Ennismore Ward candidate promises to be a voice for young voters

Ennismore Ward candidate Mary Coulas, a 32-year-old mother on her way to completing a PhD in political science, promises to be a voice for Selwyn Township’s younger demographic if elected to council.

“I think there needs to be more representation on council, or at least for ideas of citizens my age. I would be a conduit for those ideas to come to council,” Coulas told the Examiner.

While Coulas, a longtime Ennismore resident with deep roots in the community spanning generations, hasn’t sat on a municipal council before, she’s no stranger to the world of politics. Coulas has a master’s degree in political science — along with an academic background in environmental management and women’s studies — and has researched food policies with public servants and politicians. In 2015, Coulas worked on local lawyer Brendan Moher’s bid for the federal Liberal nomination.

She’s currently pursuing her PhD at Carleton University.

“I think I would be an asset. I have a lot of contacts in different levels of government and so I have my ear to the ground of how we could navigate things in ways that may not have been done in practice before,” she said. “I can be an asset in finding new ways and providing new ideas on how to move forward on sticky issues that we haven’t really tackled yet.”

As a young mother living in a rural community, Coulas says she’s acutely aware of the challenges and realities faced by families and individuals alike as the township emerges from the pandemic.

Coulas has a long list of issues she plans on raising to council if elected, including access to land to build homes, harnessing provincial and federal tools to support local entrepreneurs and the addressing the growing importance of long-term care and day care.

“We have to think of facilities for care at both ends of the lifespan. I’m going to be a conduit for people to navigate that because my kids are in day care and school. I already have my ear to the ground and I’m watching what’s unfolding in the rural centre. My priority there is really gleaning what everybody is interested in and what is capable on the rural side of it,” Coulas said.

She is in a two-way race, thus far, with Patsy Young. Coun. Donna Ballantyne is not seeking re-election.