Editorial: Ask the candidates about jobs, not just roads
Two closings in Owen Sound will be felt in Chatsworth. Before you mark your ballot, ask the people who want your vote what they would do about work in this township.
By The Banner Editorial Board · · 2 min read
Municipal campaigns in a rural township tend to run on roads, ditches and the tax bill. Those matter. But this fall, Chatsworth voters have reason to ask a harder question: what will the next council do about work?
Two closings in Owen Sound should focus minds. TC Transcontinental says its RBW Graphics printing plant will close at the end of January 2027, affecting 340 regular and 20 temporary employees. The grain elevator on Owen Sound's west harbour, part of the city's skyline for 101 years, is set to close Dec. 18, affecting five full-time workers and one part-time worker. It's not yet known how many of the people affected live in Chatsworth. In a township this close to Owen Sound, it would be surprising if none did.
A township council can't keep a plant open or set grain prices. It can decide whether Chatsworth is an easy place to start or grow a business, whether land use rules leave room for new work, how hard it pushes Grey County and the province for help when a big employer leaves, and whether it treats economic development as someone else's problem.
So ask. At the door, on the phone, at the next meeting: What would you do in your first year to help people who lose their jobs? What kind of employers do you want here, and what's stopping them? How would you work with Owen Sound and Grey County when the next closing comes?
Then vote. In Chatsworth, this election is by mail. Voting kits were mailed to eligible voters in late September, and completed ballots can go back in the prepaid envelope or be dropped off at the Municipal Office. Ballots have to be in by 8 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 26, so if you're mailing yours, mail it early. If you didn't get a kit, or yours has the wrong information, the township says you need to update your details on the voters' list to get a corrected one. Contact the Clerk's office at the township office.
Your turn: What would you ask the candidates about jobs in Chatsworth? Send a letter to news@chatsworthbanner.ca or use the tip form on our site.
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