It appears that this will be a significant municipal election in 2026 following the first of the All-Candidates meetings held in Southampton (Saugeen Shores) on August 31st.
Some 200 attended the in-person meeting hosted by the Southampton Residents’ Association (SRA) and held at Bevan Hall (St. Paul’s Anglican Church) with an additional 100 waiting on-line to ask questions of the candidates.
The meeting opened with each candidate giving a two-minute explanation of his/her background and qualifications for why they decided to run for the various offices.
There are three candidates for Mayor, two for Deputy Mayor, two for Vice-Deputy Mayor, five for Southampton Ward Councillors and three for Saugeen Township (Port Elgin Ward candidates to attend a later all-candidates meeting).
The following will be links to each of the candidates introductions … to be posted in the order they were presented until the election.
Incumbent Mayor Luke Charbonneau>>>
incumbent Deputy Mayor Diane Huber>>>
Incumbent Vice Deputy Mayor Bud Halpin>>>
Incumbent Southampton Ward Councillor Cheryl Grace>>>
Incumbent Southampton Ward Councillor John Divinski>>>
New Mayoral Candidate Jeff James>>>
New Candidate Vice Deputy Mayor Don Matheson>>>
New Mayoral Candidate Brian Putman
New Candidate Southampton Ward Councillor Cathe McIntosh>>>
New Candidate Deputy Mayor Odette Bartnicki
New Candidate Saugeen Ward Neil Sarginson
New Candidate Southampton Ward Brenda Reeves
Each ad is linked to the candidate’s platform/introduction
