By CONNIE TABBERT
Editor
WHITEWATER REGION — Two new faces are sitting in the top two positions in Whitewater Region following Tuesday night’s election results.
While most of the province voted Monday, Whitewater Region, along with a few municipalities in Renfrew County, extended voting by 24 hours due to system overload.
Mike Moore is the new mayor for Whitewater Region, defeating incumbent Hal Johnson 1,637 to 1,385.
In the reeve’s chair, Cathy Regier will sit, having defeated businessman Joe Kowalski 1,526 to 1,456. Ms. Regier has been a councillor for the township since 2010 and decided to challenge herself to be the next reeve.
The five councillors are, in voting order, newcomer Neil Nicholson (1,918 votes); and incumbents Chris Olmstead (1,658); Charlene Jackson (1,488); Daryl McLaughlin (1,294); an
d Dave Mackay (1,244).
The other candidates were Nell Rooney (798); Donna Burns (792); John Felix Cull (732); Allan Lance (657); Don Rathwell (649); Ron Laronde (589); Jim Butterworth (532) and John (Kyle) Dupuis (424).
When the large sign bearing the unofficial numbers was brought into the upstairs hall of the Cobden Legion, Betty Heubner shouted “Yes!!” as she fist-pumped into the air. It wasn’t hard to tell that Mr. Moore had been elected, as she was part of his campaign team.
Mayor Johnson entered the hall before Mr. Moore, not a happy candidate.
“I’m very disappointed,” he said. “I felt I did a very good job bringing our municipality ahead.
“The people chose somebody with no knowledge of how to do it at all. It’s very disappointing.”
Mayor Johnson isn’t happy with how campaigning occurred within the township.
“The smut campaigns that went on through the whole thing are what turned people against me,” he said. “Nobody followed the fact that we brought in all the jobs, we did all this stuff.
“What are you supposed to do? You do a good job and people don’t want you?
That’s the way it is.”
One of the campaigns was the constant questioning of the lawsuit that Mayor Johnson brought against the township following him being terminated without cause in 2010.
“The thing about the lawsuit issue is I was proven innocent eight years ago,” he said. “Why can that not be dropped? That’s an attack on my person and it’s not a good attack. But, if people can’t let it go, that’s the way it is.”
Mr. Moore cannot wait until he gets into the mayor’s seat.
“I feel ecstatic and excited to move ahead,” he said. “It’s going to be a tough row, but we’re going to work through it.
“I’m the new person on the council, so it’s going to take a while to learn stuff and to learn how my councillors feel.”
Mr. Moore said he was “not necessarily surprised” but is happy how many people voted.
In the final tally, returning officer Robert Tremblay noted 48.8 percent of those eligible to vote did so, or 3,073. There are 6,294 registered voters for Whitewater Region.
He noted there was a bandwidth slowdown from 6 to 8 p.m. on election day, but once the issue was resolved, 127 people voted after 8 p.m. on that date. On Tuesday, an additional 192 electors voter, 59 of whom used paper ballots, he added.
Of the 3,073 electors who voted, 64 percent did so by internet and eight percent by telephone, Mr. Tremblay said. Advanced paper voting was also a success with 800 people taking advantage of that option.
Mr. Moore said close to 200 people were able to vote on the extra day.
“Whether the screwup had anything to do with (him being elected) or not, I don’t know, but people were still voting at quarter-to-eight tonight,” he said Tuesday, after the numbers were released. “They wanted to get their vote out there, and they were able to do that.”
Ms. Regier is looking forward to getting to county council, although she’s not sure when her first meeting is.
It was a close race between herself and Mr. Kowalski, with 70 votes between the two.
“It was a close vote, about 70-some votes apart,” she said. “I knew it was going to be close, no doubt in my mind.
“I actually thought it would be within 50 votes.”
Ms. Regier believes her eight years of experience sitting on township council, along with getting out and meeting the people, helped her get elected to a position her father, Don Rathwell, held for many years.
“I’m looking forward to representing Whitewater at the county level, I’m so excited,” Ms. Regier said, adding, “I am following in my father’s footsteps.”
Ms. Regier noted there were three generations of her family running for election in this campaign. Her father, Don, was runn
ing for a councillor’s chair in Whitewater Region and her son Shawn ran for a councillor position McNab Braeside. She was the only family member to be elected.
Neil Nicholson is the other newcomer to the council table.
“It feels wonderful to be elected,” he said, adding, “I look forward to working with everybody. It’s a big team.
“I’m looking forward to moving ahead on all the things we talked about for the past two months.”
Councillor Olmstead received the second most votes and is looking forward to another term.
“It feels good to be back again,” he said. “I know the next four years is going to be full of a lot of hard work, so I’m looking forward to that.
“I learned a lot during the election process, and heard lots of issues that we need to work on. I look forward to getting to work.”
Councillor Dave Mackay said, “It feels very good,” adding with a laugh, “Four more years of pain and suffering.”
Mr. Tremblay said there will be council orientation and training at the commencement of the term, no matter the background or experience of those elected. This will occur beginning in December once council takes office, he added.
“We will review with both returning and new members a number of items, including procedural requirements, legislative responsibilities, and information on the services the township provides,” he said.
As for the bandwidth slowdown for two hours on election night, Mr. Tremblay said there will be a full review of the election. Decisions on the next voting method will occur prior to May 2021, as required by the Municipal Elections Act, he said.
“Despite the last minute slow down, the election ran smoothly and was a team effort,” Mr. Tremblay said. “Whitewater Region worked collaboratively with adjacent municipalities and the staff team provided excellent service. The introduction of tabulators, under an agreement with Elections Ontario, for counting paper ballots was also successful speeding up the process and tabulation of results.”
The other Renfrew County municipalities who extended voting for 24 hours were Renfrew, Pembroke, Petawawa and Laurentian Valley.
As for who is eligible to vote, he explained that people are entitled to vote in any municipality if they are the owner or tenant of land or the spouse of that person, he explained, adding, they must also be 18 years of age and a Canadian citizen. Approximately 20 percent of electors in Whitewater Region are non-residents as there is a significant seasonal population, he said.
“The Association of Clerks, Treasurers and Managers of Ontario has advocated for improvements to the preparation of the voters list which is provided by the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation,” he said. “An additional review will occur post election with additional advocacy with the provincial government and MPAC to continue to improve the accuracy of the list.”
As for how the campaign ran, that is for the candidates and their supporters to determine, Mr. Tremblay said. He did note there were a few incidents of stolen signs, which were
reported to the OPP.
“I am also aware of attempts to distribute a non-signed opinion letter/flyer in the print version of the Whitewater News,” Mr. Tremblay said. “If true and substantiated, it is a third-party advertisement, as it specifically advocated against a specific candidate. We had no person, union or corporation register as a third-party advertiser. The Municipal Elections Act has rules and requirements for such ads. This will be examined further in the days ahead.”
Mr. Tremblay said the township provided opportunities for electors to vote during an 11-day period. Municipal government provides most of the day-to-day services that contribute to quality of life, he added.
“We do our best to provide options for electors to exercise their democratic franchise,” Mr. Tremblay said.
