Why Sarnia’s mayoral race is a race to the bottom

In Nathan’s latest column, he peels back the theater of the 2026 mayoral race to show that Sarnia is being offered three different flavors of the same decline.

Sarnia is addicted to the wrong kind of theatre.

For 38 years, we’ve watched the Mike Bradley show — a masterclass in “strongly worded letter” politics where the mayor plays provincial or federal advocate while our streets, neighbourhoods, and budgets stagnate.

Now in 2026, we’re told “change” is here because Bill Dennis and Chrissy McRoberts were the first to file for mayor.

Don’t buy the tickets. What we’re seeing isn’t a real choice; it’s three different flavours of the same decline. If we want a city our grandkids won’t want to leave, we have to stop rewarding people who just reflect our moods and start demanding leaders who actually build something.

The Aggrieved Disruptor

Bill Dennis is what happens when a Facebook comment section gets a seat at City Hall. He’s spent his term pushing dress codes and racking up Integrity Commissioner complaints for outbursts that have cost taxpayers tens of thousands in reports and special meetings.

His attack on the Indigenous welcome mural wasn’t about the budget; it was about the headline. He recently complained on social media that the media “hardly mentioned” his donation to help find a murderer, while his mural comments went national. His litigation and behaviour have cost taxpayers more than the projects he complains are a waste of money. Disruption without direction is just more noise we can’t afford.

The Performative Liberal

Then there’s Chrissy McRoberts. While she demands “decorum” and apologies from Bill in council chambers, she sells merchandise celebrating words like “cunt” and “fuck.”

But the real issue isn’t her vocabulary — it’s her votes. As a Police Services Board member, she has been a vocal supporter of a $120 million-plus headquarters even while the city needs investment in community spaces. Her “backyard” surveillance comments show where the focus stays: watching residents instead of building the conditions that keep neighbourhoods strong. You can challenge old rules and still reinforce systems that drain resources from what people actually need.

The Alternative Is Already Here

While the candidates argue about who is more “authentic,” groups like nuSarnia and the Sarnia BACE team are doing the work. They aren’t waiting for a “Strong Mayor.” They are building bike rallies, benches, placemaking, and the vision for a year-round recreation campus backed by 12,000 residents — because a city flourishes from the bottom up.

Sarnia doesn’t need another “character” in the mayor’s chair. We need a facilitator who will:

• Slash the red tape that kills small businesses and community projects before they start.
• Fund real community infrastructure like Sarnia BACE — a resident-driven recreation campus that solves problems at the root instead of just managing them.
• Empower the artists, musicians, organizers, event coordinators and neighbours already rooted here.

The harder truth this election season is that the mayor is still just one of nine votes on council. We’ve spent decades prioritizing external posturing, institutional expansion, and managing decline over investing in our own citizens and their daily flourishing. No matter who wins the symbolic figurehead role, the real work of building a place people want to stay and build lives in has always depended on us refusing to accept this empty spectacle.

The theatre won’t save Sarnia. We will.