In just under one week voters will head to the polls to pick their municipal representatives, including a new regional chair.
One of the big issues the new council will have to address is supervised consumption sites in the region.
The current council went as far as getting a short list of possible locations for supervised consumption sites in Kitchener and Cambridge, but agreed to put a hold on any public consultations because the new provincial government is still reviewing supervised consumption sites and deciding if it will fund them.
The decision will now be made by the new council helmed by the new chair.
All four regional chair candidates say supervised consumption sites are needed, but two would start by focusing on mobile sites.
Jay Aissa says his research shows they have a higher success rate.
“What I'm saying is this is what we can start with and then look into different things. This is all new to our region and even new to our province,“ said Aissa.
Jan d'Ailly says quick action is needed and is supporting mobile sites too as a first step to harm reduction.
Karen Redman, who's part of the regional council that has researched the issue so far, says more discussion is needed before any decisions.
She says if the province decides not to fund these sites she'd turn to the federal government for help.
Rob Deutschmann says once the province's position is clear they can move forward. He also noted that if the province pulls support he'd look for other solutions.
Supervised consumption sites have been particularly controversial in Cambridge, where the city has made it clear it isn't happy with the direction the region has taken so far.
Cambridge council put in place an interim control bylaw in April, preventing a supervised injection site to be set up in any of the city's downtown cores.
The two potential sites put forward by the region not long after are both in the heart of Galt.
All four candidates are promising new dialogue in Cambridge in search of better options.
The provincial government hasn't set a date for when it will make its decision on its support and funding for supervised consumption sites.
