Peace River Election 2010: Big changes

I went to bed last night knowing that our incumbent mayor, Iris Callioux, had been defeated by former mayor, Lorne Mann. And woke up to discover that incumbent Wanda Laurin and I had also been defeated.

Democracy works in surprising ways. The results are personally disappointing, of course, but also disappointing from the perspective of having a women's voice on Council. And although there are smart and thoughtful men who have been elected, with only the incoming mayor and incumbent councillor Geoff Milligan with previous municipal experience, the loss of knowledge and experience will be challenging for Council, Town staff, and the many committees and boards that mayor and councillors serve on.

I wish the new mayor and council all the best and will watch with great interest to see in what direction Peace River and the region is taken over the next three years.

Councillors:
North Darling
Rob Lafontaine
Geoff Milligan (incumbent)
Tom Tarpey
Colin Needham
Cole George

Unofficial Nomination Results: An election in the Town of Peace River

The unofficial results (nominees have 24 hours to reconsider) have us with two candidates for Mayor and nine for councillor (3 incumbents and 6 newcomers). That means we've got an election, which is great news for the Town!

Next step is to get those voters out for the advanced polls (October 12 & 15) and on October 18.

Watching History

I'm not sure I ever thought I'd live long enough to see an African-American President and First Lady, but it has happened! And with a huge voter turnout--Canadians should look on that with envy.

Collaboration and figuring out how to work together to achieve big goals is so important to me and is how I try to approach municipal public life. Watching the US campaign has given me high hopes that an Obama presidency will approach the huge social and economic problems in the US and around the world from that perspective.

I was also encouraged by John McCain's gracious concession speech and his call for all Americans to work together. We can't expect the extreme partisanship that is characteristic of US politics to disappear overnight, but I anticipate seeing a far different approach to internal and international US relations than we've seen for far too long.

Federal Election: Get Out and Vote!

Polls are open today from 7:30 AM to 7:30 PM so if you didn't vote during the advance poll, be sure to get out today.

Many people will have received a card in the mail sometime ago with their polling station information (mine is the Senior's Drop-in).

The Elections Canada website is very busy this morning, but you can try it.

The local Elections Canada office is at 9509-100 Avenue, Peace River. The phone number is 1-866-497-8892.