As part of 90.5 myFM’s 2026 Election Coverage, myFM reached out to candidates in South Huron, Bluewater, Lambton Shores and Lucan-Biddulph to hear why they believe residents should vote for them on October 26th.
Here’s what Jeff Girling, running for Ward 7 in Lambton Shores had to say.
TRANSCRIBED AUDIO:
“Hello there, my name is Jeff Girling and I am running for Councillor in Ward 7.
Lambton Shores has been an important part of my life for the past 14 years. It was 14 years ago that my wife Sue and I bought a cottage on the Cut in order to be closer to her mother in London. At that point, we owned and operated a very successful B &B and pub in Gananoque, Ontario and commuted back and forth for about 10 years. We finally moved at the beginning of COVID and have enjoyed making many friends here in the region.
This is not my first time to throw my hat into the municipal ring. I have a great deal of experience in community service. I ran for council in 2010 in Gananoque and was fortunate to be elected along with five other like-minded individuals that felt a change was necessary in order to face and succeed at solving economic and developmental challenges.
We implemented a strategic plan and were successful for the most part in achieving our objectives. So much so that I ran again in 2014 and won another four year term. I feel that there are many similarities between how we felt in 2010 and at the present. It is time for a change. In addition to my council experience, I was also a board member of the Kingston BIA and was heavily involved in helping plan and organize the Kingston Blues Festival, the Kingston Buskers Festival, across the causeway with the Tragically Hip, and many other planned events. I also served on the Skies the Limit Planning Committee, a Kingston Police Services initiative that was planned as a unifier to bring the three townships closer together after forced amalgamation.
Moving forward, the next four years are going to be very interesting with an uncertain political climate nationally and many large economic challenges on the slate locally to be discussed and dealt with. These challenges include new housing growth, a very expensive rec center plan, parking issues at the Bend, planning around a new school in Forest, development of the old Christine site in Port Franks, business development in Thedford, movement of emergency services facilities and public transportation initiatives.
I would like to say thank you to myFM for the opportunity to let you know a little bit about who the candidates are and what they have to offer. I hope I have shed some light on who I am and my passion for community participation.
Also, I hope that I’ve been able to highlight my extensive business and organizational experience as an asset that will be very useful moving through the next four years. I hope you have a great day.”
