Last Thursday’s All-Candidate Town Hall was everything a community forum should be: informative, respectful and well attended. Hosted jointly by The Fort Frances Times and the Fort Frances and District Labour Council, the evening brought together all 11 candidates and more than 250 residents for a thoughtful discussion about the future of Fort Frances.
I’d like to sincerely thank everyone who participated and attended. We decided to host this forum for several very important reasons, not the least of which was a keen desire to support the democratic process. Having such a strong turnout and hearing so many passionate contributions was gratifying and signalled a robust interest among voters this time around.
As I mentioned during the town hall, municipal elections are often overlooked or neglected in Ontario, the poor cousins of their provincial and federal counterparts.
The statistics tell a pretty sobering story. Ontario municipal voter turnout has been stubbornly low for decades. According to the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO), it was about 45 per cent in both 1988 and 1994 but fell to about 40 per cent in 1997 and 2003, and has generally hovered around that level since.
More recently, provincial municipal election participation has declined even further. In 2018 it dropped to 38.3 per cent, and in 2022, the 32.9 per cent voter turnout across 417 reporting municipalities was the lowest in recent history.
That means that in 2022, roughly two out of every three eligible voters did not cast a ballot in their municipal election.
If that doesn’t concern you, it should. Municipal government is often described as the level of government closest to the people. It oversees the roads we drive on, the water we drink, local policing and fire protection, recreation facilities, economic development, land-use planning, housing initiatives and countless other services that shape our quality of life. The decisions made around the council table affect residents every day, whether they realize it or not.
Against that backdrop, the town hall was an encouraging reminder that there’s a strong appetite for informed discussion and meaningful participation in the democratic process in Fort Frances.
The strong turnout reflected a community that cares deeply about local issues and the decisions that will shape our municipality in the years ahead. What struck me most was not simply the number of people in attendance; it was the calibre of the questions. Residents arrived informed, engaged and prepared to discuss the issues that will define our community’s future.
And there’s certainly no shortage of concern among our electorate, as the audience-submitted questions demonstrated. Rising property taxes, economic development, attracting new industry, housing, the town’s deer population, infrastructure and the future of Sunny Cove were among the topics raised throughout the evening.
The breadth and substance of the questions submitted demonstrated just how invested residents are in the future of their community.
If there was a common theme throughout the evening, it was that Fort Frances faces a number of difficult challenges for which there are no easy answers. Some residents may have left wanting more detailed solutions from candidates, and that’s understandable. But municipal elections are often less about identifying a single answer and more about determining which candidates possess the judgment, temperament and leadership skills needed to navigate complex problems on behalf of the community.
By the end of the evening, candidates had shared their ideas, answered questions and engaged in meaningful dialogue with one another and with members of the public. The result was a valuable opportunity for voters to hear directly from those seeking to serve them and decide whether they are the candidate best suited for the job.
I extend my sincere thanks to all candidates for their professionalism, preparedness and willingness to participate in an open and respectful exchange of views. Running for public office requires commitment, courage and a genuine desire to contribute to the community, and that dedication was evident throughout the evening.
I’d also like to thank the Fort Frances and District Labour Council for its partnership in helping organize and support this event. Special thanks as well to Mayor Andrew Hallikas for his thoughtful and inspiring remarks, which helped set a positive tone for the evening.
Behind the scenes, a number of people helped make the event possible. Times reporter Allan Bradbury spent the evening capturing and processing video so that residents who could not attend can still watch highlights of the discussion, while reporter Liam Neilson provided comprehensive coverage of the proceedings. Thanks also go out to Cliff Pidlubny and TopMusic Productions for the excellent sound engineering and Wesley Kinsman for handling the lighting.
Most importantly, thank you to the residents who attended, asked questions and took part in the democratic process. An engaged electorate is essential to a healthy community.
As election day approaches, we encourage every eligible voter to stay informed, ask questions, engage respectfully with candidates and, most importantly, cast a ballot. Democracy is not something that happens to us; it’s something we need to participate in. The town hall was a powerful reminder that the people of Fort Frances are ready to do exactly that.
