Inside Ontario's smallest municipality where only one man lives year-round — but over a hundred still vote and consider it home

Inside Ontario's smallest municipality, where only one man lives year-round, but over 100 still vote

Cockburn Island in Lake Huron’s North Channel has a Statistics Canada population of just 16 — but only one man actually lives there year-round. Outgoing Mayor Brenda Jones, whose family has served on council since 1881, shares how Ontario’s smallest municipality conducts mail-in elections, governs by Zoom and keeps its democracy alive despite a population that has dwindled from nearly 1,000 permanent residents to one

Inside Ontario's smallest municipality where only one man lives year-round — but over a hundred still vote and consider it home

Cockburn Island, Ontario's smallest municipality with just one year-round resident, has maintained unbroken democratic governance since 1881 and survived through war, population decline and a ferry that stopped running.