Affordability and Data Centres Dominate Burlington Mayoral Debate

About 250 chairs filled the gymnasium at East Plains United Church on Thursday night for a mayoral debate that ran close to two hours and was driven mostly by questions from the floor.

Marianne Meed Ward, Lisa Kearns and Rory Nisan took the table, with moderator Alan Harrington opening before two microphones went out to the room. The night was organized by Focus Burlington, a community group that follows the city's budgets, development, safety and traffic. Candidates Keith Demoe and Yugalkeesor Ramdhonee were polling below 10 per cent when the debate was arranged and were not invited, according to Focus Burlington founder Eric Stern.

Affordability took the most air

Nisan pitched a Burlington Affordability Guarantee that would cap tax increases at inflation, then asked the other two to co-sign it on the spot. Kearns said she would sign any pledge "once Rory starts doing his homework," having earlier used a rebuttal to argue he had found only $30,000 in savings last year. Nisan's own list of cuts included a $300,000 downtown parking garage consultant study plus $40,000 he called council bonuses, a description other council members dispute as pension payments.

Pressed on a tax freeze, Meed Ward said she has already brought a budget at zero to council and that council supported it, but that residents would have to help decide what gets cut. She pointed to the gap between what roads, parks and community centres need and what is funded.

Data centres came up when Ward 3 candidate Kyle Hutton asked about a moratorium. Kearns said her concern sits with data sovereignty, and with council holding the information for a week before saying anything publicly.

The last audience question asked each candidate to name something the others had done well, and all three answered. The next mayoral debate is Thursday, October 8 at the Art Gallery of Burlington, hosted by BurlingtonGreen and Safe Streets Halton, and those tickets have already sold out.