’s job is reading budgets, questioning contracts and asking for evidence before spending. That has been my working life. The difference on council is whose money it is, which is exactly why I show the math.

This campaign has been the practice run. I read the 2026 budget, the asset management plan and its 2025 addendum, the 282-page water plan, the rates and fees by-law and the council agendas, then published what I found in plain language with the sources attached. When I got something wrong, I corrected it publicly. I’d bring the same habits to the job.

Because I’ve already shown how I’d decide, in public, for two months. Every claim I’ve made is written at voteshah.ca with the document it came from beside it. When I got the Waste Management Centre’s free drop-off list wrong this week, I corrected it publicly on the same thread. That is the standard I’m asking to be held to for four years.

Three habits make a decision-maker useful at a council table. First, read everything before the meeting, by-laws and consent items included, because a fee schedule or a consent report can change a file overnight. Second, separate what council controls from what it doesn’t. Hospitals, long-term care and highway speeds are not ours; site plans, servicing, zoning, budgets and our own fees are. Promising the first list wastes your trust; neglecting the second wastes your money. Third, when I lose a vote, I’ll explain my reasoning in public and move to the next file. Nobody at that table is a villain, staff included.

I also know how to say I don’t know. I’d rather owe you a good answer with a source and a deadline than hand you a fast one.

Start with the bills the municipality sends, because council can change those. For a home on municipal water and sewer, the 2026 budget puts the average at about $1,443 a year, and roughly 82 cents of every dollar is fixed charges, so conserving water barely moves the bill. The flat sewer charge rose 10.25 per cent this year, and the 2027 by-law passed in September carries another 10.25 per cent.

Four things a municipality can do. Publish every fee and tax increase in plain language before the vote, not after. Run a public rate review: rates were last redesigned in 2020, and today a single senior and a family of six pay nearly the same. Use the waste collection contract expiring December 31 to get service and price right, with options like assisted pickup and a medical exemption costed in the open. And grow the bottom rungs of the housing ladder, basement and backyard units, because housing is most households’ biggest bill.

None of that is a cheque. It’s the part of the cost of living that’s ours.

Start with the actual number. This year’s increase was 2.88 per cent, about $74 on the average home, from the municipality’s own budget summary. On its own that isn’t alarming. What matters is what’s underneath it.

The town’s asset management plan says we underfund the infrastructure we already own by about $11.2 million a year, and the 2026 budget repeats that figure. Even the current plan only shrinks the gap to $3.5 million by 2032, and its own estimate of the impact on tax bills to get there is about 5.3 per cent a year. So I won’t promise a freeze. A freeze doesn’t save you money; it moves the bill to your kids and adds interest.

I also won’t pretend the rate is any one council’s fault. The Nuclear site’s share of our municipal levy went from about 50 per cent in 2008 to 18 per cent in 2024, by the municipality’s own reporting. That formula shift, set above the council table, is the biggest reason residents carry more. view, then: the number is defensible, the explanation has been missing. Every increase should be tied to the asset it fixes and published before the vote.

The cost of staying here. That’s what people told us most this fall, with roads close behind for anyone rural. But the file underneath them, the one council controls, is capacity: the pipes, and wastewater most of all.

Sewage capacity decides how much housing gets built here, because every new home needs it before it needs a permit. The municipality’s 2022 servicing master plan found the sewage plant had room for roughly 924 more homes after existing commitments, and the water reserve covered only about 49 per cent of the development already proposed. Sewage is the tighter pipe. The plan says to recheck every five years, or sooner if development warrants. The update is slated for 2027, and that “sooner” clause is the part I’d press on.

The same system sits behind the lagoon odour residents near Bruce Avenue lived with this summer, the sewer charge rising 10.25 per cent two years running, and whether this municipality is ready for the growth Bruce County projects, about 15,400 people by 2046.

Fix the capacity math in public and most other issues get easier. Ignore it and every one of them gets more expensive.

Transportation costs a household here about $484 a month against $182 in the GTA, by the 2026 Vital Signs report, because no car means no groceries, no appointments and no job. The study’s early findings point the right way: expand on-demand service through SMART to communities and riders not served today, including people who don’t qualify for specialized transit, and connect it to fixed routes and the systems beyond the four counties.

What it should look like: on-demand first, because an empty bus costs more per trip than a shared ride, then fixed routes where the ridership data earns them. Corridors that match how people move: county services and the regional hospital, Highway 21 along the lakeshore, and the region’s largest workplaces, with employers at the table on whether a workforce route pencils out.

Funding: capital and start-up from senior governments, where the money already is; operating costs shared among the four counties by a formula tied to service delivered and riders carried, not just population; fares covering a published share; and Kincardine’s existing SMART contribution, about $98,000 this year, as the local base. Council’s job is making sure our stops are in that plan.

Three habits, none of them magic.

First, fund what we own before building what we’d like. The asset plan puts roads at about $5.6 million a year of lifecycle need, and wastewater was repriced 76 per cent higher in three years. Those get funded first; everything else makes its case in public against that backlog, lifecycle costs attached. A cheap decision that fails is the most expensive kind.

Second, be grant-ready, because that’s where the big money is. OCIF alone is $1.97 million of this year’s capital budget, almost 16 per cent, and the $1.645 million physician recruitment project is fully provincial. Towns that win intakes keep current asset data and a shelf of shovel-ready designs. One caution: grants build things, they don’t run them, so every win passes the can-we-operate-it test.

Third, fight for our fair share of what we host. The Nuclear site’s share of the levy fell from about 50 per cent in 2008 to 18 per cent in 2024. On the current water plant upgrade, Bruce Power is paying 57.53 per cent because the biggest beneficiary is at the table. That’s the model: partners in, in the open, before ratepayers carry things alone.

Write the rules before the application arrives, and decide in public. Our zoning by-law was rewritten in 2025, before the Province’s framework existed, so through nobody’s fault it has no modern definition of a data centre. What it has, by the Clerk’s written answer, is a data processing use permitted in four zones through a staff-level site plan, with no public notice. Ontario’s draft playbook adds its own gap below one megawatt. So a significant facility could land here without a single public meeting.

Three preparations. First, a modern data centre definition in our own zoning by-law with size thresholds, so anything that draws serious power, needs serious cooling or runs fans all night goes through a public planning process. Second, cost recovery written down in advance: who pays for the water, the servicing, the emergency planning and the road. Council’s August submission to the Province asked for that, plus environmental protections, community benefits and transparency; I made my own in September. Third, prefer projects that fit here: already-disturbed land over farmland, closed-loop cooling, waste heat feeding greenhouses instead of the sky. Done right, a county can come out of it growing more food than before.

Credit council first: in September it approved Housing Action Plan 2.0 with a shared target, Project 160: 160 below-market rental and ownership units priced from $1,088 to $1,740 a month. It commits to four units as-of-right on serviced lots, fewer residential zones, a housing community improvement plan with five-year tax-increment grants, a municipal-land policy and a public dashboard. My job would be making it real, in that order.

Three layers. The quiet one first: basement and backyard units. The Province cleared the development charges, Bruce County now funds up to $50,000 per unit, and the four-unit permission can be done early. One sharp question: we charge a home with a basement apartment about a third more in sewer charges than a standard home, and if the engineering doesn’t justify that, I’ll bring the motion.

Second, capacity, because sewage capacity decides how much housing gets built, so the wastewater file is a housing file.

Third, partnership builds. Saugeen Shores broke ground this July on 28 affordable ownership homes on town land with a private builder and Habitat for Humanity. The 705 Princes Street site the plan names deserves the same playbook, with residents at the table.

First, new value on pipe we built. Sixty nuclear suppliers have opened across Bruce, Grey and Huron since 2016, and none can wait years for a servicing answer. We pay $576,117 a year to 2029 on the servicing debt for the business park at Highways 9 and 21, and most of that privately owned land sits waiting. The ask is owner engagement and naming the barriers in public, not the town becoming the developer.

Second, the next land move, math in the open. Council’s October 14 agenda carries a report on a negotiated agreement for about 21 developable acres, the Gary Street lands, with a public meeting anticipated in December, in front of the next council. Credit to staff and council. Before any rezoning, the price, the servicing cost, who pays and how the land is sold or leased belong in public.

Third, treat every gap residents name, grocery choice included, as a lead for a local entrepreneur. Council doesn’t open stores, but it can publish the demand, keep the improvement plan visible, and make a costed, capped, time-limited offer for the biggest gap.

I am running for council because I think it is time for change. Time for fiscal responsibility, accountability and transparency. I believe we need to do better with maintaining our current assets and green spaces as we look to the future of our municipality.

I have been involved with farming on some level my entire life. In farming you need to deal with budgets, schedules, and maintenance of equipment and land. My wife and I have also owned a small business and currenly own a commercial building. A lot of the skills in managing both of those are directly transferrable.

I think I can be an effective decision maker for Kincardine as I am committed to listening to the residents concerns and opinions, as if I am elected I will be acting as their voice. I am also committed to continuing to educate myself on the issues and talking to people with the knowledge on specific issues so I can make the most informed decision possible.

The Municipality can work towards keeping tax increases affordable and address the need for housing.

I think that the Municipality of Kincardine did well this past year in keeping the increase in line with inflation. I would like to see future increases also kept in line with inflation.

I think the number 1 issue is affordability, with housing being the biggest piece of that.

The study clearly outlines potential routes which make sense given the large geographic area we are covering. I think the current proposed routes would work well as a pilot of the transport system and perhaps additional direct routes could be added in the future to cut down on commuter time. The study also contains a clear funding structure.

I would like to explore examining the municipal assets and infrastructure and incorporate lifecycle planning. I would like to see preventative maintenance as opposed to repairs as I believe this would be more cost-effective in the long run.
Also, pursuing all provincial and federal funding that may be available.

It seems that AI Data Centers are an inevitably so we need to be prepared. The municipality can take steps to ensure the location is away from residential areas by updating land-use and zoning codes and proactively evaluating potential locations that would be feasible. We can also set parameters to ensure minimal environmental impacts like closed-loop cooling systems and waste heat recovery.

The Municipality published the Housing Action Road Plan 2.0 in September of 2026 which makes project 160 a priority. I would advocate that we advance this current housing plan.

With Bruce C coming we will have a significant population growth which opens the opportunity for new businesses to support that population. There is definitely some gaps that need to be filled, like trades services and laundry, as well as additional grocery and gas options. I would also like to see business development in Tiverton. With Tiverton being geographically in the center of the municipality there is great potential to create a vibrant hub there.

wanted people to have options and a vote. A lot where acclaimed because not enough people ran in this election

I worked for the municipality of Kincardine for 7 years

I am open minded

Promote more housing developments and retail

No one likes paying taxes so try my best to get best value.

Cost of living concerns

Should accommodate the most amount of people and be funded any way possible

Find best value in way tenders are put out

Our all candidates meetings have covered this. We already host a nuclear plant and wind turbines. Just need to see what comes and set bylaws to accommodate them with least conflict

Promote new large scale development in a new location. Least amount of conflict and larger developers would be my plan.

More of everything. Talk is cheap though we need to make it happen.