#munipoli Matters - ISSUE 55 - Ontario municipal election results (PART 2)
Here are the results from the October municipal elections across the rest of Ontario
Welcome to another exciting edition of #munipoil Matters, where we cover the often under-reported area of municipal politics and local government.
After months of campaigning, those who made the decision to cast a ballot in the 2022 municipal election have made their choice as to who would represent them in their local municipalities for the next four years.
While many incumbent mayors retained their roles, there are a few new mayors along with several new councillors elected across Ontario. Those sitting around council tables will have some big decisions to make, with ‘strong mayor’ powers and new housing policies being brought in by Queen’s Park.
Here is a rundown of the results from across Ontario.
Amherstberg: With Mayor Aldo DiCarlo not running for re-election, the role was won by Councillor Michael Prue, a former mayor of East York and a former NDP MPP from Beaches-East York. Other candidates include Frank Cerasa, John Laframboise, and Bob Rozankovic.
BARRIE: Mayor Jeff Lehman did not run for a fourth term after 12 years in office. His job was heavily contested but in the end former councillor and Conservative MP Alex Nuttall edged out Councillor Barry Ward by 777 votes to become the new mayor. Four new councillors will join the other six for the 2022-26 term.
Belleville: Mayor Mitch Panciuk has been reduced to a one term mayor as former mayor Neil Ellis reclaimed the role he held from 2006 to 2014 with 59% of the vote. Ellis served as Bay of Quinte MP from 2015 to 2021.
BRANTFORD: Mayor Kevin Davis defeated former mayor Chris Friel with 52% in 2018, but faced a tougher challenge this year. Davis managed to turn back former councillor Dave Wrobel, who previously ran for the People’s Party of Canada, but only by 208 votes.
Davis got 9220 votes while Wrobel got 9012 votes. Ryan Smith garnered 1491 votes and perennial candidate John Turmel, who holds a world record of running in elections, came in last with 343 votes.
CAMBRIDGE: Ward 4 Councillor Jan Liggett defeated Mayor Kathryn McGarry in her bid for a second term. Former mayor Doug Craig and Ward 5 Councillor Pam Wolf were elected to Cambridge’s Regional Council seats.
Belinda and Jim Karahalios, who started up the provincial New Blue Party, both contested open City Council seats and were not successful.
Collingwood: Councillor Yvonne Hamlin won a three way race for the open mayoral seat against former councillor Norm Sandberg and Deputy Mayor Mariane McLeod.
Cornwall: Mayor Glen Grant has lost the role he was appointed to after the previous incumbent was appointed to the Canadian Senate. Councillor Justin Towndale was elected the new mayor.
Dryden: Jack Harrison defeated Councillor Shayne MacKinnon in a landslide win with 69% of the vote.
Elliot Lake: Councillor Chris Patrie defeated Mayor Dan Marchisella.
Essex: Councillor Sherry Bondy defeated Deputy Mayor Richard Meloche, who was appointed mayor after Larry Snively resigned earlier this year following a guilty plea for violating provisions in the Municipal Elections Act.
Gananoque: Military veteran John Beddows won the mayor’s seat from incumbent Ted Lojko. Beddows won 940 votes over Lojko’s 721 votes. A third candidate, Greg Truesdell, won 381 votes.
On Council, there will be four new faces to take up the six council seats, including Colin Brown, the nephew of late Conservative MP Gord Brown.
GREATER SUDBURY: Things took a dramatic shift in October as incumbent Brian Bigger, who was running for reelection, suddenly dropped out of the race. Former Sudbury MP Paul Lefebvre easily cruised to a win with 52% of the vote.
On City Council, most of the incumbents running again were reelected. Two councillors did lose their seats: Ward 4 incumbent Geoff McCausland lost to Pauline Fortin and Ward 5’s Robert Kirwan lost in a massive landslide to Michel Parent, getting only 19% to Parent’s 81%.
Haldimand County: Mayor Ken Hewitt sought election to the Ontario legislature earlier in June as a PC candidate but was defeated by Bobbi Ann Brady, a former local PC riding president who ran as an Independent.
On October 24, Hewitt lost again but this time for his reelection bid. Shelley Ann Bentley won the mayor’s job with 32% of the vote, followed by Jake Vandendool with 31%. Hewitt got 25% of the vote, followed by Dick Passmore with 10% and Jennifer Gilmour with 2%.
HAMILTON: In one of the closely watched mayoral elections on election night, former NDP leader Andrea Horwath battled former Chamber of Commerce CEO Keanin Loomis for the lead back and forth. Horwath ended up winning by 1,663 votes. Mayor Fred Eisenberger did not seek another term.
The other big story is the turnover on City Council. Five incumbent councillors did not run again, but three sitting Councillors were defeated, leading to one of the largest municipal turnovers in the city’s history.
Ward 2 Councillor Jason Farr was defeated by Cameron Kroetsch, Ward 10 Councillor Maria Pearson lost to Jeff Beattie and Ward 13 Councillor Arlene VanderBeek lost in a landslide to Alex Wilson.
New councillors who won races in open wards are Tammy Hwang (Ward 4), Matt Francis (Ward 5), Mark Tadeson (Ward 11), Craig Cassar (Ward 12) Mike Spadafora (Ward 14) and Ted McMeekin (Ward 15).
Tadeson and Spadafora had the closest races in this year’s municipal election in Hamilton. Tadeson won by 83 votes over Nicholas Lauwers and Spadafora defeated Kojo Damptey by 79 votes.
Kawartha Lakes: With incumbent Andy Letham not running again, the mayor’s race was won by Councillor Doug Elmslie won a close race against William Denby, Ward 5 Councillor Pat Dunn, Faye McGee, Jim Riches and Ward 2 Councillor Kathleen Seymour-Fagan.
KINGSTON: Mayor Bryan Paterson easily won a third term with 74% of the vote, but the real story is that 8 of the 12 members of City Council will be new faces.
Lakeshore: Veteran Mayor Tom Bain, who has served since 2006, was defeated by Deputy Mayor Tracey Bailey.
LONDON: Ward 7 Councillor Josh Morgan easily won the open mayor’s race to replace outgoing incumbent Ed Holder, who endorsed Morgan during the campaign. Morgan won 66% of the vote, compared to the second placeholder, former MPP Khalid Ramal, with 23%.
Eight of the 14 City Councillors are new, having either taken over from retiring members or defeating current incumbents.
Two councillors who were appointed to their role following the previous councillor leaving earlier in the term were defeated, along with Ward 1 incumbent Michael Van Holst, who lost to Hadleigh McAlister.
New Tecumseth: Deputy Mayor Richard Norcross defeated Councillor Donna Jebb and local news site operator Tony Veltri after incumbent Rick Milne declined to run for another term.
Niagara-on-the-Lake: Regional Councillor Gary Zalepa defeated Lord Mayor Betty Disero and retired businessman Vaughn Goettler to become the new mayor.
Norfolk County: Mayor Kristal Chopp has lost her seat to Councillor Amy Martin, who took 42% of the vote to Chopp’s 26%. Councillor Ian Rabbitts, former Simcoe town councillor Bill Culver and businessman David Bate were also running.
North Bay: In the race to replace retiring Mayor Al McDonald, former councillor and president of the North Bay Chamber of Commerce Peter Chirico edged out Councillor Johanne Brousseau and Leslie McVeety. Chirico took 49% of the vote to Brousseau’s 44%.
Orangeville: Councillor Lisa Post takes over from retiring mayor Sandy Brown. Post was elected with 51% of the vote, over Jeffrey Wallace Patterson, Kim Reid, and former mayor Jeremy Williams.
OTTAWA: The race to replace Mayor Jim Watson boiled down to Somerset Councillor Catherine McKenney and media personality Mark Sutcliffe. After what polls deemed a close race, Sutcliffe won the mayoralty with 51% to McKenney’s 38%.
Former councillor Steve Desroches, who served from 2006 to 2014, returns to Council representing Riverside South-Findlay Creek ward. In the race for Osgoode ward, incumbent George Darouze fended off a strong challenge from former councillor Doug Thompson.
A total 11 new council members were elected for the now 24 member body. Councillor-elect Wilson Lo was elected for the newly created ward called Barrhaven East.
Owen Sound: Mayor Ian Boddy fended off Councillor Richard Thomas to win another term, getting 56% of the vote.
Peterborough: Replacing outgoing Mayor Diane Therrien is former councillor and former MPP Jeff Leal. Leal took 49% of the vote over Councillors Henry Clarke, Stephen Wright, as well as candidates Brian Lumsden and Victor Kreuz.
Port Colborne: Mayor Bill Steele defeated his estranged brother Charles to keep his job, with 63% of the vote over Charles’ 37%.
Port Hope: A bit of an upset in the race to replace outgoing Mayor Bob Sanderson who did not seek reelection; entrepreneur Olena Hankivsky scored an upset over Councillors Laurie Carr and Jeff Lees as well as Angela Grogan. Hankivsky won 34% of the vote over Lees’ 31%.
Prince Edward County: Mayor Steve Ferguson won reelection with 42%.
Sault Ste. Marie: Ward 3 Councillor Matthew Shoemaker takes over from outgoing Mayor Christian Provenzano, winning 44% of the vote over former councillor Ozzie Grandinetti, Councillor Donna Hilsinger, climate activist Tobin Kern and Robert Peace.
ST. CATHARINES: Mayor Walter Sendzik did not run for a third term and the election was won by Niagara Regional Councillors Matt Siscoe. Siscoe won a landslide with 69% of the vote over Councillor Mike Britton and Nick Petrucci.
St. Clair Township: Incumbent Steve Arnold did not run again. Former councillor Jeff Agar defeated Ward 1 Councillor Tracy Kingston and Chad Shymko.
St. Thomas: After defeating former mayor Heather Jackson in 2018 Mayor Joe Preston, a former Conservative MP, fended off Jackson once again with an even larger margin. Preston took 59% to Jackson’s 31% while Gregg McCart took 10%.
Stratford: Councillor Martin Ritsma won a three way race against Robert Rhiz and fellow councillor Kathy Vassilakos to replace veteran Mayor Dan Mathieson.
THUNDER BAY: Mayor Bill Mauro’s decision to forego running for a second term opened the door for former mayor Ken Boschoff to return to his old job.
Boschoff won the mayor’s race with 38% of the vote, besting Councillor Peng You (who ran for the Tories in June), local news publisher Clinton Harris, Gary Mack and Robert Szczepanski.
Tiny Township: Marketing manager David Evans defeated former township councillor Tony Mintoff in the running to replace Mayor George Cornell.
Wasaga Beach: Former mayor Brian Smith is back after losing his seat in 2018 to Mayor Nina Bifolchi. This time, Smith defeated Bifolchi as well as former Toronto councillor Giorgio Mammoliti and Leslie Farkas.
WATERLOO: Government relations professional Dorothy McCabe has won the election to succeed outgoing Mayor Dave Jaworsky. McCabe won 44% over Conestoga College instructor Shannon Weber’s 42%. Entrepreneur Rob Evans and local businessman Kypp Saunders were also running.
West Grey: Former mayor Kevin Eccles won back his old job with 46% of the vote, with Councillor Stephen Townsend coming in second. Mayor Christine Robinson came in third with only 25% of the vote.
West Lincoln: Councillor Cheryl Ganann has defeated Mayor Dave Bylsma with 68% of the vote. Harold Jonker, an incumbent councillor who attended the Freedom Convoy earlier this year in Ottawa, also lost his seat.
WINDSOR: Mayor Drew Dilkens has managed to fend off a strong challenge from Ward 4 Councillor Chris Holt to secure a third term, winning 52% over Holt’s 39%, a margin by around 6800 votes.
For the rest of City Council, there are three new members joining the remaining seven incumbents. Renaldo Agostino (Ward 3) and Mark Mckenzie (Ward 4) take over the only open wards in the city, while Angelo Marignani (Ward 7) defeated incumbent Jeewen Gill.
Woodstock: Mayor Trevor Birtch, criminally charged with sexual assault, lost his reelection bid and was relegated to fourth place, getting only 305 votes.
The mayoral election was won by Councillor Jerry Acchione. Acchione won 39% in a close race with realtor David Hilderley, who took in 37%. Businessman Anthony Scalisi, Peter Croves, Henry Biro were also in the running.
With that, this ends the 2022 Ontario municipal election cycle, until next time four years later.
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