Q & A - Councillor candidate - Shawn LeBlanc

Councillor candidate - Shawn LeBlanc

(1) How would you advocate for affordable taxes while maintaining an adequate level of service for residents?

Residents are right to expect both. Affordable taxes and services that still work. 

My first step would not be a tax increase. It would be a direct ask of administration. Where can we save money, and where can we deliver the same service more efficiently? Staff see the contracts, the overtime, the duplicated work, and the processes that cost more than they should. I want that list before council debates a rate. 

Core services still come first. Roads, water, wastewater, fire, policing, and the basics that keep a town running. Growth should pay its share through development charges instead of being shifted onto people who already live here. 

Nice to have projects should wait until the numbers are honest. I would also push staff to chase senior government funding wherever it fits. 

Holding the line on taxes only works if we are disciplined about spending and clear about the tradeoffs. I will put those findings in public before any vote.

(2) What does “responsible growth” mean to you and how does growth in the commercial/industrial sectors factor into that?

Responsible growth means the town gets better as it gets bigger, not just busier.

New homes are welcome when water, wastewater, roads, and traffic can handle them, and when development charges cover the cost instead of landing on people who already live here. 

After 20 years in real estate in Essex County, I have sat with families buying in, seniors moving on, and builders trying to make a project work. 

I know the difference between growth that pays its way and growth that gets pushed onto existing residents. Commercial and industrial growth has to be part of that picture. 

Homes alone expand the tax base slowly and add demand for every service. Employers, shops, and industry spread the cost, keep young people working here, and give the downtown a reason to stay alive on a Tuesday, not only on a festival weekend. 

I will support growth that fits our roads and our character, and I will ask who pays before I vote yes.

(3) How would you balance protecting heritage attributes of Amherstburg against the growth of the town?

Amherstburg is a river town because of its history, not in spite of it. 

The Navy Yard, the old streets, the buildings people come here to see, those are assets, not obstacles. Protecting them does not mean freezing the town in place. 

It means new building has to fit the street it lands on. Height, setback, materials, and the view to the river should be settled in clear rules before a proposal shows up, not argued from scratch every time. 

I would keep heritage review early in the process so a good project is not surprised at the end, and a bad fit is not waved through because someone is in a hurry. Growth belongs where servicing and roads can take it, so we are not forcing incompatible buildings into the historic core. 

We can add homes and still look like Amherstburg in four years. That is the balance I will push for.

(4) What police service is best for Amherstburg at this time and how would you advocate for it?

Amherstburg must decide its policing model soon. The Windsor contract ends Dec. 31, 2028, and we need a confirmed plan with enough lead time to complete any transition by Jan. 1, 2029. The window is short. Anyone running for council should be willing to say what they would do next. Here is mine.

I would not rebuild a town police force. Restarting the service means recruiting, training, and governing a force from scratch, and paying for all of it before the first full shift is on the road. That is the most expensive option and the one most likely to miss the start date. Public safety is not a place to gamble on a startup.

I would not go back to Windsor either. The officers who work here have done the job since 2019. The contract has not. The bill moved from about $5.5 million in 2021 to $7.29 million in the 2026 budget, and the cost is going to be too high for the level of service. A new deal only exists if we pay more without getting more in return. That is not a fix.

That leaves the OPP model already used by Lakeshore, Tecumseh, Essex, Kingsville, and Leamington. Crime severity in several of those towns sits well below the Ontario average. I want the formal resource plan reviewed before any number is treated as final, and specialty services such as canine, tactical, and marine units written into the contract at the start. OPP officers already live here.

If this change saves millions against the path we are on, that money should go to roads, water, storm systems, and debt. Safer streets and a stronger balance sheet can travel together.

(5) What is the best way to present Open Air Weekends (if at all)?

Open Air should stay. People from across the region know it exists and come to Amherstburg specifically for it. To lose that would be a tragedy. It fills the downtown from June to early September and gives shops, patios, and families a reason to be on Richmond, Dalhousie, and Murray. Parking downtown is already difficult on an average day, so opening those roads would not solve the problem people complain about. The better fix is how we present it and what it costs to set up. The town has the ability to install barriers that retract into the road, which would limit the labour and equipment cost of closing streets every weekend. It just has to have the foresight to do it. Keep the dates, hours, parking, and accessible spots clear. Ask businesses what is working. Adjust a block if it is hurting more than it helps. Do not give up the draw that brings people here.

6. What goals do you have to move the town forward over the next four years?

Over the next four years I want four things residents can check. First, a policing decision made in public, with the numbers on the table, before the Windsor contract ends in 2029. Second, growth that pays its share, so new homes do not outrun water, wastewater, and roads or land on the existing tax bill. Third, a downtown that still feels like Amherstburg, with heritage protected by clear rules and Open Air run in a way businesses can plan around. Fourth, a councillor people can actually reach. If you call or email, you get an answer from me, not a form letter months later. I am not running to manage the status quo. I am running because this is our home, and the next four years will decide whether we grow while keeping the character people moved here for. That is the work. Hold me to it.

Q & A - Councillor candidate - Shawn LeBlanc