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Waterloo Chronicle | Thursday, November 10, 2022 | 4 waterloochronicle.ca #] SHOE STORE IN WATERLOO REGION MARCHER AVEC ASSURANCE WALKING WITH CONFIDENCE CLOSEOUT SHOES 1001 Langs Drive, Unit 2, Cambridge www.closeoutshoes.ca RECORD >READERS’ CHOICE 2022 ‘DIAMOND Wines Louie approved ¥ s HB OPINION LOCAL ELECTIONS DELIVER DEMOCRATIC DRAMA AFTER A PITIFUL TURNOUT AT THE POLLS, WE MAY BE WELL-SERVED BY GETTING MORE PEOPLE TO PARTICIPATE IN THAT DEMOCRACY, WRITES MIKE FARWELL = MIKE FARWELL Column It's not often that a mu- nicipal election delivers uch drama, but Waterloo Region bucked that trend last month. While there was plenty of intrigue around our pub- lic school board elections leading up to the Oct. 24 vote, very little material- ed as the makeup of the board remains largely un- changed. But you don't have to look far to find several oth- er interesting result Colleen James es not only been elected as the first-ever Black person on regional council, but she also garnered more votes for her position than any o! the other 13 candidates, in- cluding incumbent Mi- chael Harris. That's an im- pressive accomplishment for a first-time candidate. James joins Hans Roach (Waterloo), Ayo Owodunni (Kitchener) and Harvir Sidhu (Wilmot) in adding a splash of diversity to our municipal ¢ councils. e, Chantal Hui- nink and Sheri Roberts, both of whom use wheel- chairs, have been elected to regional and Cambridge council, respectively. They join accessibility trailblaz- or Sue Foxton, just elected as mayor of North Dumfries Foxton uses a wheel- chair part-time, when she's not wearing her prosthetic . Waterloo's mayoral race delivered on its pi we watched two. strong ‘women go down to the wire, when Dorothy McCabe edged. Shannon weber by just over 300 ve icCabe il now leada council that features five other women, meaning 75 per cent of Waterloo's eight council seats are held by women. In Cambridge, it was al- so two women who were the front runners, and we saw incumbent mayor (and former member of provin- cial parliament) Kathryn McGarry ousted after just one term. McGarry's loss may sug- gest that it matters to some voters that you live where you run, as the now-former mayor faced criticism for not having a home in Cam- bridge. Perhaps more impor- tantly, we saw the impact a well-organized group of people can have on a local election. ‘tainly not McGarry's issue alone, ie former mayor was the focus of voter frustration around the Amazon devel- opment near BI Residents craanized as “Blair Engaged" and no doubt had an impact on the election results beyond just their historic village of vot- eu it perhaps most in- triguing of all in this _ tion was the rest mot Township, Shere Mn entirely new slate of candi- dates has been ushered in- to office, including Na- David Bebee Whether you got the change you wanted, or you're worried about our new direction, our democracy has delivered, writes Mike Farwell. tasha Salonen as mayor. The first-time candidat beat incumbent councillor Jenn Pfenning in the may- oral race, only one term af- Pfenning and fellow councillors Angie Hallman and Cheryl Gordijk be- came the first women to hold council seats in the ywnshi ‘ip in more than 40 s g ve oth Hi allman and Gor- aie ‘ost their Bids for re- ter being acclaimed in 2018, Gordijk now nani the du- bious honour of having held office for one term without ever having won years, voters in Wilmot have sent a clear message that they want a different tone from their council. Wheth: new direction, our democ- racy has delivered. After a pitiful turnout at ticipate in that democracy. Columnist Mike Farwell is a broadcaster, MC and advocate. Follow him on Twitter at @farwell_WR, or connect with him via Mike.Farwell@rci.rog- ers.com.