By Pepper Parr
April 28th, 2026
BURLINGTON, ON
Councillor Kearns held an interesting ward meeting last week.
She is the only Councillor who attracts 25 to 35 people to her monthly ward meetings – most of the audience stays for the two-hour meeting and the questions flow.
Kearns has said she will not run for a third term as a municipal Councillor but will file nomination papers on May 1st for the Office of Mayor.
Sean Campbell appears to be taking a traditional Burlington approach to municipal politics: create a community service group, develop a profile and then run for office. Mayor Meed Ward this with Save our Waterfront.
Brad Harness is the Publisher of the Burlington Independent and a candidate for the Ward 2 Council seat.
What few in the room were aware of is that while there is one candidate who has announced he will run – Brad Harness – there were two other possible candidates in the room: Sean Campbell, the man behind Burlington Helping Burlington has said privately that he expects to file nomination papers and Gary Carr, currently the Regional Chair.
Gary Carr, current Regional Chair is rumoured to be considering a run for the Burlington ward 2 Council seat.
Carr moved into a ward 2 residence some time ago.
Carr has not said a word about running but he was at the Kearns ward 2 meeting.
Should he decide to run, Carr has a better than even chance of winning, and he would bring some maturity and a deep understanding to the job.
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I don’t think Gary has the energy for the job nor the desire. Why take such a massive pay cut.
Please let’s stop with the ageism smears and the unfounded characterizations. Halton, and in particular Burlington and Oakville, have state of the art sewage treatment and water treatment facilities that have been continuously modernized over the past twenty years. Please remember who was Regional Chair during this time. Waste treatment and water purification are not sexy, but try living without them. If someone has a proven record as a manager you would be wise to reconsider your simplistic wish for “new blood”.
Great a self-entitled old timer Gary Carr, will not do anything for Ward 2
Enjoy your retirement Gary New blood needed
I agree with Penny Hersh. It is time for new blood. I have noticed. Sean Campbell at some of the war two meetings. He definitely asked pertinent questions. It will be interesting to see what his policies and platform are if he declares.
The next Regional Chair will be appointed by Doug Ford. In my opinion Gary Carr, as Ward 2 Councillor, would bring a solid understanding of the operation of Halton to Regional Council. This would be an important counterpoint to Mr. Ford’s appointee. Gary Carr would also be a very experienced councillor. He is a very good listener and genuinely cares for people.
I hope that Gary Carr decides NOT to run in Ward 2.
It is time for “new blood”. New ideas, different ways of engaging with the residents.
Mr. Carr has had a good run…..it’s time for change.