Mayoral candidates divided on strong mayor powers, data centres

ELORA – Centre Wellington’s first mayoral debate took place on Sept. 23 at the Jefferson Elora Community Centre and saw candidates answer questions on affordable housing, AI, food insecurity, strong mayor powers and more. 

The event was hosted by Rural Engagement and Advocacy for Community Housing (REACH Wellington) and was moderated by Michael Ryan.

To kick off the event, each candidate was given three minutes to give their opening remarks to the crowd of over 250. 

All five candidates – Neil Dunsmore, Stephen Kitras, Kelly Linton, Shawn Watters and Bronwynne Wilton – were present at the event.

Food insecurity, affordability 

Candidates were first asked what role they think the municipality can play in making life more affordable for people living on a low income. 

“The foundational step ... is to build more affordable and attainable housing units in Centre Wellington,” said Wilton. “That’s the main cost that people have.”

Wilton also pointed out the importance of collaborating and funding local support agencies such as the Centre Wellington Food Bank and the Community Resource Centre of North and Centre Wellington.

Dunsmore echoed Wilton’s sentiment on housing, citing the need to “close the gap between their income and expenses.”

“Spending 50per cent of their income on rent makes those monthly decisions hard,” said Dunsmore. He also noted the need for local, non-tourism-based jobs in the community.

Kitras was the first candidate to make a promise to the community, stating that, if elected, he would commit to a 0% tax rate increase for 2027. 

“Municipal governments cannot control grocery prices or provincial income support rates, but we absolutely can make decisions that affect affordability,” said Kitras. 

“My first principle is simple: don’t make the affordability crisis worse.”

Linton labelled affordability as “a community issue,” noting the 4,000 visits to the Centre Wellington Food Bank by residents in 2025. 

Watters said, “Food security and housing affordability are closely connected. When someone is spending most of their income on rent, utilities and transportation, there’s less for groceries.” He too highlighted the work being done by the food bank and community resource centre.

“As mayor, I don’t want to duplicate that work. I want to make sure those organizations are connected and well supported,” said Watters.

Data centres

Artificial intelligence (AI) and data centres became a topic of conversation as well, with divided views on a proposal for a Spur Innovation data centre on Gartshore Street in Fergus.

 “I went to the open house Spur had on (Sept. 19) and I listened to them,” said Kitras. “They are a very nice group. They don’t have all their information lined up yet, but they will, and they will present it to council.”

Kitras added he believes the proposed data centre is a “great opportunity,” and it is fear that is making people upset.

Dunsmore reminded the audience an application has not yet been submitted to the township and he remains leery due to “too many unanswered questions.”

“I think there needs to be a huge study done on it,” said Dunsmore.

Linton echoed Dunsmore, asking about back-up cooling systems and the effects on the power grid.

Agreeing with both Linton and Dunsmore, Watters said he doesn’t believe the old copper tubing site in Fergus is a good fit for a data centre regardless.

“On that particular site, there’s not enough energy to generate there,” said Watters. 

Wilton, who brought to council a one-year moratorium on data centres, agreed a thorough study should be completed. She said she is concerned about the proposed location due to its close proximity to homes. 

Strong mayor powers

Two out of the five mayoral candidates – Watters and Wilton, both current members of council – said they would not use strong mayor powers.

Linton said, “I’d only consider using strong mayor powers on things that members of council already approved in the strategic plan to expedite things [and] to get things on the agenda ... things that council already said that we wanted to do.”

Kitras said strong mayor powers were “created because the government felt that some things were not happening,” including affordable housing. Kitras pointed out the salary gap between the CAO and the mayor and claimed strong mayor powers actually put the CAO and the mayor on a more even playing field. 

Dunsmore said, “I refuse to say absolutely never, because when I was at this table the last time, I absolutely never saw COVID coming.

“But I would absolutely work for consensus 100% of the time, every time. And in an emergency, if we had to use it to prevent harm from this community, I would use it.”

Affordable housing, short-term rentals

Most candidates said they would support incentives for developers and homeowners to build below-market rentals.

“We’ll use every tool we have, from the CIP (community improvement plan) grants to DC (development charge) referrals,” said Dunsmore.

He also mentioned working with not-for-profits to deliver affordable housing in subdivisions on behalf of developers.

Linton suggested council consider the effect of development charges on construction costs, while also expanding housing options beyond detached homes and apartments to include townhouses, smaller homes and rentals.

Watters said he would support strengthening the township’s existing CIP as part of the current councils new housing action plan. 

“The important point is that Centre Wellington is not starting from zero. We already have a rental housing grant up to $15,000 per unit, up to four units, development charges deferrals for eligible rental projects, and tax increment equivalent grants or TIGs, which can support qualifying redevelopment or intensification,” said Watters.

Wilton also mentioned the current housing action plan, stating the document will “guide the township’s next steps to accelerate the construction of greater diversity of housing types within Centre Wellington.”

Kitras said, “I support the [CIP] incentives, but I also believe we need to be honest about who actually is able to take advantage of them. Grants and incentives can be a great start, but many lower-income homeowners are living pay cheque to pay cheque.”

Kitras noted rising costs are making it difficult for residents, particularly seniors on fixed incomes, to afford up-front costs for housing projects.

He also suggested using existing OLG revenues, including funds allocated to housing and community impact reserves, to support housing affordability programs rather than placing additional costs on property taxpayers.

When it came to short-term rentals (STR), all five candidates voiced their support for some form of licensing or regulating bylaw. 

Linton promised residents he would ensure an STR bylaw was approved within 100 days. Dunsmore countered he could achieve the same outcome in 90 days.

A licensing bylaw was previously brought to council, but it was ultimately deferred, leaving it up to the next council.

“Council deferred further action to the next term because we weren’t quite ready there,” said Watters. “As a mayor, I would support completing that work and looking at measures such as the principal residence requirement, licensing limits and zoning restrictions to help protect our long-term housing supply.”

Wilton agreed some form of licensing/regulation was required, but stressed the importance of STRs for the local economy and tourism, noting they are “providing necessary overnight accommodations, as well as an important source of income for a lot of our local residents.”

Each candidate mentioned the negative effects of STRs on the housing market for long-term rentals. Kitras, however, put most of the blame on the Ontario government. 

“Restricting STRs does not guarantee affordable housing will be the replacement. It’s probably exactly the opposite, and that is the real problem because what happens is we’re going to have to deal with the elephant in the room, which is discussing with the province why people don’t want to do long-term renting,” said Kitras.

“It’s because [provincial legislation] is very hard on landlords that are very small, and it’s an investment, and that conversation is the real reason why short-term rentals are exceeded.”

Mental health 

Candidates were asked what they would do to improve access to mental health and addiction services. 

“There are residents who don’t qualify for some publicly funded services, cannot afford private counseling and don’t have workplace benefits. They should not simply fall through the cracks,” said Kitras.

He added the township can’t replace the provincial health system, but it can   identify where residents are “falling through the gaps” and bring together local organizations to develop solutions and support residents. 

“Too many residents fall into this gap,” said Linton in his response. “As county warden, I had the opportunity to work with other wardens across western Ontario to implore the province for additional mental health funding.

“Our message was clear: rural communities face growing needs, but we do not receive our fair share of funding in comparison to large urban (centres). We need to continue to make the case to the province.”

Dunsmore, who has completed a walk to Ottawa to raise awareness for suicide and mental health issues, said he has been “banging my head against the wall for five years now with mental health in this community.” 

“The number one cause of mental health distress in a community is housing and not being able to afford it, and the second one is food,” he said. “We can work together as a community and start resolving some of those issues.” 

Watters said, “It’s a fragmented system. We do have services, but we need to ensure that our residents have timely access to those services.”

He added that if re-elected, he would host a “local mental health symposium with residents, the township, CMHA, heart hub, the Grove, public health, and other key stakeholders,” to identify shortfalls and connect community members to resources. He stated he would do this within his first 100 days. 

Wilton stressed the importance of mental health and addiction services in the rural community. 

 “Agriculture is an important industry in Centre Wellington, and we know that farmers experience high levels of stress, anxiety and burnout due to the unique pressures of the farm business,” said Wilton.

“So when we talk about needing to improve access to mental health and addiction care in Centre Wellington, we need to be mindful of including our urban and rural residents equitably.”

Tourism

All candidates agreed tourism is important to the local economy but has resulted in unwanted lifestyle changes for residents.

“We have implemented a municipal services corporation that will now be collecting, in January 2027, a municipal accommodation tax of 5% on all overnight stays,” said Wilson.

“That money will go back into managing tourism in terms of infrastructure, needing more staff to manage garbage [and] parking enforcement.”

Kitras suggested parking structures and looking to other areas, such as Europe, to see how they are handing tourism. He also mentioned needing bylaw officers to work the hours required to enforce existing bylaws. 

Dunsmore called tourism “a double-edged sword,” and offered a solution to tourists blocking residents’ driveways.

“People parking across your driveway is an easy fix. You put a bylaw in, and you put a towing company’s number on there,” said Dunsmore. “We have two towing companies in town. They’d be more than happy to hook them up and tow them away and let them deal with the money afterwards.”