Southampton Cultural Heritage Conservancy

10/25/2026

SAUGEEN SHORES MUNICIPAL ELECTION 2026

SOUTHAMPTON’S HERITAGE. OUR SHARED RESPONSIBILITY.

Our community’s heritage includes historic buildings and familiar streetscapes, natural landscapes, the histories and traditions of all peoples, and the places and stories that give Southampton its unique character.

As stated in our mission:

“The Southampton Cultural Heritage Conservancy seeks to promote, protect, and advocate on behalf of the history, cultural heritage, cultural landscape, civil society and built environment of the Town of Southampton and the surrounding area. We recognize and respect that all of this existed pre-contact, and continues to exist through the Saugeen Ojibway Nation, and the Metis who later settled in this territory.”

Municipal decisions affect what is preserved, what is changed, and what may be lost.

Several candidates in this election have made specific commitments to strengthening heritage policies and advancing a clearer definition of cultural heritage. These are important issues that deserve attention—and action.

As you cast your ballot, consider which candidates have demonstrated an understanding of our cultural heritage and a commitment to protecting it through meaningful policies and decisions.

SCHC will continue advocating for heritage conservation and holding elected officials accountable for their commitments and decisions affecting our shared heritage.

It is time to stand up, take action and VOTE!

10/24/2026

Don’t forget to VOTE!

Voting is officially underway for the 2026 Municipal and School Board Election in Saugeen Shores. The Voting Period will remain open until Monday, October 26, 2026, at 8:00 p.m.

You can cast your ballot by telephone or internet, anytime during the voting period.

You will need your Voter Information Letter - which you should have received by mail - to access the voting system. Each letter includes detailed voting instructions and your unique Voting PIN.

For more information about the 2026 Municipal and School Board Election, including Voter Assistance Centre hours and election updates go to saugeenshores.ca/Elections or contact the Elections Team 519-832-2008 ext. 100.

Need Help Voting?

If you have questions about voting, have not received your Voter Information Letter, or require assistance accessing the voting system please contact the Elections Team or visit the Voting Assistance Centre at the Pryde Aquatic and Wellness Centre (AWC) in Port Elgin.

Be sure to bring identification showing your name and qualifying address (e.g. utility bill) when visiting the Voting Assistance Centre

The Voting Assistance Centre will be available throughout the voting period to assist voters with internet voting.

Voting Assistance Centre Hours:

Saturday, October 24, 2026, 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Sunday, October 25, 2026, 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Monday, October 26, 2026, 8:30 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Voting kiosks will be available for those who need access to a computer or support casting their votes. Members of the Elections Team will be available to provide assistance and answer questions throughout the voting process.

Haven’t Received Your Voter Information Letter?

Eligible voters who have not received their Voter Information should contact the Town’s Election staff by email [email protected] or phone 519-832-2008 ext. 100 as soon as possible. If you are not on the Voters’ List, you may be added by visiting the Municipal Office or Voter Assistance Centre in person. You will be required to complete an “Application to Amend the Voters’ List” form and provide identification showing your name and qualifying address.

Additional details and information can be found at: saugeenshores.ca/Elections

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10/09/2026

Saugeen Shores All Candidates Meeting Oct. 7, 2026 is Now Online
To view the meeting hosted by the Canadian Federation of University Women, click here: https://youtu.be/P-B8rZxcAv4?si=m2qmxzSI0a4k6Z8L

10/06/2026

October 7, 2026 at The Plex--All Candidates Mtg, also to be Live Streamed on Eastlink and on Zoom (here is a Zoom link): https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88281641071

08/31/2026

Municipal Election -- All Candidates Meeting, August 31, 7:00 pm

Anyone interesteed in hearing election candidates' answer questions on heritage and a wide range of other matters is welcome to attend the Southampton All-Candidates meeting this evening in person or via ZOOM. Here is the Zoom link:
https://southamptonontario.org/news/13672396

08/17/2026

History of the Cottage Hospital on Leeder Lane, Southampton -- Seeking information

Do you or your family members have memories of this hospital at 169 Leeder Lane? I am interested in stories or facts concerning births, deaths, operations, and emergency services that took place at this hospital. I have a few stories and I would like to hear more. If you are willing to share your story, could you do so with a post or with a message via Facebook's message facility, please.
I am in the process of preparing a submission for the Designation of 169 Leeder Lane under the Ontario Heritage Act. It is "Listed" on the Municpal Heritage Register, but as everyone knows, it will be removed on January 1st along with 99 other "listed" building, unless formally "Designated' under the Act.
This little cottage is important in our history as one of two early hospitals that existed prior to the building of the Saugeen Memorial Hospital in 1947. There was an isolation hospital on Chantry Island, called "The Pest House" (short for pestilance) where people with small-pox and other highly communicable diseases were cared for in the late nineteenth and early 20th-centuries. The other hospital was "The Cottage Hospital" at 169 Leeder Ln. Here are two reports I have found:
An article in the Southampton Beacon, 16 August 1967, written by W. Roy McVittie (son of Isabella and William McVittie) remembered remembered the days of the “Cottage Hospital “which at the peak of its service accommodated six patients, staffed by its owner Mrs Isabelle McVittie, and at various times local registered nurses (Miss Bessie Taylor and Miss Belle McFarlane), many critical major operations were performed by the local surgeon Dr Walter S. Laird, whose first operation was an emergency operation on Geo Golden, brought from Stokes Bay by boat; by Drs. Lucy and Howatt of Guelph, and by Dr Herbert Bruce of Toronto (later Lieutenant Governor of Ontario), whose patient was Senator James Spence, one of the Town’s best-known native sons.”
In another article Robin Hilborn transcribed a memory "Once Upon a time: History on tape – the life of Laura McPhail":
“Dr. Pat Scott brought all our family into the world. Dr. William Scott came in with him later. We really doctored ourselves. We took Thomas Electric Oil for a sore throat.... We had a small hospital run by Mrs. McVittie on Leeder Lane where the Grahams live. My two daughters had their tonsils out there. We had a specialist come from Toronto to do the operation. He was half drunk and cut the epiglottis right out of my one daughter’s throat. She nearly bled to death. If it hadn’t been for Gladys McVittie taking care of her, she would have died."
Any information, additional to the above, you wish to share would be appreciated. Thank you. Sheila Latham, Southampton

08/04/2026

"Reconciling through truth-telling" Event on August 13
Dinner & Talk with Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm & Sons
Join us for an inspiring evening with award-winning author, publisher, activist, and University of Toronto professor Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm of the Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation and her sons, Gaadoohn and Kegedonce.
In 2025, Kateri won the IVY Award, Canada’s only national publishing award, in recognition of her lifetime of contributions to publishing as the founder and publisher behind Kegedonce Press, one of the preeminent Indigenous publishers in Canada. In 2023, she was short-listed for the CBC Poetry Prize for “restitution: OR Nanabush speaks to the settlers,” a reversal of colonial roles. Since 2020, she has been an Assistant Professor at UofT, teaching Creative Writing, Indigenous Literatures and Oral Traditions.
Kateri will be joined by Gaadoohn, a writer, visual artist, and Electronic Music Producer and Kegedonce, a visual artist and Interpreter at the Cape Croker Park Visitor Centre, who will be studying Experimental Animation at OCAD University this fall.
Co-sponsored by the Southampton Cultural Heritage Conservancy.

07/26/2026

Our heartfelt thanks to the SOCAN Foundation, Ontario Arts Council, and our generous donors, for making this new commission possible!!

07/15/2026

Proposed CPPS Decision Deferred ‘til after the Election
At the 13 July 2026 Meeting of Saugeen Shores Council a total of 13 concerned citizens presented comments on the proposed Community Permit Planning System, adding to the 170 letters (161 submitted and 10 additional read aloud). To view the letters published with the Agenda (pages 107 to 469), all of which opposed the current draft CPPS Official Plan Amendment and draft CPPS Bylaw, click here:
https://pub-saugeenshores.escribemeetings.com/FileStream.ashx?DocumentId=10660

Consultant Andrew Davidge gave a presentation, shortened from his presentation at the Open House on June 24. To view the 13 July presentation click here:
https://www.youtube.com/live/oS3GamEbz4c?si=3zbUC8izo-WPgHCl&t=2528

Members of the public who presented comments are listed here with links to You Tube:

Jill Taylor’s presentation begins here:
https://www.youtube.com/live/oS3GamEbz4c?si=RJfzCgiDjrgY6ZHc&t=3310

Tammy La Rue’s presentation starts here:
https://www.youtube.com/live/oS3GamEbz4c?si=OpJgHGibKlkxHTYD&t=3670

Brian Putman’s presentation starts here:
https://www.youtube.com/live/oS3GamEbz4c?si=Xdm_w0OP15PH9nnK&t=3955

Sheila Latham’s presentation starts here:
https://www.youtube.com/live/oS3GamEbz4c?si=htHjOGyOOxh2U9U6&t=4260

Virginia and Edmund Tirilis’s presentation starts here:
https://www.youtube.com/live/oS3GamEbz4c?si=djXqo0cLdxXiHayp&t=4534

Betsy Puthon’s presentation starts here:
https://www.youtube.com/live/oS3GamEbz4c?si=GXwf2pVrkQ6IG_am&t=4885

Patricia Corrigan Frank’s presentation starts here:
https://www.youtube.com/live/oS3GamEbz4c?si=6cYFgWVUaHDzrku4&t=5075

Corwin Cambray’s presentation starts here:
https://www.youtube.com/live/oS3GamEbz4c?si=DF5WfE-APvwK11LP&t=5287

Harry Mazmanian’s presentation starts here:
https://www.youtube.com/live/oS3GamEbz4c?si=8LcoNPerYlcfQ66z&t=5452

Micheline Mann’s presentation starts here:
https://www.youtube.com/live/oS3GamEbz4c?si=vBlLHV5VthaCY7jp&t=5609

Peter Stanley’s presentation starts here:
https://www.youtube.com/live/oS3GamEbz4c?si=ppkL9eOloS-oZIPF&t=5936

Natalina Bombino Campagnolo’ presentation starts here:
https://www.youtube.com/live/oS3GamEbz4c?si=7V31Ki839vJC1EPv&t=6088

Paul Leader’s presentation starts here:
https://www.youtube.com/live/oS3GamEbz4c?si=EIOdslkwjqGpWC75&t=6227

The Town Clerk stated that 10 additional letters had been received since the Agenda was published online have been distributed to Council. To hear the clerk summarize the letters click here: https://www.youtube.com/live/oS3GamEbz4c?si=NaRartzIXhNTtdGR&t=6383
Council members’ questions and comments continue, following the Town Clerk’s summary of letters received, see link above, and continuing after it.

07/11/2026

COMMUNITY PLANNING PERMIT SYSTEM (CPPS)--It is not too late to comment

The decision will not be made until some time in the next month or two or three. No decision will be made on Monday, July 13.
Council will continue to accept and read letters or emails sent to individual councillors and via the Town Clerk, email: [email protected] -- who will distribute to the Mayor and all Council members, and include as part of the public record.

If you wish to speak at the meeting, see instructions from the Town Clerk, as follows:

Message from Saugeen Shores Clerk [email protected]

If you wish to speak to the CPPS application on July 13 (6:30 pm), you may do so during the Public Meeting portion of the agenda.
Members of the public may attend in person and indicate their desire to speak
1. by signing at the podium on the Public Meeting Sheet or
2. may speak at the podium when the item is called, or
3. register by 12:00 noon on the day of the meeting if participating electronically. ([email protected])
Speakers are limited to one opportunity to address Council and a maximum of five (5) minutes.
Written comments may also be submitted to the Clerk's Division ([email protected]) in advance of the meeting and will form part of the public record.
Following the Public Meeting, staff will review and consider all comments received before a recommendation report is presented to Council at a future meeting.