As part of FAN-NWO’s non-partisan election awareness work, we invited candidates for Reeve in the Township of Gillies to respond to the same three questions about local food systems and the issues that affect people, communities and our region.
FAN-NWO does not endorse or oppose any candidate. Candidate responses are presented verbatim, as received, and have not been edited by FAN-NWO.
Candidates for Reeve:
- Deborah Lynne Poole-Hofmann
- Andrew Turk – No response received
- Wendy Wright – No response received
Candidate Responses
Deborah Lynne Poole-Hofmann
What will you do to support food systems in your municipality?
Encourage responsible self-sustainability, growing extra for food boxes/ neighbours, possibly community gardens to share with our neighbours (maybe even city neighbours)
What will you do to protect farmland, the environment and forest and freshwater food systems?
- soil conservation and revitalize (Regenerative farming)
- encourage environmentally friendly processes – think of the future generations
- maybe encourage farming/gardening lessons from our past generations who used heritage seeds and growing initiatives
- community education
- encourage responsible land ownership, gardens and agriculture
What will you do to support access to food for all?
- encourage less waste or provide opportunity for waste to be reused
- farm to school initiatives
- community education and outreach to help support the rural food bank
- look into details about local barter / sharing of goods, tools and services opportunities
Looking for candidate responses from another community?
FAN-NWO invited candidates for mayor or reeve in seven municipalities in the Thunder Bay area to respond to the same questions. Responses are organized by community and published verbatim, as received.
View all 2026 municipal election candidate responses here
Election Day: October 26, 2026
