Serve All Residents - Not Just a Few

City Council recently approved over $100,000 in consulting fees to explore a $25 million expansion of the Art Gallery - a facility that sees relatively low use. At the same time, they declined to fund a handful of portable washrooms that would bring basic dignity to unhoused residents downtown. We need leadership that prioritizes essential services and supports the most vulnerable members of our community - not just high-cost capital projects with narrow appeal.

Remove Barriers for 50% of Residents

Currently each councillor receives an annual compensation of $26,572, the mayor receives $58,780 and the Deputy Mayor 30,300. The problem with the current compensation is that it excludes the 50% of the households taking home less than $57,600. Wage earners in many of these households would have to give up one of their part-time jobs in order to run for city council which is not a viable option.  To address this inequity the next council needs to reduce the size of council from nine(9) to five(5). This would enable a remuneration increase for councillors to $57,259 without the need to increase the budget. This would effectively open the door for all Owen Sound residents to run for council.     . . . Read More