Will Gananoque's mayor run for re-election? The nomination deadline is Friday

GANANOQUE — With the deadline to enter Gananoque’s 2026 municipal election just two days away, the town’s mayoral race is beginning to take shape.

Whether incumbent Mayor John Beddows will be part of it remains an open question.

Former mayor Ted Lojko is on the town’s unofficial list of candidates, positioning him for a potential return to the mayor’s office four years after Beddows defeated him. Beddows had not filed as a candidate as of Wednesday.

Speaking with the Recorder and Times, Beddows said he was “keeping all my options open.”

The nomination deadline is Friday at 2 p.m., leaving Beddows two days to decide whether he will seek a second term.

As of Wednesday, three candidates are listed for mayor: former mayor Ted Lojko, current Coun. Colin Brown, and Clifford Feltham.

Four current councillors are seeking re-election: Deputy Mayor Vicki Leakey, Anne-Marie Koiner, Matt Harper and David Osmond.

Mike O’Callaghan, Michael Bannister, Ben Goernert and Anthony Colvin are also seeking council seats.

The list remains unofficial until the nomination period closes and election officials certify the candidates.

A potential rematch

If Beddows files, the mayoral campaign could bring him and Lojko back into direct competition four years after one of Gananoque’s most closely watched municipal elections.

Lojko was mayor before Beddows defeated him in the 2022 election.

Beddows has led a council that has become increasingly divided over his approach to the mayor’s office and his use of the powers available to him.

At last week’s council meeting, councillors delivered some of their sharpest criticism yet of the mayor, with several questioning his leadership and calling for him to repair relationships with council and municipal staff members.

“You’ve got your vision and you’re not capable of moving it,” Deputy Mayor Vicki Leakey told Beddows.

“The stress is because of you,” Coun. Patrick Kirkby said, describing the current council term as one of the most stressful in which he had participated. “Never have I encountered such terrible leadership.”

Coun. Matt Harper accused Beddows of turning disagreements into fights, while Brown criticized the mayor for publicly questioning council’s conduct.

Osmond reminded Beddows that council had already formally demonstrated its lack of confidence in him through a vote in October 2025.

The confrontation came as council considered an open letter Beddows had published questioning restrictions placed on his access to Town Hall and his communications with municipal staff following an April preservation notice.

Rather than producing the public discussion Beddows had sought, the meeting became a lengthy airing of disagreements between the mayor and councillors.

Beddows subsequently told the Recorder and Times that the criticism had not changed his thinking about a possible re-election campaign.

“I didn’t learn anything new about council’s attitude toward me,” he said.

A first term marked by conflict

The divisions surrounding Beddows have extended beyond disagreements in council chambers.

A Dec. 17, 2025, decision by the Inspector General of Policing found that Beddows breached provisions of the Code of Conduct for Police Service Board Members by disclosing confidential information obtained through closed meetings concerning the police response to a gathering of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club.

The inspector general did not impose an additional disciplinary measure, noting that Beddows had already been restricted from board duties during the approximately one-year investigation.

Beddows has also been involved in a judicial-review proceeding arising from an integrity commissioner matter.

At last week’s meeting, Kirkby pointed to the town’s legal costs while criticizing the mayor’s leadership.

A report presented to council showed $390,194.90 in legal costs categorized under the “Integrity Commissioner Judicial Review Application,” within total legal costs of $642,464.79 across the categories identified by the town for 2023-26.

The town’s report does not characterize the judicial-review expense as having been personally caused by Beddows. It identifies the spending under the specified legal category.

Beddows has declined to apologize to council or staff over the integrity commissioner proceedings while the judicial review remains ongoing.

“The assertion in the judicial review is that I haven’t done anything wrong. Full stop,” Beddows said.

Asked whether he believed staff and council members deserved an apology, Beddows said he was not prepared to offer one.

“The judicial review process is not yet completed,” he said.

Beddows defends his record

Despite the criticism, Beddows has defended his approach to governing Gananoque and said he believes the town needs to change how it operates.

“We’re running a corporation here; we just had to borrow $12.9 million after raising taxes significantly to try to make up for lost time,” Beddows said following last week’s meeting. “The way we used to do business as a corporation wasn’t good enough.”

Beddows has argued that his use of strong-mayor powers reflects his belief that Gananoque needs a different approach to municipal government.

His critics on council have argued that his approach has instead contributed to deteriorating relationships and dysfunction at town hall.

The mayor has also maintained that restrictions on his access to town hall continue to impede his ability to perform his duties.

Council faces its own election test

Regardless of whether Beddows seeks another term, the election is already shaping up as a test for several members of the current council.

Leakey, Koiner, Harper, and Osmond are all seeking re-election, while Brown is seeking to move the mayor’s office. All five have been involved in the increasingly public disputes surrounding the mayor.

Osmond, who has been particularly critical of Beddows in recent months, pointed during last week’s meeting to the October 2025 vote of no confidence.

“This council has already, in full view, in transparency, raised our hands and let you know and everyone else know we do not have confidence in our mayor,” Osmond said.

Leakey similarly called on Beddows to find a way to work with council through the remainder of the current term.

“Please, can we get through these next couple of months and move business for the town forward,” she told him.

The divisions have included disagreements over Beddows’ access to town hall, the use of strong-mayor powers, municipal records, the accuracy of council minutes, and individual development decisions.

At last week’s meeting, Beddows also overturned his own veto involving a Birch Street development after initially indicating he would abstain from the subsequent vote. The incident became another point of criticism from councillors who said it illustrated the difficulty of working with the mayor.

The field is not set

As of Wednesday, the town’s unofficial list includes three mayoral candidates and 10 candidates for council.

Lojko’s presence guarantees that the 2026 election already has a familiar name from Gananoque’s recent political history. Brown’s candidacy adds another dimension, with the sitting councillor seeking to move into the mayor’s office.

Beddows’ decision could further reshape the mayoral contest.

For now, however, the incumbent remains absent from the candidate list while leaving open the possibility that he will seek another term.

The election is Oct. 26, and the current term of council ends Nov. 14.

Keith Dempsey is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of the Brockville Recorder and Times. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.