City of Brantford Council unanimously backed a resolution to endorse the Elect Respect Pledge during a Committee of the Whole, Planning and Administration meeting on Tuesday, February 10, 2026.
Originally launched by elected representatives in Halton, the Elect Respect campaign encourages local leaders to promote civility, integrity, and respectful engagement in the democratic process, while addressing the harassment faced by those who run and serve in public office.
Since its launch in June 2025, more than 50 municipalities across the province have taken the pledge to uphold the commitments of the campaign.
During last Tuesday’s meeting, Brantford Council voted to join those municipalities by endorsing the following principles of the Elect Respect Pledge to:
- Treat others with respect in all public, private and online spaces;
- Reject harassment, abuse and personal attacks;
- Focus public debate on ideas and public policy rather than personal attacks
- Foster an inclusive environment where individuals of all backgrounds feel safe to seek and hold public office.
Councillor Mandy Samwell, who brought the resolution forward, explained why she felt it was important to support the campaign.
“Local government is the closest level of democracy to people’s everyday lives. It’s where neighbours show up and concerns are shared face to face, where trust matters. It only works if people feel free to participate, whether that’s speaking at Council, serving on a board or committee, or putting their name on a ballot,” she said. “I believe deeply in accountability; residents have every right to question decisions and challenge Council, and demand better outcomes. That’s not a threat to democracy. It is democracy.”
“Across Ontario and here at home, we’ve seen an increase in hostility and personal attacks in municipal politics,” Samwell continued. “This behaviour doesn’t just affect elected officials. It affects staff, it discourages volunteers and future candidates from stepping forward and, over time, weakens democracy. If there’s one thing that I hope people take away from this, it’s that civility isn’t about avoiding disagreements, it’s about how we disagree. Healthy debate is essential, but personal attacks are not. The Elect Respect Pledge is a clear statement that as a council, we expect ideas to be debated on their merits, not through intimidation or harassment, and that standard applies at this table, in our committee and in our community.”
The Ward 5 councillor went on to say that the pledge wasn’t about policing speech, but drawing a clear line between accountability and abuse.
Following her comments, Ward 3 Councillor Dan McCreary, who seconded the resolution, commended Samwell for bringing the item forward, noting that City of Brantford Council has lost several councillors over the years because of harassment.
“Those of us that have been around a while have been subjected to some pretty intensive abuse over the past few years,” he said. “We’ve lost good councillors, two, three or four, who served on this committee, because they simply had enough of the abuse that was directed at them personally; [people] going after their jobs, going after their employees and their relatives.”
McCreary later encouraged people to visit the Elect Respect webpage to look at what various elected officials have experienced.
“It’s quite concerning,” he said.
Council then unanimously supported the resolution, noting that Mayor Kevin Davis and Councillor Linda Hunt were absent for the meeting. The item will later return to council for final approval at the regular meeting on Tuesday, February 24, 2026.
Once approved, a copy of the resolution will be sent to the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO), the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM), Will Bouma, MPP for Brantford-Brant, Larry Brock, MP for Brantford-Brant South-Six Nations, and Brantford Police Service, for information and consideration.
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
