Chatham-Kent is mired in contradictions.
“No tax increase.” “Don’t cut our services or close our arena.”
“We need more dust control.” “Keep spending in check.”
“I hate potholes.” (Don’t’ we all?) “Cut the lifecycle budgeting for infrastructure!”
You get the idea. There is a Yin to every Yang; an effect for every cause.
Despite the complainers, Chatham-Kent is a pretty awesome place to live. And people from outside the area are taking notice. Hence the population growth above the provincial average, as reported in this week’s paper.
We grew by 1.23 per cent population-wise from 2024 to 2025, according to Statistics Canada figures. We outpaced all of our neighbours too.
What is driving people to move here when some of us who call C-K home are busy whining about pretty much everything? According to the municipality’s Audrey Ansell, director of Community Culture and Connections, it’s how we are progressing.
“I don’t think there’s one particular driver…I think a big piece is the community we’re building. The recreational offerings, the cultural offerings, the proximity to lakes, the natural amenities that are already here, they’re all factors people look at when they are considering where they want to raise a family.”
Some of that community building is done by the municipality; other work has been done by the likes of Phillip Ong. He’s the guy behind the CK Flex Plex indoor recreation facility on Richmond Street.
On one side, we have people clamouring to do nothing, change nothing and embrace the status quo, despite the fact that our status quo is crumbling around us.
But roads need to be maintained. Ditto for buildings. To ignore maintenance is to let things crumble (see the Civic Centre).
A new park? A new tennis bubble? These are not evil. They help draw interest to Chatham-Kent by providing residents here with more to do.
For spring, summer and fall, Chatham-Kent is bursting at the seams with events and things to do. We are a municipality with incredible destinations, especially along the shorelines of two massive bodies of water. But when the weather turns cold and the sun seemingly vanishes behind cloud for months on end, our people need outlets.
Thankfully, the tennis bubble, a host of casual sports leagues, and now the Flex Plex are options.
We need to grow, to advance, but grow intelligently.
