Merdian is hoping to bring the community back into the political fold. She believes a large portion of the municipality’s population is apathetic about politics.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople either think it\u2019s something horribly corrupt or something that works,\u201d said Merdian. \u201cWe should be working together and not be creating division.\u201d<\/p>\n
One focus of her campaign is to ensure gender parity on city council. With just one woman of the nine people on council, more than 50 per cent of Clarence-Rockland’s population is not adequately represented she thinks. Diane Choini\u00e8re is the only woman on council, and of the 19 candidates running for council and mayor just three other women are running.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody has something to bring to the table, and I think there should be more voices that represent other points of view at the table,\u201d said Merdian. \u201cA strong female voice is important. And I really believe in building the community so it works for all of us and we can go forward in a sustainable, healthy fashion.\u201d<\/p>\n
As she campaigns, Merdian is hearing a broad set of concerns from residents. With many residents still working from home, access to high-speed internet is top of their lists. Though services like Starlink are available to some, the cost can be prohibitive.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the 21st century and we live in Canada,\u201d said Merdian. \u201cTheoretically we should all have access to the internet.\u201d<\/p>\n
On top of poor internet availability, some areas in rural Clarence-Rockland have no cellular phone service. Merdian hopes to push the city to get more towers to cover dead zones.<\/p>\n
Merdian says residents are also concerned about the spread of wild parsnip, a highly invasive and toxic plant that can cause severe dermatitis, but also reduce the quality of certain crops and impact the health of livestock. Merdian hopes to implement a plan to help eradicate the plant.<\/p>\n
Municipal elections will be held on October 24. All candidates and their contact information can be found on the Clarence-Rockland website. Voters are encouraged to visit VoterLookup.ca to confirm their registration status and update their information.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Over the better part of two decades, Sarma Merdian and her family have lived in both urban and rural Clarence-Rockland, an experience she is looking to draw upon as she vies for the Ward 5 council seat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":25294,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25293","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politique"],"acf":[],"featured_media_global":[],"yoast_head":"\n