Marcus Ryan retiring from politics

Marcus Ryan. File photo

By Lee Griffi

Marcus Ryan’s name will not be on the 2026 Zorra Township election ballot, as Oxford County’s warden has decided to step away from municipal politics.

“Nobody does anything forever. We all change. Politics was never a career choice for me. I backed my way into it because I wanted to keep my kids' school (A.J. Baker in 2012) open, and one thing led to another over the years,” said Ryan. “I always wanted to just try and get stuff done, and I think I've got stuff done. Now, I want to do other things in life.”

Ryan said the role of mayor and warden has changed over the years and has become more intense in different ways, including spending time lobbying the provincial government.

“I was at Queen's Park for a day last week, talking to ministers and trying to get stuff done. Now I go to the cabin, and I'm taking phone calls from people. I can't go on a two-week vacation, so to some extent, I want to just have more personal time.”

He would like to spend more time kayaking and hiking but did hint at remaining active in politics – just on the other side of the table.

“I've thought a little bit about maybe offering some council training, public speaking and maybe some consulting, but we'll see. I don't know if people would be interested in hearing from me on that stuff or not.”

Ryan said he feels good about a new school being built in the village of Thamesford, as well as a new policy direction that will proactively protect farmland.

“Those intensification targets that we put forward are, in my opinion, historic for Oxford, and I'm proud of that. The Maple Leaf redevelopment in Thamesford of that land is going to reap rewards for the community for generations.”

No one would deny housing and homelessness has become a paramount issue for the county. Ryan said whether residents don't want someone living in a tent or they don't want someone living in a tent behind their house, either way, that's an issue.

“And I think I'm proud of the investments that council made in staffing and in policies and in dollars to make that happen. We had an announcement last week about an affordable housing project opening in Oxford. Sometimes, those things are disconnected for people, but without those difficult budgets that we passed, then we can't have those days where we make an announcement about affordable housing.”

Ryan explained he isn’t the kind of person who lives with regrets for decisions made or not made in the past, but there is one issue that has stuck with him throughout his political career.

“It was during my first term on council that there was a proposal to move the Embro library to the rec center out of the town hall. I was brand new, and there was a lot of public opposition to it, and I sort of went with that. In hindsight, I think it was probably not the best choice. We probably should have moved it to create a sort of community hub of all kinds of services there.”

Ryan added he hopes his replacement can move his priorities forward, though as of press time, no one has put their name forward to run for mayor of Zorra.

“I want someone to come along and do a better job than me because either way … I am still going to be a resident of Zorra. I'm still going to be a resident of Oxford. I'm still going to use these services. My neighbours, my friends and my family are going to use these services and pay these taxes. And I really hope somebody comes along and says I found a better way than Marcus did.”

He also hopes voters are satisfied with the work he did.

“We had some challenging budgets. We had challenging times. Managing through COVID and the immense budget turmoil that came with that before and after. Then, reacting to the housing and homelessness issue, I think that we've been doing the right things. And I think the reality of government is sometimes you pass the policies while you're in the chair and then the benefits of those policies come years later.”

Ryan said he’ll be very happy if some future warden gets the credit for some of the work that he did while in the chair. He also hopes more people begin paying attention to municipal politics.

“I wish more people followed their local councils and knew what was going on. I wish more people knew what was going on with climate change. I wish more people knew what was going on with the economy, with all kinds of things. But I think having done this for sort of 12 years, and I don't mean this in a fatalistic way, but people are engaged to the level they're engaged with, and it's very hard to convince them to be more engaged than that.”