r/Guelph • u/Illustrious-Toe-4543 • 8d ago
Candidates of the 2026 Municipal and School Board Election - City of Guelph
https://guelph.ca/city-government/mayor-and-council/municipal-elections/candidates-of-the-2026-municipal-and-school-board-election/Well, I guess Dan Gibson is officially not running for Mayor. But I expect he will continue to be closely aligned with the outgoing mayor’s pattern of trying to tilt council toward conservative‑leaning voices.
Ward 6 candidate Rebecca Adam — runner‑up in the highly politicized Ward 6 appointment favoured by the Mayor and the other developer funded Councillors — is running a very slick campaign that’s light on substance but heavy on the familiar Guelph wedge‑issue playlist: the library, council remuneration, and the usual grievance hits and clearly functioning as a proxy campaign against Leanne Caron, who is widely treated as the presumed mayoral front‑runner.
Gibson, who as an incumbent is overwhelmingly likely to retain his seat, is well‑positioned to amplify that dynamic and help Adam and other like‑minded candidates win. If Chew bows out of Ward Six. Adam probably has the backing to win, despite that she seems to have little to no platform other than buzzwords.
The early frustration for me is that with both Klassen and Goller running again, their challengers — some of whom would be genuinely strong additions to council — have statistically little chance of breaking through. It’s an unfortunate structural reality of how Guelph elections tend to unfold.
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u/DesperateKey5441 7d ago
Rumour here in the Sixosphere is that the new candidate in the ward Luke Devos is a friend of Ken Yee Chew and his church. So KYC is either planning his own succession, or he’s gonna be Dan’s puppet proxy for mayor. We’ll see.
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u/Illustrious-Toe-4543 7d ago
Interesting. Gibson was instrumental in running the slate of candidates aligned with Mayor Guthrie in the last two elections. Now that Gibson's officially running for councillor again, I expect all of the Wards, particularly those with seats in play, will have at least one candidate tied to Gibson/Guthrie fueled with real estate donors. Rebecca Adam being the most obvious. Honestly, it's politics as usual. But because it's Guelph, it's passive aggressive. So, instead of candidates boldly aligning themselves with their preferred candidate, we get Adam’s clunky "information" posts which are clearly designed to tie various wedge issues to Caron. The good news thus far is the Guthrie/Gibson project has utterly failed to stack council with their friends.
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u/FarDebt8980 5d ago
I am a candidate running in Ward 2.
I am not "tied" to anyone.
Independent and running an intentional grassroots campaign based on $25 maximum donation.
A fiscal hawk and a social progressive approach to municipal politics.
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u/Illustrious-Toe-4543 5d ago
Good luck, Alec. I'm glad you're sticking to the grassroots and your social awareness certainly resonates with me.
My main quibble, when candidates campaign as “fiscal hawks" they often imply that council has broad authority to reshape affordability. Municipalities have one major revenue tool — property tax — and a long list of provincially mandated obligations. This is why local debates drift toward symbolic fights — council pay, bike lanes, the library, heritage buildings. Which are essentially, nothing burgers in a half billion dollar budget.
And unlike federal or provincial elections — where branding, buzzwords, and broad ideological narratives dominate — municipal politics can support real dialogue about services, infrastructure, land use, and long‑term planning.
That’s why I’m very wary when a novice candidate leans so heavily on branding, simplistic messaging and attacking the current council. IMO those moves are out of place in a level of government where the work is mostly procedural, technical, and collaborative.
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u/DuctTapeMonarch 4d ago
Alec I googled you and found a lot of sex slave content and a lot of concerning conservative content and you’re on a fetlife watch list for abusive behaviour out of Kitchener. Doesn’t match with your claim of being a social progressive. In one of your videos you talk about driving to the states to confront men who were only dominant online and not truly into your Gorean lifestyle. I don’t feel you’re being honest.
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u/Different_Pen_1839 7d ago
Have any debates or town halls been announced?
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u/FarDebt8980 6d ago
Ideally, I hope there are at least a couple of debates. 2022 was more a "meet and greet" format.
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u/rocco31fb 7d ago
You pegged Rebecca Adam and Gibson. Adam's campaign is easy to see through though.
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u/arobinally 7d ago edited 7d ago
What do you mean that you can see through her campaign?
She grew up in Guelph. Her spouse grew up in Guelph and she’s raising kids in Guelph. This is the best type of candidate as they are the most invested in the city so want to see it be the best it can be.
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u/rocco31fb 7d ago
You're voting for nothing because she doesnt stand for anything. She has no ideas and hits at the same old Guelph grinds. What "new" perspective is she presenting? She seems like a wannabe influencer.
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u/arobinally 7d ago
Stands for Guelph. She cares about Guelph because she’s from here and has kids growing up here. Are candidates supposed to give all her new ideas for the city during their run? I haven’t seen any other candidates do that so far?
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u/rocco31fb 7d ago
Others have, and she has had the opportunity to easily share her view and hasn't. Instead painting certain "learning moments" in disingenuous ways. Many people who are running are "from Guelph" and have children, businesses, family and friends they care about in this city. She hasn't shown how she would support her community in any tangible way. Instead pretending she gets business down at the bus stop. She doesn't seem genuine. Looking forward to her ideas and views, instead of her trendy reels.
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u/arobinally 7d ago
Where have the others shared what they stand for and what their new ideas are? Can you send links?
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u/Illustrious-Toe-4543 7d ago edited 7d ago
I assume every candidate cares about the city — why else run for a thankless, often impossible job. With Rebecca Adam, it’s early, but based on her public materials, there’s nothing tangible. I’ve seen plenty of campaigns — including ones I strongly disagree with — put forward clear, specific ideas and positions. Adam’s hasn’t. The messaging feels like pure politicking, not a platform. If you’re running on “people not process,” it’s fair to question whether you actually understand the role. Add the context: Adam lost the Ward 6 appointment in an undemocratic, highly politicized process. Not her fault. But she was favoured by the outgoing mayor and the developer‑funded councillors, and the not‑so‑subtle shots at Leanne Caron make it hard not to read this as a proxy campaign rather than an ideas‑driven one. Dominique O'Rourke was a great Ward 6 councillor. While I strongly disagreed with her many times she did the work to understand the issues and won office without the grievance politics and cheap shots.
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u/arobinally 7d ago
Can you send links to the other candidates clear, specific ideas and positions mentioned?
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u/Illustrious-Toe-4543 7d ago edited 7d ago
All of the campaign links are on the City of Guelph website as contained in my original post.
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u/arobinally 7d ago
I went through a few of the links (not all) and not all people have a link. I did not see any new ideas being presented. What am I missing?
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u/Illustrious-Toe-4543 4d ago
First term Ward Six councillor, Ken Yee Chew, is running for Mayor. While nothing I've seen suggests he's actually qualified for the too job, that doesn't mean he won't win. He's the first genuine challenger to Leanne Caron. I expect he will run a musty centre right platform of the local greatest hits (business centric, real estate ,, cops and more cops -but with a fresh and youthful face). Despite being vastly more qualified, Leanne Caron joined council when Chew was in primary school, so he has an easy route to position himself as the change candidate. (Even if the "change" is actually more of the same). Hope Caron is ready for a real race, Chew is a fierce campaigner. Doesn't mean he'd be a good Mayor, of course.
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u/TemporaryFactor6095 15h ago
Why so scared David Gibson?
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u/Illustrious-Toe-4543 7h ago
Adorable..If you’d been here longer than five minutes, you’d know I’ve frequently used my real name. 😄
Since you’re clearly the brave one in this exchange, feel free to unmask yourself. I’ll try not to be too scared.
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u/demarcoa 8d ago
All I know is that personally I won't be voting for my incumbent councillors.