Residents came together at the Port Robinson Community Centre on Thursday evening to meet the candidates in the upcoming municipal and school board election.
The event was organized by the women of Port Robinson Proud.
The group’s founding members Nancy Waters and Debbie Barnes were the emcees of the evening.
“When Port Robinson Proud started back in 2014 we discovered that the city of Thorold did not give us a polling station in the municipal election,” Waters told the gathered crowd. “We got very political and we got very loud and we got that polling station. We felt it was important that our voices be heard at city council.”
The theme of the evening was accountability and transparency.
Every candidate had to answer a question pertaining to an issue in Thorold. The list of questions was sourced from the community and a lot of them centred around the lack of communication between the city and its residents.
There were questions about the state of the roads in Port Robinson, the ferry, and the closure of Fire Station 3. The Canada Games Park also came up a few times.
After the Q&A session, candidates were invited to mingle with voters to better get to know each other.
Barnes explained to ThoroldToday why a night like this is so important.
“You have to be able to give the candidates a chance to say their piece,” she said. “We just want the people to be able to come out and meet these folks. When you engage [candidates] one-on-one it’s wonderful because you get to know them better.”
To better get to know your candidates, read ThoroldToday’s MEET YOUR CANDIDATE series.
