McDonald sworn in as Chatham-Kent councillor

Morena McDonald’s introduction to Chatham-Kent Council was definitely unique.

The Ridgetown native was sworn in as the new Ward 3 East Kent Councillor at the start of the May 27 meeting. But her first appearance in the actual Council Chambers will be the Monday, June 10 meeting.

McDonald’s inaugural meeting as a Ward 3 representative took place at the John D. Bradley Centre. Administration moved the session to the Bradley Centre ballroom because of an expected overflow crowd due to some hot topics, mainly an updated report on the proposed landfill near Dresden.

It turned out to be a wise decision as perhaps half of the audience would not have been able to attend the meeting had it been held in the Council Chambers.

In addition to the landfill update, several lengthy debates led to a nearly three-and-a-half-hour meeting.

“It was a long one, but there was lots of great discussion,” McDonald said. “And it was a bit of a different one because it was at the Bradley Centre. But I really enjoyed it.”

McDonald is no stranger to the Civic Centre and municipal workings, having covered Council as a reporter and news anchor at CKXS 99.1FM from 2016-19.

At the start of the meeting, McDonald took the oath of office from Judy Smith, Director of Municipal Governance, which drew a standing ovation.

“That’s a great way to get started with a standing ovation; it usually takes a while to get one,” Mayor Darrin Canniff said. “On behalf of Council and the citizens of Chatham-Kent, I want to welcome you to Council.”

“And we thought we’d throw you in the deep end with probably one of the tougher agendas we’re going to have in the entire term,” he said to McDonald.

Along with the information report and a number of deputations on the proposed Dresden landfill, other major topics included information reports and voting on the backyard chicken issue, flag-raising policy, and a ward boundary review.

McDonald voted in favour of a pilot project allowing backyard chickens in rural and village residential areas and motions to conduct a ward boundary review and approve a flag policy.

“I was looking at the survey results, and it was something people wanted, to have that option available,” McDonald said about the pilot project to allow residents in rural and village areas to raise backyard chickens, but with limitations.

She also voted in favour of a failed motion that would have allowed backyard chickens in any residential area in Chatham-Kent over one acre in size.

“It’s just a pilot project, so we’ll see how it goes,” McDonald said. “Since a lot of people were interested, that’s how Council voted.”

McDonald was also very supportive of Ward 6 Councillor Marjorie Crew’s motion to reconsider Council’s decision from its April 29 meeting to conduct a review of the ward boundaries.

An 8-8 tie vote defeated North Kent Councillor Rhonda Jubenville’s motion to hire an outside consultant to review the number of Chatham-Kent Councillors and its ward boundaries.

A procedural regulation, however, prevented Jubenville from bringing the decision back to Council since it was her motion that failed, but Crew, who voted against the original motion, brought it back to the floor at the May 27 meeting.

“The Federal ridings have changed recently, and our ward boundaries have not changed since amalgamation,” McDonald said. “From my perspective, it makes sense to see what these ward boundaries may look like, especially because our population is increasing.”

“But that being said, I’m still hoping that we’ll have at least equal and proportionate representation for our rural area to make sure the rural areas still have a voice at the table,” McDonald said.

McDonald said she is glad that a policy will be implemented to fly flags at the Civic Centre to recognize special occasions for community organizations.

“I think it’s a good idea to have a policy in place so when these requests do come in, it will make things easier for groups in the community to know what’s eligible to be flown,” McDonald said.

McDonald takes over the Council seat held by Steve Pinsonneault, who served East Kent for five terms beginning in 2006.

Pinsonneault vacated his seat for a successful run as the new MPP in the Lambton Kent Middlesex riding.

Council voted to offer the Ward 3 seat to McDonald, who finished third behind Pinsonneault and John Wright in the 2022 Municipal Election, rather than holding a by-election.

McDonald said she has received only “positive support” from East Kent residents since accepting the appointment.

Michael Bennett, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Ridgetown Independent News