“This evening is democracy in action.”
Those were the words used by moderator Doug Tennant to kick off last week’s all-candidates meeting, hosted jointly by the Deep River Community Association and the North Renfrew Times at the Deep River Legion.
The meeting was an opportunity for the seven candidates running for councillor positions in the upcoming municipal election to outline their platforms to the electorate, with both Mayor Sue D’Eon and Reeve Glenn Doncaster having already been acclaimed to office for another term.
Just six of the seven candidates were at the Legion for the event, however, with Tennant explaining to those in attendance that Benjamin Myers was unable to attend due to an issue with his job as a lawyer for the federal department of Justice.
“He has some procedural issues with regard to his full-time employment that he has to work out, and get permission to appear in person,” Tennant told the audience.
“Rest assured he is still running.”
Myers is one of four fresh faces who have put their names on the ballot for the October election, along with Christopher Beimers, Jay Crawford and John Turner.
The other three candidates are incumbent Councillors Will Fitton, Christina Giardini and Tom Vaughan.
Jay Crawford was the first of the candidates to introduce himself to the packed house at the Legion, explaining he believes strongly in the power of the community coming together to help communities.
Crawford went on to say that affordable housing and revitalization of Deep River’s downtown core are among his priorities, pointing out the town has a “vibrant artistic community” to assist in the latter goal.
“Over the next few years there will be a lot of changes in Deep River,” he said, adding that with “open communication” council and the public will be able to deal with those changes together.
“Not everyone will be happy, but they will be heard”…
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