Mayoral Candidate Shirley Keaveney

Q1: Meaford is experiencing dynamic growth. How do you see ratepayers’ involvement in that growth? What role do you see the community playing in establishing the common direction and longer-term priorities?

I agree, Meaford is experiencing significant growth, I speak to my approach to development going forward in my platform as the attraction of “Smart Growth”. I believe we must grow, we must increase our tax base, and we must work towards providing a fulsome continuum of housing types. This being said I want to see our municipality growing slowly and responsibly.

It`s critical for council to listen to our residents, to understand both their challenges in securing appropriate housing and their concerns regarding new developments.

I`m looking at the potential of a Tiny Home Community for Meaford, small well maintained affordable housing in a location that is walkable to our downtown designed for people just starting out, those who wish to live minimally and for those who need the affordability aspect of tiny living. I also recognize the need for a retirement complex for our seniors who want to remain living in Meaford. Both developments should be conscious of designing a portion of their projects with accessibility in mind.

I recognize that our residents want to have a say in how we grow and they should. My plan is to undertake a visioning exercise very early in the new term before council determines our priorities for the next four years. We will require expertise to lead the visioning, and I want to see community involvement in the process. This is the first point mentioned in my “On the Cusp of Change” campaign platform. We have talked about the importance of a clear vision for years, 2027 is the time to make it happen! 

Q2: Would you support the development of an active community-based Advisory Committee for planning and development?

Yes, I realize we have the good fortune in this municipality of having attracted a number of individuals who possess significant expertise in this area as new residents. I very much appreciate the efforts and contributions of residents who take the time to conduct research and who are willing to share their professional connections and experience with council and staff. We will need to develop an understanding of how such a group can come together to advise the municipality, would it be a Committee of Council, an Ad Hoc group, maybe a team of advisors for the Mayor—I suggest we discuss the details if I am elected.

Q3: Currently, Meaford Council has just two Advisory Committees: Heritage and Accessibility. Prior to this current Council, there were seven advisory committees. Given that advisory committees facilitate public input into important matters, would you reinstate other advisory committees? And how would you ensure they are used effectively in the next term of Council?

In the past term of council Advisory Committees struggled. They were aligned with our strategic priorities which should have created the environment for valuable recommendations coming to council that we could facilitate and move forward. Instead, many committees found it challenging to even achieve quorum for meetings.

I do want to recreate advisory committees making sure they have access to appropriate staff and that they are provided information with which to work and to advise on. Advisory Committee members should feel their roles are meaningful and that their expertise brings real discission/debate to the council table. It`s difficult to say at this point what the subject matter of the committees will be until we complete the visioning exercise and set our priorities for the term. One committee I am committed to is a rural/agricultural advisory committee, currently we are not engaging nearly enough with our farmers, and I am going to change that.

My experience with Grey County Advisory Committees is considerable, the secret there I believe is strong staff support and meaningful reports to discuss. I have chaired the PEDAC (Planning Economic Development Advisory Committee) for eight years, there are often fifty and more people in attendance. The discussions are so motivating that literally everyone stands and claps after each meeting. I intend to figure out how to bring that level of engagement to our local advisory committee meetings. Grey County Ec Dev advisor Roger Mooking calls it “the romance”! 

Q4: What is the role of Council and the Municipality in supporting the development of downtown Meaford? In rural areas? Please provide examples.

Downtown Meaford, urban Meaford needs support. We attempted to reinstate the BIA, (Business Improvement Area) that failed, Mainstreets failed, everyone said they were going to support the Chamber of Commerce and that if I may say is a work in progress. The municipality`s role is to create the environment for success. To me that begins with beatification, maintaining what we have, for example next year I want to see the street sweeping contracted out, we can bring in a company with twelve or more sweepers and accomplish the task overnight clearing away winter sand right up to the curbs. This year it took one operator and one sweeper six weeks to complete the work.

The next council will have to revisit our decision on patios; they should look at whether to continue charging restaurants for the barriers or consider whether patios are successful as an attraction for other businesses and remove the cost recovery fees.

It would be great if we could encourage consistent opening hours with our businesses.

I’m looking forward to the results of the BR&E (Business Attraction and Retention) project currently in progress. This information will help us understand how to better support our businesses and what the gaps are in our shopping district.

I`m hopeful the BR&E (Business Retention and Expansion) will suggest ways of connecting downtown and uptown. There is a definite divide between the two commercial districts.

We will also have the downtown/harbour Master Plan process underway. This research will help us determine how to connect and promote the two. Council will need to make a decision on the Market Square, whether to return it to a fulsome event space, a partial event space or retain it as a parking lot.

 I want to see dollars in our 2027 budget dedicated to tourism; we aren’t doing enough towards attracting tourists other than providing support to the Chamber for the Big Apple and dollars to Meaford Hall to stock the kiosk.

 We should work more closely with Grey County to attract their attention to events happening in Meaford. Their tourism reach is significant.

In the rural areas I would like to see the development and promotion of a farm stand tour. We can do more to promote our Farmer’s Market as well, both to bring in more vendors and to attract more customers.

Q5: What role does Meaford’s “Official Plan” have in guiding development?

From our Municipal website “The Municipality of Meaford`s Official Plan guides all land use decisions and development strategies. It contains the goals and objectives of our community and establishes policies to direct the form, location, nature and rate of growth and change for the future”.

The Official Plan is our guiding document for development. It is the bible for Planning. It provides the reference and the rules so to speak for how planning is undertaken in Meaford. It speaks to Environment First which we always adhere to.

Q6: If a development project does not appear to meet Official Plan requirements (like the SkyDev proposal), what should Council do to ensure the project is in the best interest of Meaford and its citizens?

In a case such as this council should support the decisions of Heritage and Committee of Adjustment Advisory Committees if their jurisdiction applies. Council should seek input from their community-based Development Advisory Committee. Council should confer with neighbours of the project to understand their concerns.         

Then council should seek legal advice if that`s appropriate to the situation. Council should be firm in their case if such a matter was taken to the OLT (Ontario Land Tribunal) to make sure the best interests of the municipality and our residents are successfully represented.

Council should also be as transparent as possible to the public all the way thru this process.

Q7: Should Council members or municipal staff meet with developers prior to a development application being submitted? What is your understanding of them role in such meetings? Can you give us an example of what you would do in that position?

I don’t believe members of council should be required to meet with developers prior to the application process commencing or at any time. Staff do offer one meeting with a developer prior to the commencement of the preconsultation stage. This allows developers to get an understanding of the process and costs for approvals of projects in our municipality.

Members of council are never present at these meetings, at least I have never been invited. Occasionally a developer has reached out to me to inquire as to the needs of the municipality as I see them. In these situations, I share my opinions as to what Meaford needs, affordable rentals, a second grocery store, retail shops, a retirement home and so on. I do believe as Chair of the Planning Economic Development Advisory Committee at Grey County that it is my role to encourage appropriate development in Meaford and in Grey.

A Mayor is also likely to be invited to engage with developers where appropriate. The process for approvals happens though between staff and the developer. Council`s role is to consider any zoning requests.

Q8: There are many issues that need to be addressed in the coming four-year term, including the TCE pumped energy project, affordable housing, job creation, the downtown heritage district, business development, climate change, tourism, and a host of infrastructure needs supporting agriculture, bridges, roads, water and sewer and urban green spaces. What, in your opinion, are the most urgent issues to address?

The issues you have listed here are all important, currently the municipality is addressing most of these points.

Now that TC Energy is moving into their Environmental Assessment phase and the Predevelopment Agreement is completed there is slightly less pressure on staff and council relating to the OPS project.

Affordable housing is a major concern, my approach to this is to continue my efforts in moving forward a tiny home community. This is not a trailer park, it will be a well-designed, well-maintained community of small homes appropriate for anyone starting out, wanting to live minimally or a senior citizen, they can work for anyone who wishes to live within a small footprint. Soon an RFI (request for interest) will be issued to the development community to see what options there may be for constructing this project. It`s important to me that the municipality stay involved to make sure the homes remain affordably priced.

I am also intending to work on attracting a retirement home for our seniors so people don`t have to move to Owen Sound or Collingwood. We recognize that all subsidized and supportive housing is the responsibility of Grey County.

We purchased the 26 acres of Industrial land with access to highway 26 this year. Grey County is assisting us with marketing this opportunity for job creation in Meaford.

 As Mayor I would want to see us focusing attention on the appearance of our downtown, weeds, sidewalks, directional signage, vacant storefront windows, proper street sweeping, etc.

We opened 19 new businesses in 2025 and 14 so far in 2026, that’s pretty amazing in these challenging economic times. I will work to continue to encourage the environment that will attract businesses by working with staff to streamline processes. For example, I am working with a food truck owner to assist with the requirements necessary to set up in Meaford in 2027.

I will bring in the Mayor`s budget funding for tourism, we are not making nearly enough investment in tourism.

I plan to start an Agricultural Advisory Committee to give farmers a direct voice to council as I suggest we can do more to communicate with our rural community.

I believe we should continue with our commitment to 1% for roads, 1% for bridges and .5% for facilties during our budget process. 

Our Wastewater plant expansion is slightly less urgent than we thought after the extensive Infill and infiltration work that has been accomplished as well as the relining of many meters of underground pipes. In relation to our water bills I will be calling for a fulsome review of these charges as I believe we must attempt to reduce these costs for our residents.

Q9: The TCE Pumped Storage Proposal will be decided by the federal government. What is your position on the project, and what role do you think the Meaford Council has as the project moves through approvals?

As you stated the TC Energy Pumped Storage project is proposed on federal lands which means that any approvals are completely outside of our jurisdiction.

Currently TC is commencing their Environmental Assessment studies funded by the province of Ontario. This process will take 3 – 4 years. Once the studies are complete the municipality will review the reports, if peer reviewers are required the Municipality will hire these professionals to decipher the technical language of the reports. We will choose the reviewers and forward the invoices to TC Energy.

Once we have this fulsome information council will need to determine whether or not Meaford wishes to be a “willing host” to the project. Currently our position is one of Conditional Support only.

IF I believe at that point in time that the water quality of Georgian Bay may be affected or if there is risk to our residents residing under the reservoir or that chemicals in the soil at the base may be released as examples I will vote in opposition to becoming a willing host community. This vote would mean NO Community Benefits for Meaford. we would NOT receive any annual funding, NO subsidiary businesses would be built in Meaford, NO hire and buy local policy to support our businesses and NO workforce housing that could possibly become affordable housing after the construction phase. It will be a contentious, difficult decision for the next council to contemplate.

Q10: As a member of Council, how will you work with local and county/regional partners and Meaford's CAO and staff to move the Municipality forward on the issues listed in Q8? Can you provide any examples?

Further to my response to question 8 I would suggest that Meaford must give consideration to the future of our recreation facilities. Our Blue Dolphin Pool and Arena are approaching their end of life. This endeavour will definitely require partnerships. We should approach the YMCA in Owen Sound, DND, TBM (Town of the Blue Mountains) and Grey Highlands considering Rocklyn arena is now closed. We will need to fundraise and achieve success with grant applications to move this project forward. A new recreation centre will help attract new residents to Meaford and potentially doctors.

Local health care hasn’t been mentioned but is a personal priority for me. Doctor recruitment is a significant challenge for small rural communities, but I am committed to pursuing the attraction of primary healthcare professionals. Thru the work of the Grey County Shared Services Committee of which I have been a member, assistance has been provided to the Grey/Bruce OHT (Ontario Health Team) to attract funding to this area to employ more doctors and nurse practitioners. The province has committed to having everyone registered on Health Care Connect connected to a primary care provider by 2029.

In response to the question the first step is to undertake a visioning exercise to determine council`s priorities for this next term. I want to be very conscious of approving and funding projects that can actually be completed in the year they are budgeted.

There are definite opportunities to work with Grey County in Economic Development, staff are already assisting us with marketing our employment lands. Grey County has included Meaford in it`s Gather campaign, videos have been recorded across Grey promoting restaurants, markets, wineries, cideries, unique agriculture etc. in each lower tier.

We are working with Grey County on the potential of regional transit and a possible County Wide Waste Management System.

The Grey Sauble Conservation Authority going forward will be amalgamated into the Huron Conservation Authority one of only nine CA`s across the province as opposed to the current 36 as of February 2027, Grey County will have membership on the new board and $2.8M of funding will be levied to the county as of 2028.

I intend to call for a fulsome Service Delivery Review at the local level which will assist us with finding efficiencies in our systems, will make sure we have the right people in the right places delivering the services that our residents expect as well as those that are provincially mandated. Continuous Improvement is the mantra, “doing more with the same”.

Collaborations and partnerships are key; the province encourages the sharing of services. Grey County has been exploring a model of shared planning services for example. Grey County is also preparing a model for shared training of staff. Already training for council is partly undertaken at the county level.

I have been working with the county as I determine the progress of the tiny home project concept that I am proposing. Staff at the county have the ability to source and provide data on affordable housing which is helpful as we explore needs in our community. Environics data is very valuable, this provides us statistics on visitors to Meaford, - where are people from, how long do they stay, etc.

The opportunities really are endless, CAO`s across the county meet regularly, as do the Clerks and Economic Development staff. There are also CAO/Mayor meetings that occur with Wasaga Beach, Clearview, Collingwood, TBM and Meaford, additional opportunities for collaborations.

Grey County will be implementing a CIP (Community Improvement Plan) going forward which will compliment our local CIP in assisting business with upgrades.

The BEC (Business Enterprise Centre) is available at the county level to assist our local businesses from start up to succession planning. Also, there is an Experimental Acres program that funds chosen applicants to undertake innovative agricultural projects. Meaford has participated numerous times.

For me my hope going forward is that our residents will elect a council that can work well together, we won’t always agree and we shouldn`t but a collaborative council can accomplish much more than a divisive one. The CAO is council`s only employee, it`s our job to provide direction to him/her and his/her role from there to implement council decisions. These functions work best in a culture of respect and working together for the betterment of the common good of the Municipality of Meaford.

Thank you for the opportunity to respond to these questions,

Mayoral Candidate, Shirley Keaveney