HOWICK – Residents were left standing at the all-candidates meeting here as attendance was full and chairs ran out.
The Howick Optimist Club hosted the Oct. 7 forum, as they have for every municipal election since 1991 one Optimist member shared, at the Howick Community Centre.
Candidates were given timed introductions, answered some questions from the public and offered closing remarks.
The evening was moderated by 2018-2022 Deputy Reeve Eldon Bowman, who kicked off the night, asking Howick’s acclaimed Reeve Doug Hargrave to speak to the large crowd, opening up introductions.
“I just want to say that being acclaimed is probably more humbling than I would have ever expected. I’m not sure whether it’s a good thing or a bad thing at this point,” Hargrave joked with the crowd.
He thanked the Optimist club for hosting the event and gave a shout-out to departing council members, calling it an “absolute pleasure” to work with everyone over his past eight years in the council chambers.
Candidates running for deputy reeve in Howick include Marvin Grimes (current councillor) and Shelley Miller-Cameron. Candidates for councillor were all in attendance, including Rod MacEwen, Kevin Doig, Ben Blackmore, Evan Zinn, Matthew Van Ankum, Michel Starenky, Rosemary Rognvaldson (current councillor), Evan Renwick and Mike Nichols (who exited early due to illness).
Key issues candidates discussed included increasing bylaw enforcement, prioritizing local businesses for tenders, the possibility of bringing back a plan for a daycare centre and next steps for the Howick fire hall.
Increasing bylaw enforcement
One of the questions asked to candidates was what their thoughts were on how bylaws in Howick have been enforced, and what they think could improve a faster response to complaints and cleanup of properties.
Zinn answered first and expressed that bylaw enforcement is a “hot topic” in this election and “very important.” He added that council needs to provide a productive approach to meet the expectations of residents, and residents should also offer help to those who may not be able to clean up their yard on their own.
“There are aspects to that that have to go both ways, but I think the hiring of the new bylaw officer and working through that process will be a good two-year pilot,” he said.
Many other candidates agreed that the hiring of a new bylaw officer, who can take some work off the current one, will hopefully assist in Howick’s bylaw sector.
Starenky noted, “I don’t have much of an opinion. The fact is, the bylaw officer will deal with it.”
Grimes added to many candidates’ points, explaining that while being on council already, he has noticed bylaw enforcement can get residents to clean up their property, “and then they’ll turn around and go back to the way it was. Then, unfortunately, our bylaw officer that we have now [has] to start from scratch.”
Miller-Cameron said the township needs “some positive outreach efforts” on top of bylaw enforcement.
“I think we need township-wide clean-up efforts,” she said, adding amnesty at the landfill could be one option as well.
‘It takes a community to make a community,” shared Blackmore, agreeing with other candidates on helping out neighbours.
Supporting local
Another question raised by a resident was why Howick is using a company for gravel from the Chatham area, when Howick Township has gravel pits of its own.
“I think it’s important to keep our money around our township,” said MacEwen.
Blackmore explained that “cheaper is not always better” and it may cost more to support a local company in some circumstances, but that keeping it local also keeps the community economy funded. Many candidates had a similar answer, and all alluded to the idea that, if elected, they would support local when possible.
Rognvaldson shared council at times may run into choosing between the most expensive being local, or going with the cheapest.
“If we support local, and it happens to be the dearest, then that is reflected in the tax bill. There’s only so much money; you can only spend it once, and if it gets spent on gravel, there’s something else that’s not going to get money spent on it,” she said. “So more often than not, we look at the cheapest … as other people have already mentioned, is just gravel.”
Van Ankum explained how Howick is “rich” in gravel, and would push toward working with local tenders “to bring those gravel pits back up to grade so we’re not leaving scars on our landscape to pass down” to future generations.
Howick daycare centre
An oft-talked-about topic during this past year’s budget season, a resident had asked what candidate’s thoughts were on the possibility of bringing back the idea of a daycare centre in the township. The resident also asked how much could be covered by grants.
Hargrave told the crowd that he was not totally against the idea of building a daycare centre in Howick when the idea was presented to council last year with significant grant money.
“I never felt that we had time to do a proper job of it … we had to have it finished in 2026,” he shared.
He added that, with only under 60 respondents to a survey on the idea, he did not feel that represented the township well enough.
Doig answered next, saying he thought having a $2 million grant for the project gave an opportunity to “dive into” the idea and would have helped out a lot of families that need a daycare in the community.
“The daycare grant was a very interesting one. I think Howick definitely batted around and made some good decisions,” said Zinn. “But with the grant money, like you see being spent on things like our trail network and things like that, I think you need a way to support it after the fact.”
He told residents the next council will need to look at options for how to be ready for the next opportunity and ask the public.
Miller-Cameron agreed, stating the proper research needs to be done to be prepared for it.
Van Ankum said, “If this is what the residents of Howick want, I think it’s what they should get, but it’s just the burden of debt going down the road that is the pill to swallow.”
Rognvaldson said she thinks there is still appetite in the township for a daycare centre, but the township needs to look at what it can afford.
Howick fire hall
The last question of the night acknowledged there has been talk by the previous council on building a new fire hall, and asked candidates if they were in favour of the potential project.
Doig shared that there has not been much conversation about whether or not the township should renovate the current fire hall, or consider the old fire hall’s property, as it is not “being totally used by the township … that needs to be addressed.”
Blackmore explained he has talked to the fire chief about this as he was concerned about the cost of a new fire hall.
“Unfortunately, you can’t be efficient building a government building, and it’s a lot of the provincial regulations that add up the cost,” he said.
Other candidates, including Grimes and Miller-Cameron, said that although the land has been bought for a potential new fire hall, it can always be sold again.
Grimes and Rognvaldson explained the township got a “really good deal” on the land, which is why it has already been purchased.
Other candidates expressed that a lot of other things need to be considered before building as well, including proximity for the firefighters and whether the building could be shared.
Wrapping up
To end the meeting, candidates were given time to make closing remarks.
MacEwen admittedly shared he has no experience with municipal politics, “but 25 years ago, I had zero experience at anything I did,” he said. “That doesn’t mean I can’t learn, and I’m eager to learn with these [candidates] and to do what I can for everybody out there.”
Doig encouraged everyone in the room to exercise their voting power, and shared that he felt, after talking to people and knocking on doors, that he understood what residents want for Howick Township.
Placing his Optimist hat on his head, Blackmore said that council is going to be a “tough run” moving forward, and there may be a lot of factors dropping down from provincial and federal governments.
“But I can promise you that I care about this community as much as I care about my own life, and I’ll do everything I can to be the best representative I can be for our community,” he said.
Zinn gave out his thank-yous, and said he felt “much better” about the upcoming election as a whole, seeing the long table of candidates and room full of residents who came out.
“I made some really big mistakes. I’ve made some really good things go well. I’ve learned along the way,” he said. “I’m sure that won’t change if I’m elected to the municipal council … The number one thing outside of talking about myself is I want to see a larger voter turnout across Howick Township.”
Van Ankum shared it is “easy to say cut spending everywhere, but when you start to peel the onion, you get the conflict between taking care of everyone and being overtaxed.”
He later added there are many signs up across the province because municipal politics is an “important decision maker to allow positive change in our own backyard.”
Starenky expressed his main interest is the integrity of the township, noting that if elected, he would work alongside council to find out how to put pressure, effort and constant vigilance to ensure integrity is maintained.
Rognvaldson noted she has sat on council for a “number of years” now and has enjoyed it, even with the challenges she has faced on it.
She explained the most important thing to her is to engage the community with council on a regular basis, and that communication is a valuable tool.
“I’ll be happy to continue to serve by bringing experience, maturity, and, as you can see, eight male contestants and one woman; and I think the female voice is important because it does more accurately reflect our community. We do not have eight men for every one woman in Howick,” she said, receiving some laughter from those in attendance.
Renwick expressed that he enjoyed his time at the candidate’s meeting, and added he was available to listen, build relationships and make “positive change.”
Miller-Cameron admitted she enjoys “this stuff”, meaning she likes to read budgets and it drives her husband “crazy.”
“I look at asset management plans, I follow council … and I love serving my community, and I love being part of Howick Township,” she said.
Grimes explained to the crowd that there was only one more meeting left (held on Oct. 13) of the current council, and gave a thank you to Doug Harding, Megan Gibson, Rognvaldson and Hargrave.
“I’ve enjoyed the six years working with them, and whatever happens, I’d appreciate your vote,” he said.
Hargrave then took the mic as the only one who acclaimed, sharing, “I think we have a pretty good selection of people here, and not everybody’s going to be the lucky one, unfortunately. I guess just me,” he said with laughter coming from candidates and residents.
The municipal election will be held on Monday, Oct. 26. Howick voters will elect a deputy reeve, three councillors and school board trustees for their designated boards.
For more information about the 2026 municipal and school board election, township staff encourage on the municipal website to contact the Howick Township Clerk’s Department at 519-335-3208 ext. 9 or deputyclerk@howick.ca.
