Wanting to get to know Leamington’s municipal election candidates better? CTV asked them questions to give you some more insight into their platforms. Mayor Cris Biron Why are you running for the Mayor of Leamington? I am running for mayor because Leamington is a beautiful municipality currently divided and polarized by a leadership that has forgotten who it serves. Over the last four years, I have listened to residents across our community who feel that our municipal council has acted without true consultation and leading with a total lack of accountability, transparency, and fiscal responsibility. When I ran in 2022, I was a new voice, entering the race late during a challenging mail in ballot election. Since then, more and more people have become disappointed with our current municipal leadership and administration. Everyday residents, farmers, and business owners alike have approached me with a common request. They want a leader guided by service, collaboration, and responsibility. Leamington faces critical, unresolved challenges that cannot be ignored any longer. Our community is feeling the burden of complex social crises like addiction, homelessness, and mental health. For a number of years now, Leamington has suffered and continue to suffer a severe lack of affordable housing and homeowners are carrying an unfair property tax burden. Massive industrial greenhouse operations and migrant worker integration require proactive and balanced infrastructure planning. Our local businesses face unnecessary red tape with development permits and the requirement of expensive, sometimes unnecessary, studies. Crime prevention and bylaw protections are lagging, and our fire department requires adequate resources while millions are being channeled into expenditures without transparent fiscal oversight. I am running to fix this broken relationship between the town hall and the people. My administration will replace closed door decisions, acting with open, mandatory community consultation. Every dollar of our tax money will be spent with strict fiscal discipline and responsibility. I am running to serve. It is time to heal the polarization in our town and build a more prosperous, united, and accountable Leamington. Together, we can restore trust in our local government. Whatever challenges lie ahead, we will solve them through proactive, outside the box thinking in pursuit of win-win solutions in every situation. What do you believe is the most important issue facing the municipality and how would you address it? The single most critical issue facing Leamington today is the collapse of trust between the electorate and our municipal leadership. Our current administration has treated governance as a one-way street, leaving residents feeling ignored and alienated from the democratic process. When we look at the reality of the 2022 political campaign promises versus actual project status, the failures are staggering and overwhelming. We were promised affordable housing and a focused expansion of our infrastructure, yet vital sewer separation phases have been consistently delayed or completely replaced across 2023 and 2024. When leadership fails to deliver on core infrastructure and decisions are made without consultation, our democracy and progress become stagnant. To restore faith in our local government, we must actively revive community participation. I will immediately create open forums and accessible venues where citizens can express themselves, provide ideas, and positively contribute to our municipal administration. My administration will immediately implement a well equipped, professionally staffed Complaints and Suggestions Department. Every submission will be promptly and properly recorded, evaluated, and assigned to specific professionals tasked with providing real solutions in a reasonable, transparent timeframe. A database will be created to review our performance, create protocols and project solutions. We must anticipate that some complaints may be frivolous or vexatious, but that is a minor cost for democratic transparency and participation. By tracking these complaints systematically, our leadership can move from being reactionary to being effectively proactive. We will solve Leamington’s infrastructure and social issues by listening to the people who live here. I am running to ensure full representation for our community, turning town hall back into a place of service, accountability, and absolute transparency. If elected, what are your top three priorities during your first term? I) A full review of our fiscal responsibility respecting: i) Emergency and essential services; ii) affordable housing; iii) rural and urban infrastructure and our downtown core; and iv) active and effective elimination of red tape and unreasonable requests of studies and the incredible delay in building, industrial, agricultural and agricultural permits. II) Immediate attention to mental health, drugs addiction and homelessness issues, and the prosecution of any illegal business such as underground taxis, kitchens, bars and prostitution. III) full support to our youth in areas dealing with education, jobs and family issues. The promotion of inter school cultural, social and sports events, including full support to and protection of our Leamington Flyers Junior A Hockey Club How do you differ from your fellow candidates? What separates my candidacy from the incumbent mayoral candidate, is that my campaign is not built on temporary, convenient political promises for the future. Instead, my approach to governance is rooted in a strict, unyielding framework of ethical, philosophical, and pragmatic rules serving as the foundational values that are entirely absent in the current administration. My extensive experience and legal background, working within government agencies, courts, and tribunals have equipped me with the precise skills and education, structural logic and reason, together with administrative capabilities required to build a genuinely progressive and well governed town. I understand how our municipal government works, and more importantly, how to make it work strictly for the people. While some candidates look at local leadership as basic administrative management or a tool for mechanical box checking, I see it as a sacred covenant with the community. I differ fundamentally because my platform introduces a binding Municipal Leadership Charter, built upon five clear, non-negotiable pillars that will fundamentally transform how Leamington is run: Accountability: Shifting from mere regulatory compliance to ensuring every single public dollar allocated is subject to rigorous, open stewardship directly answerable to you. Transparency: Actively tearing down systemic barriers to local information so residents are fully informed and may become active participants of our town’s decision-making process in real time. Responsibility: Replacing reactive management with prudent, vision driven stewardship that carefully balances immediate local demands with long term financial sustainability. Consultation: Moving past standard bureaucratic notices to institutionalize early stage, meaningful dialogue that captures the collective wisdom of our community. Service: Approaching public administration with a true servant’s heart, treating every resident not just as a taxpayer, but as a valued shareholder entitled to dignified, high-quality public care. I am not running to maintain the status quo or simply fill a seat at town hall. I am running to restore a culture of deep integrity, discipline, and profound respect to Leamington’s local democracy. What’s one promise you’re making today that voters can hold you accountable for in four years? The singular, non-negotiable promise I am making to the voters of Leamington today is this, by the end of my first term, we will have a united town working harmoniously toward progress, backed by a fully restored democratic process. I want the electorate to hold me explicitly accountable to this standard. I am promising to replace the current culture of polarization and closed-door mandates with an administrative framework where every single municipal task is executed through my binding Municipal Leadership Charter. Under my leadership, governance will no longer be reactionary. Every major challenge ahead will be attended to promptly and responsibly using built in mechanisms designed for absolute accountability, continuous correction, and long-term strategic projection. I will systematically apply this disciplined, charter driven approach to resolve the critical issues currently dividing our municipality. I will confront homelessness and mental health challenges with proactive, compassionate, and structured local interventions. I will stabilize property taxes to protect residential homeowners and actively promote affordable housing initiatives. I will eliminate the bureaucratic red tape causing unacceptable delays in business, building, industrial and agricultural development permits. I will fully equip and resource an adequate fire department, while stepping up crime prevention and proactive bylaw protection across Leamington. I will manage our rural and urban infrastructure responsibly, ensuring vital utility expansions and planning to match our municipal needs and capabilities. I will halt wasteful spending while subjecting all major fiscal expenditures to rigorous, responsibility, accountability and transparent public review. This is my covenant with Leamington. I am not asking anyone to trust vague political rhetorics. I am asking to be judged on governance guided by and subject to proven philosophical, ethical and service principles. If elected, I will guarantee a town hall that listens, adapts, corrects its mistakes, and works tirelessly in pursuit of win-win solutions. Hold me to this promise, and let us rebuild a democratic, prosperous Leamington together. Hilda MacDonald - Incumbent CTV News is awaiting a response. Deputy Mayor Paul Tiessen Why are you running for Deputy Mayor of Leamington? I have always been interested in municipal governance. I began my municipal career in 2014 as a member of the Committee of Adjustment. I found that committee very interesting and wanted to do more for my community and so in 2018 I had a successful run for council and again in 2022. This year, our current deputy mayor announced he would not be running again. It was then that I decided I would like to move up into that position. What do you believe is the most important issue facing the municipality and how would you address it? There is never just one important issue facing municipalities. Infrastructure both rural and urban, community safety, homelessness, economic uncertainty, especially at budget time, and maintaining our current parks and recreation facilities are a few issues Leamington faces. If I had to pick one, it would be infrastructure. Roads are quickly deteriorating and sewers are reaching the end of their useful life. We also need to make sure that industrial, commercial, residential, and agricultural areas have the services they need to be successful. In order to achieve this, we need to focus current tax dollars to fixing our roads and sewers while also lobbying the upper levels of government for funding specific projects. If elected, what are your top three priorities during your first term? My priorities for the next term include: How do you differ from your fellow candidates? My eight years of experience serving on council and sitting on and chairing various committees has provided me with the knowledge, leadership skills, and understanding of municipal government that makes me a strong candidate for the position of deputy mayor. This experience has also taught me the importance of listening to different perspectives, working collaboratively and making informed decisions in the best interests of our community as a whole. What’s one promise you’re making today that voters can hold you accountable for in four years? We are all just one voice on council. I will work hard and make decisions keeping in mind that we need to ensure that ALL areas of the municipality are treated fairly. We are a diverse community and need to be cognizant of the needs of ALL residents. Dean Wilkinson CTV News is awaiting a response. Councillor Anthony Abraham - Incumbent Why are you running for council member of Leamington? Like all candidates, I am running for municipal councillor to try and make a difference in our community. Born and raised in Leamington, I have grown to love this community and want to be a voice to ensure its sustainable future. As the youngest member of our current council, I can relate to the challenges young families face and want to ensure a voice for the next generation that will call Leamington home. Becoming a father to two young boys under the age of two, the importance of local governance has never been more important to me. I want to be a voice to ensure my children do not have to go up the 401 for a prosperous future. Coming from a family of entrepreneurs and being a small business owner myself, I want to give back to a community that has given me so much. What do you believe is the most important issue facing the municipality and how would you address it? Every municipality has it share of issues and things to be proud of! Leamington has experienced an incredible surge in growth and with that growth comes growing pains. We need to balance the growth of our industries, specifically our world class agriculture industry and making this municipality livable. Balancing economic opportunity and a livable community for our residents is my top priority if elected again. I want to advocate for strong communication between our agriculture sector, the municipality, and our residents by pushing for open dialogue and a liaison to ensure we mitigate the growing pains that our residents must endure. The technology in this industry is constantly advancing and keeping the communication open will allow the municipality to help regulate the industry without restraining its growth. This growth has also pushed our emergency services to their limits and part of balancing growth, is reviewing our emergency services to ensure they can meet the needs of our community. If elected, what are your top three priorities during your first term? My priorities would be to help establish a liaison between our agriculture sector and the municipality to ensure sustainable and prosperous growth in the sector. My second priority would be to push the municipality to adopt policies and technology to help the community prosper and ensure our private sector can continue to thrive. Last, and certainly not least, I want to prioritize communication between the municipality and the residents, to ensure residents are informed and their concerns are heard. How do you differ from your fellow candidates? All the candidates bring something unique to the table from there personal lives and professions. My age and profession are a defining feature and pillar to my campaign. I am 33 years old and can relate to the young families that are starting their lives and careers. I am in the working world day in and day out and have seen firsthand how the working world operates and the importance of balancing that work with a family life. My career as a nurse has taught me to listen, adapt to high stress situations and above all, have difficult conversations with both empathy and reason. What’s one promise you’re making today that voters can hold you accountable for in four years? There is one promise I can make to Leamington residents with complete confidence: I will always listen open-mindedly, without bias, to every side of a debate before reaching a decision. At the same time, I will always have the courage to stand up for what I believe in, even when it means standing alone. I would rather anchor my ship in empty waters with purpose, than drift away looking for an audience. Carol Bell CTV News is awaiting a response. John Biekx CTV News is awaiting a response. Bill Dunn - Incumbent CTV News is awaiting a response. Renee Knight CTV News is awaiting a response. Heather Latam - Incumbent CTV News is awaiting a response. Bruce Medcalf CTV News is awaiting a response. Rielly O’Shaughnessy CTV News is awaiting a response. Mandi Quiring CTV News is awaiting a response. Oscar Ramirez CTV News is awaiting a response. Corey Robertson Why are you running for council member of Leamington? I’m running because I believe Leamington has tremendous momentum, and I want to help make sure we build on it responsibly. I’ve spent years involved in this community through business, the Chamber of Commerce, arts and culture, community organizations, and local events. I know how much can be accomplished when people work together, and I want to bring that same approach to council. I support continued investment in our waterfront, a stronger and safer uptown, responsible growth, support for our agricultural and business communities, and greater attention to local tourism, arts and culture. Most importantly, I’m running because I believe leadership means showing up, listening, building partnerships and being accountable for the decisions we make and the public dollars we spend. What do you believe is the most important issue facing the municipality and how would you address it? The biggest challenge is managing Leamington’s growth while protecting the quality of life that makes people want to live, work and invest here in the first place. Growth affects housing, roads, infrastructure, recreation, public safety, and municipal finances. We need to plan ahead instead of continually reacting after pressures appear. That means responsible development, making sure infrastructure keeps pace, creating more housing options, supporting local businesses and agriculture, and being disciplined with municipal spending. It also means recognizing that growth is about more than new subdivisions. We need a vibrant uptown, a completed waterfront vision, strong neighbourhoods and public spaces that people feel safe using. I want Leamington to grow, but I want us to grow with purpose. If elected, what are your top three priorities during your first term? My first priority is responsible growth and housing. We need more housing options while ensuring roads, infrastructure and municipal services can support that growth. My second is strengthening Uptown Leamington. I support better lighting, parking, a dedicated taxi area, consistent bylaw enforcement and stronger coordination between the municipality, OPP, the county, healthcare, social services and community organizations. I also want regular input from uptown businesses and residents. My third is connecting our waterfront, uptown, and local tourism economy. I support completing the waterfront responsibly, investing in arts and culture, attracting events and tournaments, exploring dedicated tourism resources and ensuring tourism dollars generated in Leamington are used to promote Leamington. Across all three priorities, my focus will be partnerships, accountability and getting measurable results. How do you differ from your fellow candidates? Every candidate brings different experiences and perspectives. What I bring is a combination of business leadership, community involvement and a track record of bringing people together. I’ve served two terms as President of the Leamington District Chamber of Commerce and have been involved in organizations spanning business, healthcare fundraising, theatre, music, and community events. Professionally, I lead teams, manage budgets, set targets and am accountable for results every day. I’m also very clear about what I support. I support our waterfront investment. I support arts and culture. I support developing a stronger uptown. I support responsible growth and housing. And, I support working with regional partners while making sure Leamington’s interests remain front and centre. My approach is practical: Listen, make a decision, explain it and then be accountable for the outcome. What’s one promise you’re making today that voters can hold you accountable for in four years? I promise that community engagement won’t end on election day. Four years from now, voters should be able to look at what I said I would work on, look at what was accomplished, and hold me accountable for the difference between the two. I believe elected officials should be visible, accessible and accountable throughout the entire term, not just when an election is approaching. Chad Robinson CTV News is awaiting a response. Tim Wilkinson - Incumbent Why are you running for council member of Leamington? I’m running so that I can continue with the work previous councils have already started and implemented. Projects like the following. What do you believe is the most important issue facing the municipality and how would you address it? Managing growth – Leamington is fortunate to be growing in all sectors. Services and infrastructure need to keep up with this growth. Trying to do this affordably and effectively requires careful and detailed budget reviews. We’ve been fortunate with receiving large funding amounts from the province, this practice will need to continue. If elected, what are your top three priorities during your first term? How do you differ from your fellow candidates? 12 years on the job experience. What’s one promise you’re making today that voters can hold you accountable for in four years? Leamington will continue to grow in all sectors. Nigel Williams CTV News is awaiting a response. These responses have been edited grammatically only.
