Leamington mayoral candidates square off

Well, time to get political again here on Windsor Morning when it is not election season. That music is what we use to signal that it's time to talk to one of our local mayors. So we are using it to set up each of the debates we're running during the municipal campaigns. Today, we turn to Leamington. Hilda MacDonald is the incumbent. She's just wrapping up her second term as mayor and her fifth on council. Chris Byron is the challenger. He also ran for mayor in 2022. Both of them are here in our studio now. Welcome to both of you. Thank you. Good morning. What can the municipality do to address continuing concerns about light pollution from greenhouses in Leamington? We've already put in a bylaw in 2018. When we first put it in, it was quite restrictive. So the industry took it to the Normal Farm Practices Board and there was an arrangement, shall we say a compromise made, where lights have to be off from 5 in the evening till 8 in the morning. But from 10 till 2, and I think a little bit later than that, I can't remember because I don't have it in front of me, they can open 10% so that they let out the humidity. So yes, there is a bylaw in place. If you see a violation of that, you can call into the municipality and report. We have drones, and our bylaw department is very vigilant on that. And that light pollution tends to be more on cloudy days and, again, now when it's starting to get dark out. But it is an agreement that has been okayed by the Normal Farm Practices Board, and it is beyond our control to make it more restrictive. Okay. Hilda McDonald, thank you for that. Chris Byron, your turn now. How would you answer concerns from residents about greenhouses and light pollution? The problem is bylaw. The problem is enforcement. It's not a question of the bylaw. There was a compromise, in fact, made so the farmers can have more pollution, essentially, onto the air. Calling at 9, the municipality will be frustrated. There is nobody to answer. And this is something that is visible from everywhere. So if an enforcement, in fact, is pretended to be effective, then just look at the sky. Sometimes, really, the sky is a purple color and it doesn't appear. It seems to me that they are respecting what the bylaw says. So at this time, the problem is where we're failing is to enforce the bylaw. So we can have a bylaw and any law in place. If you don't enforce it, it's useless. And that, I think, is a general complaint from the public. I've heard that many times. We want the dark skies, and it's not happening. So let's enforce it. That's what we have to do.