Malahide Mayor Dominique Giguere was acclaimed County of Elgin Warden for 2026 on Tuesday evening.
In her acceptance speech, Giguere took time to thank past wardens, some of whom were in attendance.
“I’ve learned a lot from each of you, and I consider it an honour to follow in your footsteps. I do not take lightly, nor for granted, the decision that was made this evening.”
In an interview with myFM afterward, she emphasized the importance of thoughtful leadership on key priorities and promised a year of stability and clarity.
Asked if she had priorities for the coming year, Giguere stressed, “We do have a strategic plan with a set of priorities. So the plan is just to stay the course, speaking of stability. But I will be meeting with each councillor to say, so now we’ve got one year for this term of council.”
She added, “If you have 100 priorities, then you have no priorities.”
Infrastructure, she pointed out, is one area where council will have to focus its attention in the coming year, while not placing a heavy burden on ratepayers.
Giguere noted there is no shortage of agenda items to deal with and council is not going to waste any time getting started. In fact, her first council meeting as warden was Thursday morning.
She has been tagged the guardian of the lanes and that will be her focus moving forward.
Over the past seven years on county council, Giguere admits there are times when she may sound like a broken record.
“My colleagues are very familiar with my broken record. Seven years worth. That’s right. Seven years worth of hearing me say the same thing. But like I said, I’m all for boring and predictable when it comes to politics.”
As is the custom, past Warden Grant Jones will serve this coming year as Deputy Warden.
Written by Ian McCallum
