Yesterday’s municipal election was one of change, as many voters ousted the old in favour of adding new faces around the council table. The municipalities of West Nipissing and Calvin voted in new mayors and council members, and Bonfield and Mattawa also have new heads of council.
Here are the results:
Calvin Township: Richard Gould is the new mayor, replacing Ian Pennell, with 292 votes to 63. There was a race for council with 10 candidates running for four seats. Debbie Adams, Dean Grant, Robert Latimer, and Bill Moreton won spots at the table. No current councillors were re-elected.
West Nipissing: The municipality had a strong voter turn-out, with 47.68 per cent casting their ballots. Here’s what voters had to say:
Mayor: Kathleen Thorne Rochon
Ward 1: Kris Rivard
Ward 2: Roch St.Louis
Ward 3:Daniel Gagné
Ward 4:Jamie Restoule
Ward 5: Kaitlynn Nicol
Ward 6: Anne Tessier
Ward 7: Fernand Pellerin
Ward 8: Jérôme Courchesne
See: Clean slate for West Nipissing council
Bonfield: Narry Paquette is Bonfield’s new mayor, sweeping the three-person race with 58 per cent of the vote. Paquette had 576 votes, Jules Gagne earned 266, and 144 residents cast a for incumbent mayor Randy McLaren.
Seven candidates ran for four council seats. Steve Featherstone received the most votes with 693, and Jason Corbett’s 623 votes places him in second. Dan MacInnis is also a new addition to council with 553 votes, and Donna Clark—also new—was elected with 470 votes.
Mattawa: Raymond Belanger is the new mayor of Mattawa. Nine candidate ran for the six council chairs, and the voters chose Mathew Gardiner, Fern Levesque, Loren Mick, Laura Ross, Dexture Sarrazin, and Garry Thibert.
Mattawa saw a 46 per cent voter turn-out, with 717 votes cast by 1,555 eligible voters.
Callander: Robb Noon remains Callander’s mayor after receiving 674 votes. Gay Smylie received 532 votes and 447 voters cast a ballot for Daryl Vaillancourt.
Seven candidates ran for the four council seats, and Jordy Carr and Irene Smit kept their seats. Mike Dell and Grant McMartin will be joining the council table this upcoming term.
East Ferris: Mayor Pauline Rochefort was acclaimed, so she will retain her seat at the head of council. Councillors Terry Kelly, Steven Trahan, and Rick Champagne all return to their seats, and new councillor Lauren Rooyakkers will join them.
Papineau-Cameron: Robert Corriveau was acclaimed as mayor, and Keith Dillabough, Jason Belanger and Melanie Chenier were elected to council for the first time. Councillor Shelley Belanger returns for another term.
Papineau-Cameron saw a voter turn-out of 30.407 per cent, with 381 votes cast by 1,253 eligible voters.
David Briggs is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of BayToday, a publication of Village Media. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
