THINGS I'M HEARING AS A CANDIDATE

September 24th, 2026

I’m not trying to get anyone depressed, discouraged or shaking their head and walking away.

But as I go door to door, talk to residents, attend meetings and listen to the conversations happening in our community, I am hearing concerns.

Lots of them.

Concerns about development, traffic, roads, flooding, taxes, tourism, the beachfront, the Provincial Park, healthcare, recreation, the environment, transparency and the everyday things that affect our quality of life.

Some are shared by many of us. Others are very personal.

I think we need to acknowledge them.

I wish I could tell you that every concern has an inexpensive, simple solution that would make everyone happy.

I can’t.

I’m realistic.

Wasaga Beach is a community with different generations and different needs.

According to Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census, approximately 35% of Wasaga Beach residents were 65 or older, compared with about 20% in Simcoe County and 19% in Ontario. Our median age was about 56.

We need to remember those residents when we talk about taxes, services and affordability.

But we also need to remember the people in the middle.

Statistics Canada tells us that 53.7% of Wasaga Beach residents were between 15 and 64, with 11,310 residents between 25 and 64.

These are people who may be working, raising children, commuting, paying mortgages, helping aging parents and trying to keep everything together.

Many have lived through some pretty chaotic years — COVID, inflation, changing interest rates, tariffs and economic uncertainty.

And then we have our young families trying to build a future here.

We’re all feeling the cost of groceries. But add raising children to that: healthy food, sports programs, summer camps, music lessons, school expenses, maybe a tutor — and simply trying to give your children opportunities to learn, grow and be kids.

That is a tremendous responsibility.

Every generation matters.

And all of them deserve to be considered when we make decisions about our community and how we spend taxpayers’ money.

Because ultimately, whether we are talking municipal, provincial or federal government, we are talking about taxpayers’ money.

It’s our money.

So I believe we need to ask: What do we need? What can we afford? Is there a simpler or less expensive way to accomplish the same thing? What will it cost to maintain five, ten or twenty years from now?

But there is another side to all of this.

I don’t want us to lose sight of what makes a community a community.

Whether it’s the big vision of Destination Wasaga, better programming at the RecPlex, connecting seniors who need technology help with young people who have those skills, or creating the small-town feeling so many of us are craving — these things matter to me.

Neighbourhood barbecues. Yard sales. Movie afternoons. Getting people together who might otherwise never meet.

Sometimes the little things are what make us feel like we belong somewhere.

I want Wasaga Beach to grow and prosper while still feeling like a community — not simply a collection of houses and buildings.

And if I am fortunate enough to serve on Council, I want to leave Wasaga Beach a little better than I found it, just as so many people before me have done.

Our elected officials. Our Town staff. Our service organizations. Our volunteers.

They have all contributed to the Wasaga Beach we know today.

I want to add something positive to what others have already built.

And yes, I love this community.

I’ve had my “bikini days,” as I like to call them — although these days, I’m more of a one-piece-with-everything-held-securely-in-place kind of woman! 😂

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But seriously, Wasaga Beach has given me so much over the years.

I’ve worked, made friends, built a life here and gained a lot of work, life and community experience along the way.

Now I feel I have something to give back to the small town that has given me so much.

So what can I promise you?

I can promise to listen.

I can promise to do my best.

I can promise to do the research, find out who can help, and bring your concerns to the Council table.

I won’t pretend to have all the answers.

But I will keep learning, asking questions and looking for practical solutions.

I want to leave Wasaga Beach better than I found it — and I want to do it together with you.

Thanks for listening!