Three candidates vying for mayor in Gananoque, Ont. – Kingston | Globalnews.ca

The town of Gananoque sits in the heart of the Thousand Islands, with a population of just over 5,000 people, and has three candidates for mayor.

Incumbent Ted Lojko, John Beddows and Greg Trusdell are all on the card for the municipality’s top political job — all with their own vision for the town.

Lojko says if he is re-elected, he wants to get a number of projects back up and running that were put off due to the pandemic.

“One of the things that we’re looking forward to is, next year, possibly extending Kingston transit into Gananoque on an hourly regular basis,” he says.

John Beddows, a 30-year military veteran, says he wants to see greater transparency and accountability from municipal politicians.

Beddows calls the Gord Brown Memorial Canada 150 outdoor rink a $1.7 million boondoggle — citing a cracked ice pad, as well as loss and shifting of other amenities because of the rink.

“There’s supposed to be a change room there, it’s not built yet,” says Beddows.

“This was supposed to be completed by summer of 2019, pre-COVID, there’s no COVID excuse for not having been in on time, or on budget.”

One subject Lojko and Beddows can agree on is the need for affordable housing in the municipality.

“I agreed to serve on the affordable housing committee in [Gananoque], during the term of this council,” says Beddows.

“We were given no tools to work with. We had no leverage, no property, and at the level of council, it wasn’t a priority.”

Lojko says affordable housing, particularly for seniors, is one of the pieces that could play a role in addressing the issue.

“If you had alternative places for seniors to live, then they would sell off their homes to younger families, and then the demographic would slowly start changing as well,” says Lojko.

Third candidate Greg Truesdell, who was raised in Gananoque, says, if elected, he wants to address food and housing insecurity and increase employment opportunities in the community.

Truesdell has been a perioperative nurse for the last 20 years, and he says he wants the municipality to attain the full potential he sees in the town.