Photo supplied by Morgaine Griffin
This week we begin our profiles of area candidates running in the Oct. 26 municipal vote.
We start with Morgaine Griffin, Ward 2 councillor in Central Elgin, who has filed her papers as a mayoral candidate in Central Elgin.
This is her first term on council, as was the case for the remainder of the councillors, along with the mayor and deputy mayor.
“So that was a very steep learning curve,” admitted Griffin. “And although I know there’s a lot more leadership involved in the role of mayor than councillor, I don’t think it’s nearly as big a step up. I think we can do it.”
We asked her to go back to that initial decision to run for Central Elgin council.
She continued, “I know that this is corny, but I think I believe in myself because I feel like my community believes in me. I have had people asking me since two years before nominations opened whether I was going to run for it, telling me that they would love to be able to support me doing it.
”And that was one of my biggest criticisms of things like the debates is that a debate is a great time to broadcast to many people. But if you have a debate between seven and nine at night, there’s an awful lot of parents getting kids in bed or to and from sports. There are people working evening jobs.
“And one of the things that I did that nobody else in Central Elgin had started doing when I first launched it was my social media campaign. And there were some people who pushed back and said, you know, I’m not doing social media because I don’t think that’s an appropriate place for politics. But the reality is that we are living in a very busy world and not everyone has that time and space to get out to all of your things.
“I also hosted farmer’s market events because, again, if you can catch someone while they’re grabbing the meat and cheese they wanted, they have five minutes, but they don’t always have two hours.”
We asked Griffin about her thoughts on the ward system in Central Elgin.
With the mega-developments underway in St. Thomas and proposed for Central Elgin at the site of the former St. Thomas Psychiatric Hospital, this is an entirely different playing field than what she faced four years ago.
As her inaugural term winds down, we asked Griffin for her impression of the four years.
Griffin was right out of the gate with her nomination papers after the filing period opened on May 1, and we asked her about the motivation.
Griffin continued, “It comes back to meeting people where they are, like I was saying before. And the world is busy, and people are short on time. And I think the more runway you give people to look at your platform and let you know about the part they didn’t see that they wanted to understand, those things are important. And it’s respectful to the community to give them the time to do that research correctly.
“You want to win by merit, not by default.”
And so what are the key issues Griffin foresees in the coming four years?
She added, “Central Elgin is one of the most senior communities in the province and aging as it goes. And we’ve got lots of grandmas that don’t want to stay on the farm and figure out how to shovel their own snow, but they still want to be close to the grandkids.
“So density means things like apartment buildings, places that have an elevator as your mobility changes. Density is a really important thing for our aging population, but it is also a way to mitigate that sprawl. And we do have a huge rural community and beautiful farmland. And if we want to protect that, we have to plan to build inward in the spaces we already have.”
As we began to wrap up, the conversation turned to the need for honesty with your constituents.
Griffin stressed, “I think if we really respect our community as our equals and as intelligent people and people who are following the issues and care about the answers, we need to give them the news, for better or for worse.
“People can handle disappointment a lot better than they can handle confusion or betrayal.”
Her campaign signs are clearly visible, as is her message.
“My signs right now on the lawn say stewardship, evidence, respect.
“I’ve been overwhelmed by how positive the reception of my announcement has been and how many people have reached out to support in so many ways.”
Griffin has spent her entire life in the area, while her family has been farming in the former Yarmouth Township for generations.
“I ran to be part of a council that listens and engages — and every day, I try to be that councillor.”
You can find out more about Morgaine Griffin at https://www.facebook.com/MorgaineforMayor
Written by Ian McCallum
