East Gwillimbury all-candidates meeting brings out full house in Mount Albert

Virginia Hackson, James Young and Franco Colavecchia are running for mayor

Yorkregion.com
Oct. 6, 2022

Democracy smells better face to face.

East Gwillimbury residents piled into the Mount Albert Legion on Oct. 3 for the all-candidates debate featuring mayoral candidates Virginia Hackson, James Young and Franco Colavecchia and Ward 3 councillor candidates Cathy Morton, Scott Crone, Christine Glenn and Susan Lahey.

The large crowd must have had the candidates in good spirits, as things rarely got acrimonious for the individuals on the dais.

In the battle for mayor, there was no shortage of experience at the table. The incumbent Hackson has served as the town’s mayor since 2010 and Young was her predecessor, serving as mayor from 2002 to 2010.

“I have held the position as mayor for 12 years because I am a committed leader and I’m prepared to continue to do the work,” Hackson said. Hackson said she wanted to see key projects like the Health and Active Living Plaza through.

Young made it clear who he would be working for if elected mayor. “My No. 1 role is advocacy. I’m here to advocate for my residents. I’m here to advocate for you. If we don’t agree, that’s fine,” he said. “It’s our responsibility that if you have an issue, we take it forward to the rest of us.”

Colavecchia wore his lack of experience in the municipal politics ring like a badge of honour. “I do not have experience as a mayor,” he said. “But one thing I'm going to say is, I do have experience with a billion-dollar company that I was working for. We brought that company from $20 million to $60 million in less than three years. If I promise to do something, I will fix it. If it’s wrong, I will make it right.”

When the topic of downtown revitalization and vacant stores in Mount Albert came up, Colavecchia was quick to pounce. He said both his opponents have been in the mayor’s chair and have done little for the community. “For the last 40 years, Mount Albert seemed to be ignored,” he said. “What I have heard from both of them is excuses.”

There is no denying that it’s a challenging issue, Young said. “If it was that easy, we would already have the buildings rented out and most landlords would have the buildings filled with businesses,” he said. Young said it's important for the town to sit down with these landlords and find out why the buildings are empty and see what can be done.

“A number of the places that we’re talking about have absentee landlords and that becomes a problem in a small town,” Hackson said. “They’re not providing services to the community that we fully expected they would be when they bought it.”

The race for the two councillor positions in Ward 3 was also front and centre on the night. Incumbents Crone and Morton were scrunched at the table beside Glenn and Lahey.

Crone said one of his top priorities is community safety. “We have to make sure that we take every available step in traffic calming,” he said.

Lahey said improved communication is a top priority of hers. “I would propose that we have the initiative of having public in-person (meetings) right here in Mount Albert,” she said.

Christine Glenn said that with rising inflation, council has to be focused on the bottom line. “For me, the No. 1 thing is keeping things affordable,” she said. “We have to make sure that we understand how it’s going to affect kitchen budgets. People don’t have more money to spend.”

Morton chose to announce at the meeting that she is stepping away from her role as chair of Mount Albert Sports Day.

“Do I like Mount Albert Sports Day? Yes, I do. I spent a lot of time being there,” Cathy Morton said. “Next year, I will no longer be the chair of Mount Albert Sports Day."