Dave Cripps

2026 Oxford County Municipal Election
Town of Ingersoll — Councillor

We asked. Dave Cripps answered. You decide.

Answers are published as submitted.

I. Candidate & Municipal Governance

1. Candidate Introduction

Please introduce yourself to the residents of Oxford County. Briefly tell us why you are running for municipal office, what principles or values would guide you as an elected official, and what you believe is the most important issue facing the municipality you are seeking to represent. What would you do about it?

I’m Dave Cripps, an Ingersoll resident, small-business owner, community volunteer and former school-board trustee.

I’m running because I believe local government works best when it listens first, sets clear priorities and follows through. My approach is practical: understand the problem, weigh the options, make the decision, and be accountable for the result.

In my opinion, the biggest challenge facing Ingersoll is managing growth while maintaining the roads, facilities and services residents already rely on. Council will always have more good ideas than money. My focus would be on disciplined capital planning, maintaining what we own and what we provide today, supporting sensible housing and employment growth, and making sure major investments are backed by a clear business case.

Growth should leave Ingersoll stronger, not simply more expensive to operate.

2. Local vs. Provincial Authority

Municipalities are increasingly affected by decisions, policies and requirements established by the provincial government. What degree of local discretion do you believe municipalities should have when provincial direction affects decisions within municipal jurisdiction? When, if ever, should a municipality challenge or oppose provincial direction? Please explain.

Municipalities need room to make decisions that reflect local circumstances. A policy that makes sense in Toronto, Ottawa or another community may not make sense in Ingersoll.

I also understand that municipalities operate within provincial legislation. Having served as a school-board trustee, I have seen firsthand how local organizations sometimes need to work within provincial rules while still advocating strongly for a better local outcome.

I would challenge provincial direction when there is clear evidence that it harms our community, creates unnecessary costs or prevents us from achieving a better result.

The goal should not be to pick a fight with Queen’s Park. It should be to build a strong case, offer a practical alternative and work persistently toward a better outcome for residents.

3. Accountability & Access

Once elected, how will you maintain open communication and accountability with your constituents? What level of access should residents have to you, and what responsibility do you have to explain and defend your decisions and votes, particularly when constituents disagree with them?

I believe councillors should be accessible.

Throughout this campaign I have encouraged residents to stop me for a chat, send me a message or raise an issue directly. I intend to continue that if elected.

Accessibility, however, also means follow-through. If someone raises a concern, they deserve to know what happened with it, whether it was resolved, referred to staff, requires a council decision or simply cannot be done.

I also believe councillors have a responsibility to explain their votes. Residents will not agree with every decision I make, and I would never expect them to. But they should be able to understand what information I considered, what trade-offs were involved and why I reached the decision I did.

That is a basic part of accountability.

4. Staff vs. Elected Council

What do you believe is the proper division of responsibility between municipal staff and elected council? What decisions should be made by staff, what decisions should be made by council, and what responsibility should elected officials retain for decisions recommended or implemented by staff?

Council should decide the what and why. Professional staff should generally determine the how.

Council sets priorities, approves budgets, establishes policy and makes major decisions about the direction of the municipality. Staff bring professional expertise, manage operations and implement council’s decisions.

A councillor should ask difficult questions and test recommendations, but should not try to become the planner, engineer, treasurer or CAO.

At the same time, elected officials cannot hide behind staff recommendations. If council approves a recommendation, council owns that decision.

My experience in governance and in professional organizations has taught me that the best outcomes come when roles are clear: elected officials provide direction and accountability, while qualified staff are trusted to do their jobs.

5. Candidate Social-Media History

Have you ever deleted, hidden or substantially altered past social-media posts or other publicly available online content because you believed it might affect how voters viewed you or your candidacy? If so, what did you change and why?

I have not gone through my social-media history and removed posts simply because I became a candidate.

Like most people who have been online for many years, I may have corrected wording, removed outdated information or changed my view on an issue as I learned more.

Voters should judge me on my record, how I conduct myself and whether I am prepared to explain what I believe and why.

II. Taxes, Growth & Development

6. Taxes & Services

What annual municipal property-tax increase do you consider reasonable over the next four years? If maintaining existing services would require an increase above that level, what principles would you use to determine which services or expenditures should be reduced, delayed or eliminated instead? Please explain.

I do not believe responsible budgeting starts with picking a politically convenient tax number.

My goal would be to keep tax increases as close to inflation as reasonably possible while maintaining existing services and looking after the assets residents have already paid for.

Council will always have more good ideas than money. That means establishing priorities.

Before reducing an important service, I would first look at duplication, procurement, project timing, discretionary spending and opportunities to operate more efficiently.

I would also be careful about postponing necessary maintenance simply to produce a lower tax increase today. Neglecting a road, building or piece of infrastructure often creates a much larger bill later.

For every significant expenditure, I want council asking: Is it necessary? Is this the right time? And are taxpayers receiving the best long-term value?

7. Population Growth & Agricultural Land

Oxford County’s current planning projections anticipate substantial population growth over the coming decades, creating increasing pressure on agricultural land. Should Oxford plan to accommodate the projected level of growth, or should the County and its municipalities seek to influence the rate and/or location of future growth? When development competes with agricultural and food-production uses, should agricultural land and food production receive priority? What principles should guide these decisions? Please explain.

Oxford is going to grow. The question is how we manage that growth.

Ingersoll is already an urban, serviced community, which means we have an important role to play in accommodating new housing and employment without unnecessarily consuming surrounding farmland.

I support making better use of land within existing settlement areas, encouraging a wider range of housing types and directing growth toward places where roads, water, wastewater and other services can support it.

Prime agricultural land is a major economic and food producing asset for Oxford County. Once it is urbanized, it is effectively gone.

Expansion onto farmland should therefore be carefully justified, not treated as the easiest option.

Good planning should balance housing demand, infrastructure capacity, agricultural protection, economic development and the long-term cost of servicing growth.

III. Energy & Major Development

8. Wind & Utility-Scale Solar

What is your position on industrial wind turbine and utility-scale solar developments in Oxford County? If your municipality were asked to determine whether it should be a willing or unwilling host for a large-scale wind or solar project, how would you vote, and what factors would guide your decision? Please explain.

I would judge any major wind or solar proposal on its actual location and impacts rather than making a blanket commitment today.

My starting point would be simple: does the project create a reasonable benefit without placing an unfair burden on nearby residents, farmland or municipal infrastructure both now or in the future.

I would be particularly cautious about large solar installations consuming productive agricultural land when other locations are available.

For either technology, council should understand setbacks, noise, neighbouring property impacts, transmission requirements, road impacts, decommissioning responsibilities and the financial benefit to our community.

If those questions are not satisfactorily answered, I would not support willing host status.

Renewable energy projects should earn local support through good planning and a strong proposal, not receive automatic approval simply because they are renewable.

9. Data Centres

What is your position on approving data centres in Oxford County? Under what circumstances, if any, would you support one? How should council weigh its potential economic benefits against demands on electricity, water, land and other municipal infrastructure? Please explain.

I am open to a data centre, but I would not vote to approve one simply because it represents a large investment.

Ingersoll has valuable employment land, strong transportation connections and limited infrastructure capacity. Every major development therefore has an opportunity cost.

I would want to know how much electricity and water a proposal requires, whether upgrades are needed, how many permanent jobs it creates, what assessment revenue it generates and whether those benefits justify the land and infrastructure it consumes.

A large building and a large investment do not automatically equal strong economic development.

The question I would ask is: compared with other uses of this land and capacity, does this project provide strong long term value for Ingersoll?

If the answer is yes and the infrastructure impacts are properly addressed, I would support it.

IV. Property Rights, Environment & Climate

10. Property Rights & Environmental Regulation

What principles should determine the balance between private property rights and municipal environmental regulation? What limits, if any, should municipalities place on environmental restrictions affecting the use of privately owned rural land? Please explain.

Private property owners should be able to understand what they can do with their property and why restrictions exist.

Municipal regulation is sometimes necessary because what happens on one property can affect neighbours, drainage, water, roads or public safety. But regulations should solve a real problem, not simply exist because more regulation feels safer.

My test would be whether a restriction is clear, necessary, evidence based and proportionate to the issue being addressed.

Rules should also be predictable. Property owners should not discover late in a project that expectations have changed or that the approval process is unclear.

Environmental protection and private property rights do not have to be opposing ideas. Good policy should protect important resources while allowing reasonable use of private property.

11. Climate Change & CO₂

What role, if any, do you believe carbon dioxide emissions play in climate change? What responsibility, if any, should municipal government have for addressing climate-related issues, and should municipal taxpayers fund those efforts? Please explain.

The evidence shows that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases contribute to climate change.

For municipal government, however, I am most interested in what we can practically do at the local level.

My professional approach has always been based on risk management. If more severe weather, flooding, heat or energy costs create risks to municipal infrastructure, council should understand those risks and decide whether an investment makes financial and operational sense.

That could include better stormwater management, energy-efficient buildings, tree cover, resilient infrastructure or fleet improvements.

I would not support spending simply so council can say it has a climate program.

Taxpayer funded initiatives should have a measurable local benefit, a reasonable cost and a clear connection to responsibilities the municipality actually has.

V. Municipal Policy & Public Institutions

12. DEI, Hiring & Public Services

When municipal government makes decisions about hiring employees or providing services, what role, if any, should a person’s race, ethnicity, sex, disability, newcomer status or other demographic characteristics play? Do you support mandatory diversity, equity and inclusion training for municipal employees, and should municipal taxpayers fund it? Please explain.

Municipal employees should be hired based on qualifications, ability and the requirements of the job.

Every resident should also be able to access municipal services fairly and be treated with dignity and respect.

I support training that helps employees understand Ontario human rights obligations, accessibility requirements, respectful workplace expectations and how to serve residents effectively.

I am less interested in what that training is called than whether it is useful.

I would not support training that is ideological, performative or designed to divide people into competing groups. Nor would I support hiring quotas that place demographic characteristics ahead of qualifications.

Municipal workplaces should be welcoming and fair, while maintaining a clear focus on competence, professionalism and public service.

Taxpayer funded training should have a practical purpose and produce better service or a better workplace.

13. International Policy Frameworks

What role, if any, should international policy frameworks such as the United Nations’ Agenda 2030 and Sustainable Development Goals play in municipal decision-making? If municipal policies are influenced by such frameworks, what responsibility does council have to ensure that those decisions remain transparent and accountable to local residents? Please explain.

International organizations do not govern Ingersoll. Council does.

There is nothing wrong with learning from research, ideas or successful practices developed elsewhere. A good idea does not become bad simply because it originated internationally.

But no international framework should automatically become municipal policy.

If an idea from Agenda 2030, the United Nations or any other organization is proposed for Ingersoll, it should be evaluated the same way as any other proposal: What problem are we solving? What will it cost? What benefit will residents receive? And is it within our responsibility?

Any resulting policy should be debated publicly and approved by elected council.

Residents should always be able to see how a decision was made and hold their local representatives accountable for it.

VI. Public Safety, Privacy & Emergency Powers

14. Flock Cameras & Surveillance

What is your position on the use of Flock cameras and other automated licence-plate recognition (ALPR) or camera-based surveillance systems by municipalities for public safety? What limits, if any, should apply to their use, and how should council balance public safety with residents’ privacy? Please explain.

I would consider licence plate recognition cameras if our police service can demonstrate a specific public-safety need and show that the technology is effective in addressing it.

I would not support installing surveillance technology simply because the technology exists.

Before approving a system, I would want clear answers about what information is collected, how long it is kept, who can access it, where it is stored and whether third parties have access.

There should also be appropriate auditing, cybersecurity and privacy protections.

Public safety is a legitimate municipal concern, but residents also have a reasonable expectation that government will not collect or retain information unnecessarily.

The test should be straightforward: demonstrate the need, demonstrate the benefit and put strong limits around how the information can be used.

15. Public-Health Emergency Powers

If another public-health emergency occurred, what restrictions, if any, should a municipality be able to impose on access to municipal buildings, facilities, programs or community activities? What role should elected council have in approving or overseeing such restrictions, and what limits should apply to municipal authority during an emergency? Please explain.

Emergencies sometimes require decisions to be made quickly. Municipalities need enough authority to protect employees, maintain essential services and respond to genuine public safety risks.

That authority should not be unlimited.

If significant restrictions are placed on residents’ access to municipal facilities or programs, council should understand the evidence supporting them, how long they are expected to last and what conditions will cause them to be removed.

Some operational decisions may have to be made immediately by qualified staff or public health officials. Longer term or significant restrictions should receive elected oversight.

My principle would be that extraordinary circumstances can justify extraordinary measures but only temporarily.

There should always be a clear reason for a restriction, regular review of whether it remains necessary and a clear path back to normal municipal operations.

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Questionnaire sent: September 8, 2026
Response received: September 14, 2026

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