By Pepper Parr
May 21st, 2026
BURLINGTON, ON
OPINION
The race in Ward 2 is expected to tighten up shortly. A candidate who was planning to announce put things on hold when Gary Carr filed his nomination papers. Carr has yet to do very much in the way of campaigning. He did chair the Regional Council meeting on Wednesday.
Marianne Meed Ward with the Save the Waterfront Committee that became her election campaign team.
Ward 2 was where Marianne Meed Ward planted her flag. She had run in Ward 1 against Rick Craven and lost. The family moved into the downtown core where Marianne was first elected as a Council member n 2010. She made the waterfront her main issue and went on to become a very effective member of Council. The best Council member I’ve observed in this city.
Marianne Meed Ward taught Council what transparency and accountable were about as a citizen. She went on to become a ward Councillor in 2010.
She made the words transparency and accountability very real and improved the performance of the Rick Goldring council. She was unyielding even though Councillors Sharman, Craven and Lancaster went to considerable lengths to slow Meed Ward down. The only person who gave Meed Ward any room was John Taylor of Ward 3.
In 2018, Meed Ward was elected Mayor, and there were a lot of very high hopes. Some of the expectations were not very realistic, and Marianne didn’t do all that much to tamp them down.
Mayor Meed Ward with CAO Tim Commisso at a City Council meeting.
Finding a City Manager she could work and grow with provided to be a challenge she was unable to overcome. She dumped James Ridge the day after she was sworn in. Brought in Tim Commisso and lost him when negative remarks she had about his performance got back to him. Weeks after being given a significant salary increase he advised the Mayor that he would not be renewing his contract.
Haasaam Basit being introduced to the public as the new City CAO.
Commisso was followed by Haasaam Basit who made all kinds of administrative changes, but when a better opportunity presented itself, he left the city after six months of service. “Bitter sweet” were Meed Ward’s words.
The urgent need for a replacement resulted in a good planner being drafted to fill the CAO position until the next Council was elected. Curt Benson is a good planner and a decent human being. He has yet to put his mark on the administration of the city. He sits next to the City Solicitor during Council meetings – there is a good reason for that seating arrangement.
A small group of people who were heavily involved in the 2018 election began to turn on Meed Ward. COVID didn’t help, tax increases were what people really objected to. The introduction of Strong Mayor Powers and the housing shortage that seemed to come out of nowhere – they all added up to varying levels of disappointment.
Council meetings had become unpleasant experiences for people who were delegating. There were occasions when some of the women delegating broke down in tears. Clamping down on any form of clapping or booing did not work. when Lisa Kearns pointed out to both the City Clerk and the Mayor that there was nothing on the Procedural Bylaw that forbade clapping, the genie was out of the bottle.
Mayor Meed Ward chairing a Council meeting virtually while at a graduation ceremony for her daughter.
The Council meeting that included that 14-minute rant https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcVTnWIi8O8 was not the best day in her career.
It is difficult to tell if Meed Ward was unaware of the shift or if she really didn’t know what to do. Many said she was both aware and didn’t care. Marianne was going to be Marianne.
So here we are in the early stages of the October 26 municipal election.
Marianne and her husband Pete in front of the Survivor Bell at Joseph Brant Hospital.
And Marianne has yet to file nomination papers. In 2018 she and her husband Pete were at City Hall early in the day. She signed papers while Pete took pictures. And the Gazette took pictures of the two of them
The divisiveness of this Council began to become more obvious.
Lisa Kearns began to take stronger positions and found herself telling people, “We can do better than this”
Has Meed Ward begun to realize that Kearns just might be able to defeat her as the sitting Mayor?
Losing is something Meed Ward would find difficult to manage emotionally.
Has the time come for Meed Ward to decide that this is the time to get out when you are at the top? To say ‘I have devoted 16 years to this city, my husband’s health is stable, but the cancer returning scare is always there, so I am not going to seek re-election. The public can decide who should replace me’.
What next for Marianne? Probably not in the world of politics – provincial or federal.
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