The Saugeen Shores Chamber of Commerce says the planned all candidates meeting ahead of the municipal election has been cancelled.
It was scheduled to take place October 5th.
In a statement late last month, the Chamber of Commerce said it cannot host the meeting due to bylaw and mission mandate conflict recently brought to its attention after a comprehensive examination of chamber directives.
They say, in past years they ran the all candidates meeting like a town hall meeting, but note, “Unfortunately, that no longer fits with our members driven business model. Since the mutually agreed removal of the tourism component, (returned to town control), our bylaws are no longer the same as in the past.”
They explain, “We rely solely on our members’ contributions to exist; this public event no longer fits that model and as such, we are forced to make this public announcement at this time.”
CFUW Southport announced another all candidates meeting will be held Oct. 13 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at The Plex in Port Elgin.
Four seats are acclaimed in this election, meaning no one ran against the person in that seat. Mayor Luke Charbonneau has been acclaimed, Vice Deputy Mayor Mike Myatt has been acclaimed and Southampton Ward Councillors John Divinski and Cheryl Grace are acclaimed.
There are three candidates for deputy mayor: Matt Carr, Diane Huber and Don Matheson
Running for Saugeen Ward are Justin Duhaime, Kimberley Inniss-Petersen and Dave Myette. Saugeen Ward will have two council seats.
Running for the two Port Elgin ward council seats are Bud Halpin, Dianne Mini Jacques, Katie Rice and Rachel Stack.
*Editor’s note: This story was updated from an earlier version to add information about another all candidates meeting.