Niverville residents rolled into the Community Resource and Recreation Centre’s (CRRC) fieldhouse on Wednesday, October 5 to pose questions of seven candidates for town council. Approximately 75 people attended the event in person, with another 200 viewing the live online broadcast, which generated almost a hundred comments from engaged viewers.

The public event was hosted by the Niverville Chamber of Commerce (NCoC) in collaboration with The Citizen. The event was moderated by NCoC president Amanda Wiens and Citizen journalist Brenda Sawatzky.

Mayor Myron Dyck, who has been elected by acclamation for another four-year term, took a few minutes to make an introductory address.

“My platform for the next term is building relationships, building community, and building destination,” Dyck told the audience. “Personally, I believe in value. We need to be smart with our money and seek out value. We need to be fiscally responsible, but we also do need to help people. And so I seek that balance.”

In an effort to provide an opportunity for residents to question their mayor, Dyck announced that he will be hosting a pair of Meet the Mayor events on October 19 and October 22 at the CRRC.

“I will be there to answer questions, with my question to you being, ‘What would you like to see from council in the next four years?’” Dyck said.

Seven candidates took their place at the panel, including incumbents Kevin Stott, John Funk, Nathan Dueck, and Chris Wiebe. Joining them were three challengers: Meghan Beasant, Bill Fast, and Jason Alderson.

Over the course of the next hour and a half, candidates were given an opportunity to introduce themselves and provide the framework for their own election platforms.

They took turns, three candidates at a time, answering a series of pre-selected questions posed by the moderators.

Each candidate selected their seat at the panel by random draw before the event began, ensuring that the questions posed would be indiscriminate.

Representing concerns that mattered to Niverville’s business community, Wiens presented a series of question that had been submitted by NCoC members and curated for the event.

These inquiries solicited responses from the panel in regards to ways in which elected members of council will seek to help Main Street businesses thrive, ways in which they’d assist in creating a green and sustainable commercial sector going forward, and paths they might take toward growing the industrial sector in the business park, to name a few.

Sawatzky’s questions were more broadly based on submissions The Citizen received from residents of town during the month leading up to the forum.

Sawatzky asked candidates to share their thoughts on ensuring transparency on council, and how they would attempt to keep taxes relatively steady while still being open to funding amenities that may not be fully sustainable without tax dollar investment.

A series of questions were also received from the live and virtual audiences. The moderators focused on three of those questions with a promise to present the full list of inquiries to council members to review and respond to at a later date.

Candidates were asked to respond with their position on initiating maximum terms of service for council members, their feelings on the importance of hiring a town economic development officer, and how they would deal with the shortage of daycare spaces in the community.

The night was capped off with closing comments by each candidate. Lively one-on-one interactions between candidates and attendees continued in the CRRC lobby following the formal portion of the event.

“We want to thank all seven candidates for coming out to the forum,” Wiens told The Citizen. “It’s been an informative night and valuable for the community to be able to meet and hear from all the candidates in person.”

Overall, she said, public turnout for the event seemed good, both in person and online.

Despite the nerve-racking nature of an event such as this, she added, the candidates came well-prepared and demonstrated an impressive array of thoughtful and well-informed responses.

“The Chamber would like to thank everyone involved in putting on such a successful event. A big thank you to The Citizen for sponsoring this candidates forum. The value you brought to the event through marketing material, volunteer time, and your in-depth knowledge of the candidates’ platforms was truly invaluable. Also, we’d like to thank the Town of Niverville for the fantastic venue and the time and attention to detail your staff committed to ensuring the event was a success.”

Wiens shared a final thank you to the Niverville Nighthawks for the donation of water and to the many volunteers who provided their assistance for the event.