Allyson Beauregard
MRC PONTIAC – Many of Pontiac’s municipal councils will have new
Allyson Beauregard
MRC PONTIAC – Many of Pontiac’s municipal councils will have new
members around the table now that the results have been tabulated from the advance polls (October 29) and Election Day polls (November 5). Fifty-six percent of all seats were contested and there was a 58% regional participation rate. For the first time, thirty-seven percent of the new mayors are women. For full results, see page 9.
Participation rates ranged from 60.1% in Thorne to 73.1% in Campbell’s Bay. Alleyn-et-Cawood, L’Isle-aux-Allumettes, Ile-du-Grand-Calumet and Mansfield all experienced hotly contested mayoral seats.
One of the most anticipated results were those for Warden, elected for the first time via universal suffrage. Numbers poured in until the early hours of November 6, with Jane Toller significantly taking the lead with 3,528 votes. Raymond Durocher followed with 1,358 votes, while Linda Davis placed third with 1,022. Official numbers and results will be released later in the week of November 6.
According to Toller, her win indicated a turning point for the Pontiac as well as “a strong appetite for change”. “It’s a great way to start my term knowing I have this kind of support behind me,” she said.
Her immediate priorities include working on the MRC’s upcoming budget and hopefully holding some form of public consultation on it; familiarizing herself with files left from the previous Council of Mayors so she can “hit the ground
running”; and sitting down with all of the mayors to identify priorities across the region in order to create a four year action plan including a public progress report at the end of every year.
Toller’s long-term goals include, among others, increasing agriculture, supporting mining, and re-entering the forestry industry, as well as implementing a plan to keep youth and seniors in the area, all with the goal of creating “jobs, jobs, jobs”.
