On Thursday the Lunenburg Barnacle hosted an All Candidates Debate for the Lunenburg Mayoral race and the two candidates were friendly throughout the event.

Both Jamie Myra and Gale Fullerton were given eight questions ahead of time pertaining to issues facing the town- ranging from development, historical preservation, racism, energy, and more. The candidates both were given two minutes to respond to each questions.

While debates typically are used to separate candidates on issues the answers given by Myra and Fullerton indicated their platforms share a lot in common.

Both candidates are striving to improve communications with council and its residents as they both feel communication has degraded since the pandemic. Myra’s campaign slogan is Connecting with Council, while Fullerton’s first part of her campaign platform is Responsive Leadership.

The full debate can be watched online.

Blockhouse Hill Development

Arguably the most important issue heading into the campaign is the development of Blockhouse Hill, where the candidates did have a slight difference in opinion.

The current council has contracted MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects to create four possible designs for the property. Many residents have expressed their displeasure that the development has gotten this far without what they consider reasonable input from the community.

Prior to the election, 692 residents signed a petition to immediately halt the planning until further community consultation takes place, and in many cases, residents were calling for no development whatsoever to be entertained.

Myra was the more steadfast in his opposition to the current plans, insisting that he would not do anything to jeopardize the town’s UNESCO World Heritage Site designation which it has been suggested the development of Blockhouse Hill might jeopardize. “We cannot risk our heritage designation that was Plan B for the town when the fishery closed, and I’m not sure what Plan C is so I will do whatever I can to preserve it,” Myra said during the debate.

In an interview prior to the debate, Myra told CKBW that he could potentially support some level of development in the area, provided it didn’t threaten the UNESCO designation and that it had support from a majority of residents, something he feels the current plans do not have.

Fullerton also was unwavering in her beliefs on the importance of maintaining the town’s UNESCO designation, however, she would like to see the plans from MacKay-Lyons (work on them is already underway) to see if they address the concerns of residents.