MORRISBURG – Recently, South Dundas Mayor Jason Broad sat down with The Leader for the last year-end interview of this his first term of council, but made it abundantly clear that he does not want it to be his last.
“I am 100 per cent sure I am seeking re-election in October 2026,” he said. “When the application window opens in May, I will be submitting my name.”
He even encourages those considering candidacy to reach out to him if they want to learn more about the roles or have any questions.
The first term member of council and first time mayor says: “I still love every minute of it. We’ve done a lot, but there’s lots more to do. The term’s not over.”
He adds that he campaigned on attitude and culture and believes in the importance of staying positive, a trait that he believes serves South Dundas well.
“I think that’s part of why we’ve seen many successes,” said Broad adding that in addition to what people have seen already, there is much more in the works.
The 2025 calendar year saw a lot of projects completed. Morris Glen’s 17 unit apartment building is now open in Morrisburg. In Iroquois the 24 unit apartment building is now open along with an Anytime Fitness location.
Safavieh in the Morrisburg industrial park is built and ready for occupancy and operations.
Merkley Oaks broke ground and has the infrastructure in place and new housing units are being built and Dutch Meadows is continuing to move on to the next phases.
Along with seeing these projects come to fruition, Broad is pleased that they have been able to finally bring in funding for the Morrisburg Arena entrance upgrade.
“We delivered on funding from the province to accelerate the time-line, and we will start construction on the entrance way in the spring,” he said.
Iroquois Plaza upgrades were completed in 2025 and Morrisburg Plaza upgrades are planned and in the budget for 2026.
“I’m very happy that both our plazas will see many upgrades and improvements,” said Broad, adding that he is disappointed that he is not able to participate in decisions about those properties. “But, the integrity commissioner clearly advised me ‘in an abundance of caution’ to declare conflict because my wife’s family owns businesses in both plazas.” However he added that the conversations about these municipally-owned assets are difficult conversations. “I commend the three councillors for having these discussions.” (Councillor Cole Veinotte also declares conflict in these matters.)
By the end of this term of council, this group is likely to be remembered as the group who got the plazas parking lots and infrastructure revamped.
“From day one of our term the plazas were on the radar and I’m proud to see that accomplished,” Broad told The Leader.
However, he sees the water, wastewater connection to the St. Lawrence Parks Commission as the most important achievement of this term of council.
“That was a major funding announcement for the connection of water, waste water to Riverside Campground, Upper Canada Golf Course, Chrysler Marina, Upper Canada Village, and Crysler Beach,” said Broad. “This opens up many opportunities for expansion to the east and we have begun conversations with the province about many possibilities,” said Broad.
He looks forward to welcoming representatives of the St. Lawrence Parks Commission to a council meeting in the new year to present some of their plans for the future.
Broad continues to see budgeting under the current economic climate a challenge, but says: “We have done a good job this year to balance level of service, our reserves our asset management plan and our daily operations.”
While Broad’s positivity sometimes seems unending he is not shy to acknowledge that council has faced challenges.
“Three CAO’s in three years,” said Broad. “Another year, another change at the key leadership position in the municipality.”
“We are happy that CAO Mills attained the CAO position in the City of Cornwall. They are bigger than South Dundas and our key partner in many shared services files. Mills did an excellent job for us and helped us move the needle on many of our own files.”
Filling that gap with Ben deHaan, is something that Broad sees as an achievement. “Our new CAO brings a lot of energy, compassion, skills and experience to the municipality. In the short eight months he has been here he has already made an impact with staff and the community.”
The change at the top position for South Dundas Fire and Emergency Services has left deHaan in the role of Acting Fire Chief. Broad says in that he is leading the station officers. “We are in good hands with our station chiefs and their crews,” he said, adding that they have been able to attract 10 new recruits.
New leadership options are being explored by the CAO, Mayor and Deputy Mayor, and they look forward to seeing those options presented to council in 2026. The mayor believes a different approach is in order.
Exploring and discussing the potential implementation of development charges took up a considerable amount of consultant, staff and council time over the last year. “We went through the process, but it didn’t give us the results we wanted,” said Broad.
Ever-grateful, Broad spoke about and thanked the committees, community members, firefighters and staff for all they do for South Dundas. “I can still say that I love every minute of being mayor here in South Dundas. We have an incredible community and I know I have worked hard to do the best job I can for all our residents. We have done a lot in our term, and plan for more. I really enjoy seeing people out and about in our community – whether you live here, have families here or are just visiting. I really appreciate how we all rally together to make this a great place to live.”
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