The Night in Brief
Thursday night, all five Mitchell Ward candidates, as well as all other candidates for the other elections, took the stage at the Mitchell Community Centre for the All Candidates Meeting, hosted by the Mitchell Lions CLub and Mitchell Rotary Club. Three seats, five candidates, about two and a half hours of opening statements and questions from the floor — and a great crowd.
Here are my three moments from the night: the video and the full text of each.
My Opening Statement
Full Text of My Opening Statement:
Good Evening, My name is Ben Davey, and I’m asking for your vote for the Mitchell Ward council position this election.
First, a little bit about me. I’m 30 years old, born and raised right here in Mitchell. My wife, Abbey, is a teacher at the high school in town, where she coaches many of our school’s sports teams and advises groups like student council. Together, we’re raising our two-year-old son, William, who has made the trip out tonight, as well as another child on the way. We are living in a new home on the southwest end of town, which we moved into in February as first-time homebuyers.
I work as an engineer in advanced products at General Dynamics Land Systems in London where I design, build, and test prototypes. My engineering career has taught me two valuable lessons. First, success requires as much information and defined process as possible before the decisions are made. And second, if you do not try to get things right the first time, you will do them twice, often for far greater than twice the cost. This is the mindset I would like to bring to your municipal council.
I’m running for a simple reason. I tried to make my voice heard by this council. I reached out, I showed up, I spoke in a meeting. I came away feeling dismissed. I know I’m not the only one. No resident of West Perth should ever feel that way about their council.
If you elect me, here’s what I’ll do.
First, I’ll communicate. I’ll keep sharing what council is doing in plain language on my Facebook, my blog, whatever medium makes most sense. I’ll text it to you personally if you want. I’ll reply to every message sent to me… you can hold me to that.
Second, I’ll respect your tax dollars. I’ll ask the hard questions about the spending, demand the receipts, and make sure we do things right the first time instead of paying to fix them later.
Third, I’ll bring a young family’s perspective to the decisions that shape this town’s future: growth done responsibly, recreation our kids actually use, and real support for the things that matter to the young families — and everyone — of West Perth.
So far during this campaign, I’ve used my platforms to share my detailed positions with you on what council’s doing now and what I intend to do. I want you to vote on the 26th — or next week — knowing exactly who and what you’re voting for. I have worked very hard to make that possible.
That’s how I’ve campaigned. That’s how I intend to serve.
My family has served this community stretching back at least four generations. My great-grandfather served on Fullarton Township and County Council. My grandfather was an active member of the Monkton Lions Club. My parents were involved in the local Kin clubs and minor sports executives. I’m asking you for the chance to carry that torch and continue working to make West Perth the best community it can possibly be.
On October 26th, vote Ben Davey for Mitchell Ward councillor.
Thank you.
Data Centres
The question:
“What is your stance on A.I. data centres coming to Ontario?”
My answer:
This is an interesting question. I thought about this one recently and I did a lot of research over the past month or so. So far, small communities like this one are not seeing AI data centres at our doorstep. They like to be close to very high-speed internet, lots of fresh water, and infrastructure that’s closer to cities. We just don’t see that here at this time. But that doesn’t mean it may not come someday. There have been models set in other communities like Mississauga and Oakville where they’ve put one-year moratoriums on data centre building while they figure out what they’re going to do themselves. So it’s only a good thing to be prepared for this type of thing. I believe we should be looking at some of those other bigger communities that have been seeing these threats and trying to implement proactively into our bylaws to protect our community from something like that. Thank you.
A Bit More on This
The tool I named on stage is an interim control bylaw — under Ontario’s Planning Act, it lets a municipality hit pause on a specific type of development for up to a year while it studies the right long-term rules. It’s the standard first move when a council has more questions than answers.
The examples I cited are real, and recent:
- Oakville passed a one-year interim control bylaw on August 11, 2026 — the first Ontario municipality to get one across the finish line — after a 320-megawatt AI facility was proposed in the town.
- Mississauga followed on September 16, 2026, voting 10–1 to pause applications for major digital infrastructure facilities (10+ megawatts) for up to a year, and has since struck a task force to work through the review.
- Sault Ste. Marie has passed one as well.
My point stands: West Perth doesn’t have a data centre proposal on its doorstep today, but the playbook for getting ahead of one already exists — and we should be borrowing it, not inventing it from scratch when the pressure’s on.
One more thing worth noting: right after I gave this answer, Deputy Mayor Trentowsky said on the record, “Mr. Davey hit the nail on the head: an interim control bylaw. That is probably the first tool in the toolbox for municipalities that have more questions than answers and need more time to prepare.” I’ll take that.
Why I’m Running
The question:
Which committee would you most want to serve on?
My answer:
One of the big reasons I got involved in this race began when there’s a proposed development right across the road from where I live — 216 units going into a single six-acre plot of land. For anybody who’s not read the numbers, that is roughly a 10% increase of the Mitchell population in one a single 6 acre plot. That was kind of my origin story. I think that the property standards committee would provide the best opportunity to influence the planning in the community… I am not anti-growth or anti-development by any means, but we need to look at what the actual needs are of the community.
I recently got the opportunity to sit down with the Vicky Wolfe Hinz at the Ritz Villa to learn about the outreach programs that they do and what the seniors need most in this community — that really opened my eyes to a whole new side of the housing conversation, something I hadn’t considered before. We had a really awesome meeting. I learned a ton, and it’s really starting to reshape the way I look at things. I came into this with a lot of personal experience as a young family — but it’s everybody that needs to be represented. It’s not just my family. Thanks.
A Bit More on This
What I want for Mitchell is growth that actually fits — efficient use of the land we have, planned around what this community genuinely needs. That means low-cost housing options for young people trying to enter the market, stable options for people who choose to rent, and low cost, accessible options for seniors — not just whoever the next proposal happens to serve.
Since launching this campaign, I’ve reached out to all of the service clubs, minor sports committees, and community organizations across West Perth to sit down and learn what they actually need — including a great meeting with Vicky Wolfe-Hinz at Community Outreach that opened my eyes to the many wonderful things they do, the priorities she is hearing from the seniors in our community and the seniors’ side of the housing conversation.
I reached out and volunteered to sit down with all of these organizations in my free time because I want to hear from the community — and if the municipality isn’t going to do it formally, I’ll do it personally. I’ll keep showing up, asking, and listening — that’s the job.
A Note on Poppy Lane
Poppy Lane came up during the question period. I’ve already published my full statement on where I stand — the arguments on both sides, how I would have voted, and what I think the best path forward is. I didn’t feel I had anything to add beyond what the candidates who spoke said, so I’ll just point you to it: My Official Statement on the Closure of Poppy Lane.
A Note on Tendering
Taxes came up during the night, and with them a question about whether a specific project was overpriced — which turned into a broader conversation about how the township tenders its work.
After the meeting, a community member raised the concern from the other direction: that we can often award to the lowest bidder and end up paying more in the long run when the quality isn’t there.
After the meeting, in conversation with a community member, I said honestly that I don’t know enough about the town’s tender process yet — but that if there isn’t a quality metric built into it, there needs to be. Since then, I’ve read the municipality’s procurement policy (FIN-002), and here’s where I’ve landed.
The policy already awards to the “highest-ranked compliant bidder,” not strictly the lowest price — so the door is open. What I’d push for: every tender-award report to council should include the number of bidders, all compliant bid prices (not just the winner), and quantity breakdowns. On April 7th, even a sitting councillor said on the record that without tender prices and quantities, “it’s hard for us to make a determination if we’re spending our money efficiently.” If council can’t get the receipts, residents definitely can’t. I’d also publish a plain-language annual summary — how many tenders were issued, how many were sole-sourced and why, total values — one page, once a year.
Cheapest in year one isn’t cheapest. Do it right the first time.
In Closing
Thank you to everyone who came out on Thursday night, to the Mitchell Lions and Rotary Club for hosting, and to everyone who asked the hard questions — that’s what local democracy is supposed to look like. If this is the first you’re hearing from me, everything I’ve promised is written down on this blog and on my Facebook page, in plain language and with receipts. Advance voting runs October 19–26 by phone and internet, and election day is October 26. I’d be honoured to earn your vote for Mitchell Ward councillor.