With less than 24 hours to go until the nomination window closes for people to enter the municipal election race, Coun. Keenan Aylwin has announced he will not seek re-election in Ward 2.
Aylwin, who served one term on Barrie city council after being elected in 2018, posted a 1,300-word statement to his Facebook page Thursday afternoon explaining why he had chosen not to run for office again. To read Aylwin's full statement, click here.
BarrieToday asked Aylwin about his next steps and how he thinks he could help the community.
“I’m still working on figuring that out. My first priority is healing from the burnout I’ve experienced, and working to heal connections that have been damaged as a result of that burnout," he said. “Right now, I’m going to lots of therapy, reconnecting with friends and family, and continuing to learn about myself.
"I would love to have the answers now and will absolutely let people know once I’ve figured out my next steps in life," Aylwin added.
In the post he made on social media, Aylwin spoke of many negatives he says he witnessed during his time on council.
"I can tell you, the old boys club is alive and well in Barrie. We all know that there’s an ‘ugly side’ to politics today and it’s worse than I thought," he wrote.
The "turning point" in his decision not to run, Aylwin said, was how council dealt with sexual harassment allegations against an unnamed councillor, whom city officials have repeatedly declined to identify publicly despite media requests.
"The response that I saw from some councillors shocked and saddened me. Where there should have been clear and decisive action to hold the councillor accountable for his actions and to protect employees from possible future incidents, there was instead a cloak of secrecy and a reluctance to take concrete action to hold the councillor to account," Aylwin wrote in this post.
"I remember breaking down in tears after a closed meeting on the subject because I was so distraught and disgusted to be a member of a body, city council, that didn’t do everything we could to have accountability and safety for the workers at the city," he added. "I never quite felt comfortable or safe in the council chambers again. Silence perpetuates harassment and violence and I want to thank all of the community members who have spoken out and taken this issue seriously."
BarrieToday asked Aylwin what he would say to people who feel he may also not have been vocal enough about the situation, which was discussed at length behind closed doors.
“I’d say that’s fair and I’ve really struggled with my role on a body that failed to hold the councillor accountable and didn’t do everything in our power to protect the employees at the city,” Aylwin said. “I’d also say that this speaks to the systemic nature of issues like sexual violence and workplace harassment. We live in a culture of misogyny and, as a result, these institutions of power often have a culture of secrecy and silence that perpetuates that violence and harassment.
"We are all responsible and must grapple with our complicity in those systems, myself included," he added.
Aylwin says he remembers calling the city's integrity commissioner, Suzanne Craig, after the meeting and expressing how he was seriously considering resigning and speaking out on the issue. He stated that after that conversation, he chose to stay in his role as councillor and “do what I could from the inside to call attention to the issue and push for accountability.”
Aylwin admits he still doesn’t know if it was the right choice.
BarrieToday asked what positives he took away from the four years on council.
“I learned a lot about political power, how it is wielded and to what end. I also learned a lot about myself and saw pieces of myself that I need to confront, understand and heal in order to continue to fight for justice. I’m thankful for those lessons,” Aylwin said.
Before Aylwin entered municipal politics, he was a well-known activist within the community and also ran for the Green Party in the 2018 provincial election, finishing fourth in Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte.
Having now been on both sides of the table, he was asked how he believed the public could make change in a world that seems to be getting angrier and more divided.
“Well, I’d say first that much of the anger we see is valid and rooted in real concern for the future and an unease about people's material conditions in our society," he said. "Anger, when expressed in a healthy way, can lead to action and healing.
“While I’m still grappling with this question myself, I would say that I believe we can truly make change in this world when we build authentic, meaningful, healthy relationships with each other, recognize our shared humanity in each other, and fight for justice like our lives depend on it, because they do," Aylwin added. "We need to build new systems that allow for real healing and growth, things that don’t exist in our formal political structures today.”
Aylwin says he has a different viewpoint in 2022 compared to when he was first elected to city council.
"I was 24 years old when I first decided to run for office. I was very idealistic and hopeful about politics and what we could accomplish working from within the system," he said. "I’m still very idealistic and I work hard every day to hold onto hope. I would say I was not prepared for how difficult and draining it would be, and I did not expect a great source of that difficulty to be any of my colleagues around the table.
"I think I would go as far to say that I was a bit naive about the world and truly believed that everyone had good intentions, but the truth is that some people don’t."
The deadline for candidates to register at Barrie City Hall is Friday at 2 p.m. Ward 2 candidates currently include Tif Arshi, Shanicka Edwards, Craig Nixon, Bob Ossowski, and Greg Peach.
