Roger Moyer

2026 Oxford County Municipal Election
Township of Zorra — Ward 2 Councillor

We asked. Roger Moyer 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 was born and raised in Southwest Oxford and Ingersoll. After graduating from IDCI, I attended Wilfrid Laurier University. I’ve lived in Thamesford since 2019.

I worked for over 30 years in the area of local government. First, as a land use planner with the County of Bruce and then as a municipal advisor and then Local Government Manager with the Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

I’m running for council to bring my wealth of municipal knowledge to the team. I’m a collaborative decision-maker. I’m committed to being fiscally responsible and responsive to the community.

There are many growth and development pressures facing Thamesford and Zorra. Those pressures sometimes cause conflict with our “small town” and rural way of life.

I’m a good listener and a good communicator. I’m open and transparent and if elected I will bring informed and balanced decision making to my role as councillor.

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.

I believe that strong municipal governments result in a strong Province of Ontario.

I believe in a strong voice for municipal government. I believe in the ability of municipalities, both individually and collectively, to directly guide and influence Provincial policies and legislation. In my local governance career I have seen first hand that municipalities can and do have a strong and effective voice at Queens Park.

I will strongly advocate where I don’t feel Zorra’s interests are being considered or understood.

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 am committed to being responsive to the residents of Zorra, and the Village of Thamesford in particular. While I hope to be the ward 2 councillor, the position is part of “team Zorra”.

I am very approachable and open minded. I will commit to engage with residents. I am fully retired and I have the time to listen and to chat.

I believe that respectful dialogue is key to informed decision making.

There is always the possibility that my constituents won’t agree with a decision that I, or, council as a whole, has made. It is important to be a good communicator so that constituents understand both the process and the inputs to my (and council’s) decisions. We won’t always agree. Respectful dialogue is the key.

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?

The role of the elected council is to lead and to make policy decisions for the municipality.

Appointed staff’s role is to provide research and expert advice to council as it deliberates the issues and makes its decisions. Staff is ultimately responsible for implementing Council’s decisions.

Council and staff work collaboratively for the betterment of the municipality.

Council, as the decision making body, sets out the direction and staff make the day to day decisions to carry out council’s decisions. It is important that all decisions (both policy making decisions by the council as well as the implementation decisions by staff) be clear and well thought out. In order for a decision to be effectively implemented it is important that staff understand how the decision was made and what inputs went into the decision.

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?

No.

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 am not running on a platform to set Zorra’s portion of the property tax bill to any particular percentage increase or decrease.

I am not in a position to predetermine what the tax rate should be. We all know that there is only one taxpayer. The Federal government, the Provincial government and your municipal government must always keep that in mind.

I am familiar with the municipal budget setting process. Overall, I would frame myself as a fiscal conservative.

Making difficult choices and trade-offs between sometimes competing interests – about the provision of local service levels and related expenditures – is one of the most important roles a locally elected council performs. If elected, I will take that responsibility very seriously.

Whatever the ultimate tax rate, I am committed to being open and transparent about the decision making process that led to the decision.

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.

I am a firm believer in limiting urban sprawl and protecting farmland. We have the best agricultural land in all of Ontario.

I support Oxford County and the Township of Zorra’s position on the protection of farmland through policies contained in the County’s Official Plan and implemented through Zorra’s Zoning By-law.

Farmland must be protected.

I support the application of minimum separation distances, directing growth to urban areas, preventing sprawl and restrictive rural severance policies.

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.

To the best of my knowledge, the Township of Zorra is currently on the record as not being a “willing host” to such projects under the current regulatory framework. I support that position.

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.

To the best of my knowledge, there is no current application for a data centre before Zorra Council.

Certainly, the issue of the location of data centres has been front and centre in the media recently, such as in Strathroy-Caradoc in Middlesex County, where an applicant removed “data centre” from a rezoning request after significant public opposition.

While my knowledge is limited on this subject, I understand that such uses are intensive consumers of both electricity and water and any proposal for such a land use would require very careful consideration.

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.

This is a very complex question. Balancing the rights of individuals and individual property owners against broader community or even regional or national interests is sometimes not easily achieved by governments at any level.

Zorra Township is a predominantly agricultural area. We have some of the very best agricultural land in Ontario and in all of Canada. I believe in the right to farm as enshrined in provincial legislation.

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.

I am not a climate change expert. I do, however, believe climate change is real.

The scientific community agrees that man’s activities and the burning of fossil fuels is the major contributor to climate change.

Climate change knows no municipal boundaries. As an example, we are experiencing more frequent and more violent weather events across our entire region.

Municipal infrastructure, which is publicly funded, must be built and maintained in such a manner as to consider the impacts of climate change – and to be resilient to those impacts where possible. Impacts can include such things as more severe winter and summer storm events, increased flood events and damaging wind events. All of these have an impact on municipal infrastructure planning and budgets.

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.

I understand that the Township of Zorra, like the majority of municipalities in Ontario, have diversity, equity and inclusion policies and programs in place.

The Province of Ontario has mandated certain aspects of this as well, through such instruments as the Ontario Human Rights Code and the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act. All municipalities in Ontario operate under that framework.

While I am not an expert in this area, I am aware of the existence of the “Safe and Well Oxford Communities” Plan.

I believe in inclusivity and removing barriers to participation. I believe in a Zorra Township where everyone is welcomed. I believe in competency and merit.

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.

I am not familiar with this issue. I am always interested in learning more and if Stand4Oxford has a policy position on this issue, I am very interested in engaging in a dialogue about it.

I believe the Township of Zorra has a responsibility to be transparent and accountable to its local residents for all of its decisions. If elected, I will take that responsibility very seriously.

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.

To be honest, I had to look up exactly what “flock cameras” meant. Through my research, I learned that “Flock Safety” is a specific brand name.

My limited research suggests that some major police forces in Ontario, and some other predominantly larger cities, are employing this technology. I also learned that while the Oxford OPP utilizes this technology to scan licence plates, no municipality in the County uses it.

I have read that public anxiety exists, and probably rightly so in my view, over unwanted surveillance and the invasion of privacy. However, I support our police services using this technology if it can alert officers to such things as stolen vehicles and missing persons and other unlawful activities.

Again, if Stand4Oxford has done research into this topic and has a policy position to share I am very willing to engage in a dialogue about it.

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.

If another public-health emergency were to occur, I believe the Township of Zorra Council, together with other councils in Oxford County, including the County of Oxford would seek guidance on the appropriate courses of action to be considered and undertaken from the appropriate public health agencies, regionally, provincially and federally.

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Questionnaire sent: September 8, 2026
Response received: September 19, 2026

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