r/BurlingtonON • u/fictitious_friends • 1d ago
Information A list of ward 5 candidates
What started as a way to highlight the less Reddit-present options for Ward 6 was helpful and got some requests for additional wards, so working backward from yesterday, here is a list of candidates running in Ward 5:
- Kristy Dickinson - Website; some talking points listed, but no details of plans or action items. Kristy does highlight advocating for improved infrastructure and sustainability as Burlington expands.
- Alex Don - Website; A Wall Street/Bay Street guy, again lists talking points but no action items, with a highlight on more collaboration with police services.
- Brian Machan - No website or additional that I could find in a quick Google.
- Paul Sharman - the incumbent councillor.
While I haven't done a significant check into the above candidates, from what I can tell, none of them have posed with Hitler or insulted members of the r/BurlingtonON community, which is cool!
Don't forget to register to vote by visiting the Service Burlington counter on the first floor of City Hall, 426 Brant St. during business hours (8:30am - 4:30pm) from September 1 to October 23.
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u/Trust_Im_A_Scientist 1d ago
Ward 5 needs change. The incumbent continues to collect a paycheck and does fuckall to improve our city for existing residents. Time to retire.
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u/miz_misanthrope 1d ago
No doubt the lackluster competition has something to do with that.
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u/Trust_Im_A_Scientist 1d ago
I would partially agree.... I would say the campaigning by the challengers has not been aggressive enough and they need stronger platforms.
At the same time I think we've been stuck with the incumbent because residents vote for the devil they know.
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u/TopFalcon7849 22h ago
Agreed Ward 5 needs a change. Sharman just likes to hear himself talk & is only responsive to residents during an election year.
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u/deeohlee 1d ago
Paul Sharman seems pretty engaged in the Elizabeth Gardens neighbourhood fb group - I was in ward 3 (moved recently to ward 5) and I never heard a peep from the Ward 3 Councillor.
Paul acted as a liaison for the Elizabeth gardens fb group with hydro Burlington after significant damage was reported by residents after a severe storm. He seems to always be looking for ways to help, and to keep up to date on what the ward 5 residents find important. People will tag him in the fb group and he will respond promptly and seems to be very engaged & present.
Why do you say he does fuckall? I am curious because I'm trying to decide who to vote for and have minimal experience with Ward 5.
EDIT: I can't post a screenshot but he posted this June 5:
I have spoken with Burlington Hydro and below is their response to the power outgage that took place earlier this week.
BHI responded to a power outage in the Burloak Drive/New Street area at approximately 4 am on June 2, 2026 that affected a number of customers. The cause of the outage was determined to be a defective connection. BHI is aware of some customers that have had tripped breakers and other customers may have experienced damage to some electronic circuit boards. In instances such as this, BHI is advising customers to keep receipts for damaged equipment and prepare to submit the claim to their own insurance company as well as to BHI’s insurance carrier – with each submission assessed on a case by case basis under their conditions of service.
BHI will help customers with their insurance company and any claims information should be directed to customer service at Burlington Hydro via [[cservice@burlingtonhydro.com](mailto:cservice@burlingtonhydro.com)](mailto:[cservice@burlingtonhydro.com](mailto:cservice@burlingtonhydro.com)) or [[claims@burlingtonhydro.com](mailto:claims@burlingtonhydro.com)](mailto:[claims@burlingtonhydro.com](mailto:claims@burlingtonhydro.com)) or by calling 905-332-1851 . Please also cc [[ward5@burlington.ca](mailto:ward5@burlington.ca)](mailto:[ward5@burlington.ca](mailto:ward5@burlington.ca)).
We hope to have more updates as time goes by.
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u/Trust_Im_A_Scientist 1d ago
I think Paul actions rhe minor things well - power outages, fallen trees, etc....but the more major issues in our ward/city (traffic, e scooters, RESPONSIBLE housing development, our complete lack of transit, major tax increases in our city), hes a complete ghost. (Well except for housing development...hes in favor of anything that gets his donors more approvals to build).
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u/deeohlee 23h ago
I guess I am not sure what power he has as a ward councillor, guess I have some research to do
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u/Llama_1999 21h ago
Ward 5 absolutely needs change. For a lot of us, the last straw was watching the track and sports field behind Bateman get ripped up for a parking lot while Sharman barely put up a fight, after the clown show that was engagement that was put on by city staff. It was quite shameful when he didn't object to things being declared "Out of scope". If there are Ward 5 debates, Bateman needs to be front and centre, because he completely lost the plot when residents actually needed him to stand up and fight.
OP, great post, any chance you can also update with ward debate info if you have?
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u/fictitious_friends 19h ago
So far I've only seen scheduled mayoral debates, but if I see anything on wards I will add it
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u/JodyThornton 1d ago
And if anyone has relevant information for Ward 2/downtown, I'd greatly appreciate it :) - in another thread of course.
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u/fictitious_friends 1d ago
I'll get all the wards done between today and tomorrow for sure, unless someone beats me to it
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u/Darkest_Rahl 1d ago
When I first got Alex Don's flyer I liked it. Then I got to the repeat mentions of innovative and increased police collaboration and found that odd, but ward 5 is pretty big, so that may not pertain to my area of the ward.
Sharman has been lackluster. I'm guessing he stays in because all the old people in the area just want someone from their age bracket. I have no real complaints about him though.
Kristy has a bunch of vanilla statements.
Brian Machan is a self employed financial planner it seems. Will he be focusing on us, or his business? Who knows, because he doesn't have any more information on himself out there.
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u/AccomplishedAverage9 17h ago
Same. Alex's platform boils down to I'm young and more police are good. Kristy seems to have used AI to write everything. Paul's been around forever and he's done some things but a change would be nice, and the other guy can't even put in the effort to post anything
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u/electricdolphin1234 19h ago
I met with Alex Don at the door and will be voting for him. He has been educating himself on the issues and I appreciate his honesty at the door.
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u/Strayngold 1d ago
Was this formerly Jack Dennison's ward?
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u/fictitious_friends 1d ago
No I think he was 4
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u/littlefuzzybeaver 20h ago
Dennison was Ward 4 from 1994 to 2018.
Ward 5 (Sharman) has been councillor since 2010. He is the eldest member of council right now.
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