Chatham-Kent council members have put off on making a final decision about a realignment of ward boundaries and council composition until the new year.
A motion to change the makeup of council to have 13 council members, including the mayor, was ultimately opposed in a 7-10 vote. Ward 1 councillor Melissa Harrigan, Ward 4 councillor Rhonda Jubenville, Ward 5 councillor Carmen McGregor, Ward 6 councillors Brock McGregor and Alysson Storey, along with Mayor Darrin Canniff all voted in favour. Ward 6 councillor Amy Finn was not in attendance.
Members later voted 10 to 7 in favour of pushing the decision to the January 27th council meeting.
At that meeting, Council will vote on whether they want 15 council members, including the mayor, in chamber starting in 2026. If opposed, maintaining the status quo would be back on the table.
Consulting firm StrategyCorp’s recommended option included seven wards with two councillors representing each one.
Ward 5 councillor Aaron Hall was vocal in the decision to push the decision to the next council meeting, citing that changing ward boundaries isn’t something you rush.
“I think we had a really good discussion about it tonight. A lot of councillors were really passionate about it and gave their opinions about the matter,” Hall tells CKXS.
“We are looking at changing up the number of representation across our community and changing up some of the boundaries. It’s a big deal, I think it is something we should take our time with and get it right.”
A decision ultimately needs to be made so it is applicable for the 2026 municipal election, and while there is still time to finalize that decision, Hall believes there are still questions surrounding the specific boundaries and communities of interest which includes Wallaceburg.
“I think with both the options that have been presented to us so far, Wallaceburg is still presented as whole, and still maintained with two representatives,” says Hall.
“With the 15 number, the boundary will expand quite a bit taking in more of the rural areas surrounding Wallaceburg and the 18 number still incorporates some of the areas surrounding Wallaceburg, which is something I think makes sense, but we will see what we get to when we make the final decision in the new year.”
Despite public meetings held in August and November along with an online survey, Hall and other councillors said they did not get receive a lot of feedback on the issue.
“The context and the comments that I heard, it wasn’t a slam dunk for me to vote for the 13 number (of councillors) or the 15 number,” says Hall.
“I think we did the responsible thing tonight and pushed it. So that gives us a little more time and it also gives the community a little more time to reach out and provide their input so that when it comes time to make that final decision maybe we can hear a little bit more about what people think about it.”
Officials with StrategyCorp say each realignment option was designed with effective representation in mind by examining the current population in each ward and the projected population growth over the next five years.