Your questions, answered.

Why are you seeking this position, and what experience or perspective would you bring to the council table?

Perth is my hometown. My husband and I came back home to put down roots here because we want to raise our future family in a thriving, opportunity-rich community. My reason for running is simple: the decisions we make today will shape what Perth looks like for my generation—and our children—for decades.

Professionally, I advise governments across Canada on investment and innovation, build partnerships between government and industry, and turn public investment into measurable results for citizens. I want to bring that experience home to Perth.

Council faces significant decisions about infrastructure, taxation, services and growth. I would bring a next-generation perspective focused on action: pursuing new partnerships and investment, finding smarter ways to deliver services, maximizing every taxpayer dollar, and moving good ideas from discussion to results.

Perth has a strong foundation. Now we need to build on it with fresh thinking and decisive action—creating a community where the next generation can afford to live, work, raise families and build businesses.


What do you believe is the most important issue facing Perth,
and what would you do about it?

Perth’s biggest challenge lies at the meeting place between financial responsibility, government accountability and our approach to growth.

Residents are facing affordability pressures while the Town confronts rising costs, aging infrastructure and increasing financial pressure. Over this council term, residents have faced roughly a 24% compounded increase in their municipal tax burden, alongside water and sewer rates that increased more than 30% over the last term. We cannot cut our way to prosperity, nor can we continually ask taxpayers to make up the difference.

We need a turning point in Perth’s opportunity trajectory.

I would bring the approach I use working with governments across Canada: scrutinize spending and measure results, plan investments before problems become more expensive, aggressively pursue grants and partnerships, find shared-service opportunities with other municipalities in the County, and attract employers, investment and appropriate development that strengthen our tax base.

Fiscal responsibility isn’t simply about spending less. It’s about maximizing the value of every tax dollar while creating new sources of opportunity and prosperity. And accountability means transparently showing residents the results their dollars deliver.

Bringing together stronger financial strategy, measurable accountability and opportunity-driven growth is how we put Perth on a more sustainable path.

What could Perth be doing better, and what specific change would you propose?

Perth needs to be more proactive about strengthening our economic position— in attracting investment, jobs and opportunity, and in how we strategically deliver our services.

I would bring a business development approach to our economic strategy. Rather than waiting for investment to find us, we should identify the investment we want and actively go after it: target prospective employers, understand what they need to invest here, support existing businesses looking to expand, and make Perth easier to navigate as a place to do business.

And we should measure and report on the results—jobs created, businesses attracted and retained, private investment leveraged, vacant space activated and new assessment added.

With a seat at County Council, I would bring that same discipline to regional partnerships, pursuing shared services and infrastructure opportunities that make taxpayer dollars go further. To be clear, that doesn’t mean amalgamating a Perth Community that combines us with our neighbours under one office - statistics and research on municipal amalgamations demonstrate consolidation does not automatically produce savings and can actually increase costs, eliminate local jobs, and create years of transitional pressure and hardship from both a fiscal and governance perspective. We can preserve Perth’s heritage, history and identity, and respect our neighbouring municipalities’ independence while collaborating where it makes sense on meaningful shared services. 

The goal is principled growth: preserve our heritage, make the right investments, seek smart partnerships and create measurable results that strengthen the community we already have.

In my work, I actively seek diverse opinions because that’s where strong decision-making comes from. The strongest organizations are feedback rich: they seek counterpoint and use diverse perspectives alongside facts and figures to inform long-term strategy. You cannot be confined to a single perspective when making decisions that impact many.

Council has the same responsibility: pair evidence-based rationale with resident perspective. Residents often bring information and lived experience that won’t appear in a staff report. But meaningful consultation also requires giving residents the information to participate effectively—what decision is being made, what it costs, what alternatives exist and what the trade-offs are.

That’s why accountability is central to my platform. Major investments and decisions—and their potential impacts—should be clearly communicated before they’re made, not buried in hundreds of agenda pages or explained in a news release afterward.

Residents should understand what we’re building toward, how it may affect them, and how their tax dollars are being invested.

Good decisions require facts and perspective. Good government requires transparency before the decision and accountability for the results afterwards.

How would you seek and consider input from residents who disagree with you when making a difficult decision?


By recognizing that both sides of that equation are real.

We can’t defer necessary infrastructure indefinitely. Craig Street is a good example: some underground infrastructure being replaced dated back nearly a century. Delaying that work didn’t eliminate the liability—it made the eventual solution more expensive.

At the same time, tax increases cannot be the first or easiest solution. Over this council term, Perth’s municipal tax rate has increased nearly 24% on a compounded basis. Your water bill has faced a compounded increase of more than 30% over the last term. These costs are borne by residents and businesses already dealing with higher costs in every aspect of life.

My approach is straightforward: protect core services, prioritize infrastructure based on condition and risk, pursue efficiencies and shared services, aggressively seek provincial and federal funding, and ensure growth pays its appropriate share.

Then we need to work on the denominator—growing Perth’s assessment and economic base so the same taxpayers aren’t continually asked to carry more.

Fiscal responsibility doesn’t mean neglecting infrastructure. It means maintaining what we own, investing at the right time, finding smarter ways to pay for it, and demonstrating clear value for every tax dollar.

How should council balance property-tax affordability with the cost of maintaining roads, infrastructure and municipal services across the town?

How would you contribute to an effective and professional working relationship among the mayor, councillors, municipal staff and residents?

I work every day at the intersection of government and business, and I’ve seen what becomes possible when different parts of complex public systems work together effectively. No single person, organization or level of government has every tool required to succeed alone. The best opportunities emerge when we align the right people, resources and relationships around a shared objective.

That’s how I would approach the role of Deputy Mayor.

Internally, it starts with respecting roles and recognizing that good government is a team effort between elected and departmental members. Council sets direction; staff bring professional expertise and execute decisions. I would respect the expectations of each role, rely on the expertise around the table, contribute my own where valuable, challenge ideas rather than people, and support one another in delivering results for Perth.

Externally, I would use the Deputy Mayor’s seat at County Council to build strong relationships across Lanark County. We share infrastructure, services, economic interests and challenges. Collaboration can improve services, reduce duplication and strengthen our voice with other levels of government.

Residents are central to that system. Your experience should inform decisions, and the relationships at the County and within Town Hall should deliver tangible results to you at home.

Ultimately, I see the Deputy Mayor as a connector—bringing people together, building partnerships and turning collaboration into results for Perth.