Candidates for Windsor City Council's Ward 7 seat will have a chance to debate the issues next week.
A virtual debate of Ward 7 candidates will take place via Zoom on Wednesday, September 9, at 7 p.m. The event is sponsored by the Canadian Federation of University Women Windsor.
According to a media release sent to the Blackburn Radio newsroom, all 12 candidates in the October 5 by-election have been invited, and the public is also welcome to register to be part of the teleconference.
The candidates are seeking to fill the seat last occupied by Irek Kusmierczyk, who resigned last fall to become the Liberal MP for Windsor-Tecumseh. The by-election was initially set to take place on April 27, but the COVID-19 pandemic put a crimp in those plans.
The 12 contestants, who filed on or before the original deadline of March 13, are as follows in alphabetical order.
- Igor Dzaic, independent contractor and researcher
- Farah El-Hajj, a former constituency office aide to Windsor West MP Brian Masse
- Michelle Gajewski, U of W alum, president of the Polish Canadian Students' Association of Windsor
- Jeewen Gill, real estate broker, a previous Liberal candidate in federal and provincial elections
- Barbara Holland, business owner, former chairperson of the Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board
- Ernie Lamont, businessman and perennial mayoral candidate
- Greg Lemay, small business owner and homeless advocate
- Mike Malott, Chrysler Canada employee and union member
- Angelo Marignani, an employee at Magna International, former owner of Milk Coffee Bar
- Therese Papineau, retired civil servant
- Albert Saba, employment counsellor, college professor
- Howard Weeks, activist
Advance voting for the October 5 vote is scheduled for September 29 and 30, October 1 and 3. It will be in person and will take place at the WFCU Centre with particular pandemic protocols in place.
The successful candidate will finish out Kusmierczyk's term, which expires in October 2022.
