Re-election challenge looms for Freedom Convoy-backing Ontario mayor
Warwick Mayor Jackie Rombouts took fire this winter after she addressed the convoy
Author of the article:Tyler Kula • Sarnia Observer
Publishing date:May 19, 2022 • 19 hours ago • 2 minute read • Join the conversation
SARNIA – A former Warwick Township mayor will vie for the job this fall against the often-controversial incumbent who was criticized earlier this year for not getting tough on Highway 402 vaccine-mandate protesters.
After a break from municipal politics, Todd Case said he realized he wanted to be mayor again.
“I took a break for 3 1/2 years and I realized I really missed the job,” said the former five-term mayor, who stepped aside in 2018 to spend more time with family and allow for a change at the helm in the eastern Lambton County township of about 3,600 residents.
“I needed that break and enjoyed the break, but . . . I’ve realized I really missed it,” said the 57-year-old married father of two and grandfather of five.
Case said he’s running on his experience, which includes three terms as Lambton County warden and 18 years as mayor, and his ability to build relationships with senior levels of government “to make sure we in rural Ontario get a piece of the pie when it comes to opportunities for financial incentives for our community and so on.”
Case and incumbent Warwick Mayor Jackie Rombouts both officially had filed their nomination papers as of Wednesday. The deadline for others to enter is late August; the election is Oct. 24.
“We have great momentum happening in Warwick Township,” said Rombouts, 46, who first served as a councillor in 2014 before winning a close race for mayor four years ago.
“We’re seeing all kinds of expansions and development happening, and I want to continue moving forward with that,” the married mother of four and organic farmer said about her decision to run for re-election.
Rombouts took fire this winter after she addressed the so-called freedom convoy that paralyzed downtown Ottawa for weeks. She was also criticized for refusing to disavow a smaller, similar protest that shut down the westbound lanes of Hwy. 402, essentially the economic heart of their community, for several days.
Both Case and Rombouts declined to specify how they differ from one another as candidates for the township’s top political job.
“I’m going to run on my record . . . my experience,” Case said.
Rombouts, who promised to “run a very clean campaign,” said her intent during the election campaign was to “stay positive and just focus on what myself and this term of council has accomplished.”
Both Rombouts and Case did identify a proposed Twin Creeks landfill expansion, which already has prompted an environmental assessment, as a key issue for the township.
No nominees for Warwick Township council had filed their papers as of Wednesday.
tkula@postmedia.com
A former Warwick mayor and Lambton warden has filed to run again for the township’s top job against the often-controversial current mayor, who was criticized earlie…
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