Election meetings planned for all Whitchurch-Stouffville wards

March 14, 2014
Stouffville Sun-Tribune

Would you attend a candidates meeting in your ward this fall, Whitchurch-Stouffville?

The volunteers on the Stouffville Sun-Tribune's Community Links panel hope so.

Panel members, who unsuccessfully attempted to add Internet and telephone voting options for the Oct. 27 election, are continuing the work to grow the vote.

Their projects are part of the newspaper's York Region Media Group's Big 50 initiative – the  goal is to have more than half of eligible voters go to the polls.
The panel hopes to host a series of pre-election events across Whitchurch-Stouffville this fall.

There was only one such event – an all-candidates forum hosted by the Whitchurch-Stouffville Public Library – held before the 2010 election.

The schedule this time would include an all-candidates kick-off event in Stouffville Memorial Park followed by six meetings, one in each of the town's wards, for councillor candidates.

"We'd like all voters to get involved and have a chance to talk to their ward candidates about neighbourhood issues," Sun-Tribune editor Jim Mason said, "whether it's a park for Musselman's Lake, parking in downtown Stouffville, development along the Gormley-Vandorf corridor or a plaza in Ballantrae. The more conversations the better. And we hope that translates into more people heading to the polls."

All the events would be held in town-owned facilities, including Nineteen on the Park, the museum/community centre in Vandorf and community centres in Lemonville and Ballantrae.

The panel will ask town council Tuesday to waive its fees for the rental of the facilities on the seven dates this fall. The meeting begins at 3 p.m. at the municipal offices on Sandiford Drive.

Other organizations, including the library and the Whitchurch-Stouffville Chamber of Commerce, are also hosting meetings, which would involve mayoral candidates. The groups have met in an attempt co-ordinate their efforts.