Matthew Giffin

The question presents an easy invitation to offer an answer custom-designed to please the crowd. "I'd cut the funding from X and apply it to Y." The fact of the matter is that managing limited resources requires nuanced thinking and compromise. There are pros and cons for every decision. Would I prefer it if $33 million over 4 years not be delegated to gravel road upgrades and instead funnelled into infrastructure upgrades in Ridgetown? The easy answer would be "yes." However, managing a municipality is more complex than looking from the outside in and offering answers that sound satisfying without being tested. We need infrastructure upgrades and a solid growth plan in Ridgetown. And we need gravel road upgrades. Let the discussions begin.

I'd rather look forward than backwards. We live in an era of fast technological change. Like it or not, the use of AI is becoming a standard feature for carrying out virtually every kind of endeavour. Adoption of these tools is happening in business; it should be happening in the running of a municipality as well. As a councillor I'd advocate for AI to be harnessed for time-consuming, repetitive tasks: permit and licence intake, council documentation, contract and RFP review, grant-application drafting, combing through proposed budgets looking for savings. It's not theoretical — a laborious manual version of this work - based on a mayoral directive - found $6.5 million in this year's budget alone, dropping the proposed tax increase from 8.77%→4.63%.

My point is we shouldn't need a mayoral directive to go looking. Efficiencies can be found at the administrative level on an ongoing basis, eliminating much of the manual work and some of the outside consulting hours that get called in during crunch season.

I am a lifelong creative professional - artist, musician, media producer. In my working life I've led and been part of teams on high-visibility corporate, media, and branding projects, including CBC, Paul McCartney, Pfizer and other entities. My job has always been to recognize potential and then take action to realize it.

I moved here in late 2019 after 25 years in Toronto. I consider my town, my Ward, and CK in general to be a place of great potential. It is a beautiful region, central to a 5-county region of over one million people, with a provincial park that draws over 200,000 visitors a year, an hour’s drive from larger centres of London, Windsor (and close access to the U.S), bordered by two beautiful lakes, with some of the best farmland to be found anywhere. Yet we are ALSO home to numerous empty storefronts, dilapidated buildings, vacant land, and an inadequate tax base that sends residential property tax rates through the roof.

I am not a fan of ennui and inertia. I believe we can do better, and that is why I am running.

For the past 18 months I've been meeting and interviewing local entrepreneurs and residents, creating unique, public-facing video content that demonstrates why our region is a great place to live and work. It's not theory — this work has already helped create a sense of positivity in the community, and it's helped attract investors. We now have some positive developments happening in Ridgetown as a direct result. That's a current measure of success, and I intend to keep building on it.

In the short, 12-month time frame, my benchmark is concrete: I want Ridgetown, Erieau, and Erie Beach added to the list for growth investment. Right now that investment is concentrated in Chatham, Tilbury, and Blenheim. Other parts of Ward 2 are expected to grow only through intensifying what's already here. Getting these communities onto that list — with real projects attached, not just a mention — is what a ‘win’ looks like to me after one year.

Alongside that, I'll keep expanding the media work itself: giving residents a direct channel to be heard, and a direct channel to explain what is being considered in Council.

The larger 4-year goal is to transform Chatham-Kent into a forward-thinking region of choice — shovel-ready to accept investment from a wide range of industries that take full advantage of what we truly have to offer. We simply must broaden our tax base.

I speak to a lot of great people "on the trail”. Unfortunately, many feel quite cynical about our region. Is that "an issue"? I think it is. I've lived here for 7 years; I still see the empty storefronts, the dilapidated buildings, the apparent lack of progress. And I see a lack of clear, engaging communication from both administration and council about what's actually being done to prepare for the future.

That creates a vicious cycle: insufficient communication leads to inaccurate assumptions about our situation, inaccurate assumptions lead to a lack of confidence, and a lack of confidence leads to cynicism — which makes people tune out the next round of communication even further. Round and round it goes.

Here's one example of an inaccurate assumption doing real damage: the widespread belief that Chatham-Kent is financially "underwater," which makes any talk of spending sound reckless. It isn't true. According to the 2025 BMA Municipal Study, Chatham-Kent's total municipal debt is $181 per resident — against a provincial survey average of $686. We are in a strong financial position, not a precarious one, and that gives us some room to fund the infrastructure this region needs. Most residents have never heard that number, because nobody's told them.

We need to recognize and own the great potential of where we live — the good along with the challenges. Insufficient communication opens the door to inaccurate thinking, which in turn renders the public vulnerable to divisive, manipulative messaging. So, building the communication necessary for people to feel involved is one thing I intend to tackle if elected.

Early in my career, as a CBC art director, I proactively invented a new way to present on-air 2D graphics — one that essentially transformed the on-air presentation of The National and other CBC current affairs shows. With this new method I could create virtually endless variations of the actual set, thus creating innovative ways to present graphics and video.

The producers of the shows were over the moon about this development; some of the senior designers... not so much.

At that time there had not been a defined chain of leadership and communication within CBC graphics. I was relatively new at the time, so I simply followed my muse and happened to come up with something that resonated with the client. The blowback was significant; the remedy was to walk the senior designers (and management) through why the new process worked. Some came around. Some didn't.

It was easy to see from this situation how a lack of clear standards for communication and cooperation can cause friction and inefficiency. Since then, I've placed clear, respectful communication at the forefront of every project I've worked on, and that is exactly how I would proceed as a member of council.

Giffin says he would seek a Lakeshore-style credit for GIS-qualified seniors when a property-tax increase exceeds 50%, publicize existing tax-relief options and include a guide with tax bills, social-media messages and Community Navigator outreach. He presents this as a way to help seniors on fixed incomes understand and use available relief.

On affordable development, Giffin argues that Ward 2 should make a stronger case for investment by pointing to its location, agricultural and education assets, available land and vacant properties. He proposes using the Community Improvement Plan and tax-increment-equivalent tools, along with tax relief and faster approvals for neglected main-street properties.

Giffin supports additional dwelling units and says he hosted an April 2025 information session with municipal planning staff. He cites a modular-unit cost of about $189,000 and municipal grant amounts of $27,000 for one unit or $32,000 for two units; he also cites a federal housing agreement and projected housing totals. These figures and the resulting housing capacity are his candidate claims, not independently verified here.

He also proposes pursuing municipal purchase of former school sites in Ridgetown and Blenheim, giving Ward 2 a stronger voice in the Official Plan and ensuring that growth pays for growth through development charges. He does not identify municipal authority, site availability, approvals, costs, funding sources, timing or delivery partners.

Giffin describes food security as an emergency and says almost one quarter of residents cannot afford food. He proposes municipal support for gardens, Harvest to Home, the Food Policy Council, cold storage and delivery, linking those ideas to a 2015 local recommendation. The prevalence estimate, program readiness, costs and partner commitments remain candidate claims.

For social supports, Giffin cites 2,707 active Ontario Works cases in June and a maximum monthly Ontario Works amount of $733. He proposes reviewing discretionary funds, a higher senior-income threshold for a municipal tax freeze, a low-income water rate and advocacy to senior governments. Eligibility, costs, legal authority and service effects are not specified.

On housing, Giffin cites rent and wait-list figures, points to local affordable-housing and additional-dwelling-unit initiatives, and supports the Strategic Housing Action Plan, surplus-property use, development incentives and faster permit processes. He does not provide a costed program, confirmed sites, approvals or outcome targets.

Giffin calls for broader rural and on-demand transit, cites Ward 2 route limitations and contrasts municipal funding figures in a candidate answer. He also says basic income is principally a provincial or federal matter, and proposes expanding gardens, food-literacy videos, gleaning and possible youth partnerships. The route, funding, program and partnership details require separate public-record verification before they can be treated as facts.