Weds Aug 5: Local News, Views & Events

News and updates involving Town of Hanover, Sauble Beach, Hanover hospital, Music on the Bruce, Crime Stoppers, Saugeen First Nation Powwow, and more

The Owen Sound Current is locally owned, ad-free, and reader-funded — get the news in your inbox every weekday. Become a paid subscriber for the full edition.

---

“A few weeks ago, Lee Manor team members picked up their chalk and joined Chalk Your Walk in support of Community Living Owen Sound & District! Chalk Your Walk encourages people to spread kindness, creativity, and connection through colourful sidewalk art and uplifting messages. Lee Manor was proud to take part and promote care, inclusion and connection in the community.” Source: Grey County

Voting day is Monday, October 26. Between now and then the field gets built, and most of that happens in the next month.

Here’s where things stand, and what you can expect from us.

August 21: nominations close

Anyone running for council or school board trustee has until 2 p.m. on Friday, August 21 to file with their municipal clerk. The date and time are set provincially and are the same across Ontario; nomination day is the third Friday in August under the Municipal Elections Act.

Council candidates in most municipalities also need a Form 2, an endorsement signed by 25 eligible voters. Smaller municipalities are exempt, so anyone considering a run should confirm with their own clerk rather than assume.

Filing fees are $200 for head of council and $100 for everything else. Candidates have to register before spending any money or accepting any contribution.

Late August: the field firms up

Clerks review each nomination and certify the ones that qualify. If an office draws fewer candidates than there are seats, there’s a short window for additional nominations. Candidates can also withdraw.

So the list on August 21 (and right now) isn’t final. By the first week of September, it should be.

What we’ll do then

Once the field is set, we start asking questions.

We’ll publish a candidate roundup for every municipality we cover with who’s running, where, and for what. Then we go deeper: what they’re proposing, and what they’d do differently. We’ll put the same questions to everyone running for the same office and print the answers. Where candidates don’t respond, we’ll say so.

In Owen Sound, we’ll also look backward. Councils are easier to judge on their record than their promises, and this term produced plenty of public record for voters to consider.

Two things voters need to know

Owen Sound’s voting period runs from 10 a.m. on Friday, October 16 to 8 p.m. on Monday, October 26 — internet and telephone only, with no paper ballots. You’ll need a Voter Information Letter, mailed in October, containing the PIN you use to log in.

Checking your registration early makes that letter more likely to arrive. Before August 12, you can confirm your information with Elections Ontario. But missing it doesn’t cost you your vote; you can register at an Election Centre during the voting period, or go to City Hall with ID to confirm your status and get your letter.

Election Centres for City of Owen Sound voters will be at City Hall and Heritage Place Mall through the voting period, and at retirement and long-term care homes on dates posted at each location.

Voting arrangements are set by each municipality individually, so dates, methods and Election Centre locations differ across Grey and Bruce. Owen Sound’s voting period opens October 16, while Arran-Elderslie has said Bruce County municipalities open October 19, for example.

Everywhere in Ontario, voting closes at 8 p.m. on October 26.

We’re building all of this into our Election Guide and keeping it current as municipalities confirm their arrangements. In any case, your municipal clerk is the definitive source — and the only one who can resolve a question about your own registration.

Let us know:

Miranda Miller
Editor

Your subscription keeps this newsroom running.

It funds the FOI requests, the court reporting and the hours it takes to follow a story past the press release — and sometimes earns you the first look at our investigations. Full subscribers also get our daily with original reporting, curated Grey-Bruce headlines, weather, obituaries, event listings and more.

Public Notice

• Notice of Parking Lot Construction at 28 Nelson Street West - Municipality of Meaford

Local News