Valley votes for continuity over change

Sarah Rennie Voters in the Haut-Saint-Laurent woke up after an extra hours sleep on Sunday to a wet and dreary day for heading to the polls for the 2017 general municipal election. A total of seven mayoral positions were up for election, while six mayors were elected by acclimation. In Hun-tingdon, the incumbent, Mr. André Brunette, handily won a second mandate, while in Ormstown the outgoing mayor, Mr. Chrystian Soucy, was defeated by Jacques Lapierre. It was a long night as election results across the Haut-Saint-Laurent began to pour in after 11 pm, with the majority of municipalities voting to stay the course. In what some expected to be a tighter race in Huntingdon, Mr. André Brunette won with 67.5% of the vote over opponents Ms. Marielle Duhème (24.4%) and Ms. Guy-Anne Lefebvre (8.0%). For Mr. Brunette, the results are a sign of confidence that voters were pleased with his accomplishments over the last four years. “We are going to continue what we started,” he said, shortly after the results were an-nounced. “We are definitely going to welcome the new councillors,” he added, noting he was especially looking forward to continuing to work as a team for Huntingdon. “I want to thank all the volunteers who worked for me, and all the citizens who voted,” said Mayor Brunette, who also congratulated his two opponents on their well-run campaigns and in-terest in municipal politics. In Godmanchester, the incumbent mayor, Mr. Pierre Poirier, who first took on the role as mayor in 1999, was re-elected with 78.2% of the vote, over Mr. Michel Duheme (21.8%). In Saint-Chrysostome, Mr. Gilles Dagenais, who first took office in 2008, was once again elected as mayor with 75.6% of the vote over Mr. Michel Labonté (24.4 %). In Sainte-Barbe, the incumbent mayor since 2009, and prefect for the Haut-Saint-Laurent, Ms. Louise Lebrun, was re-elected with 63.5% of the vote over former municipal councillor, Mr. Denis Poitras (36.5%). With the retirement of Mr. Alain Castagner, who served as mayor of Saint-Anicet since 1998, a hard fought race ended with the election of Mr. Gino Moretti with 39.06% of the vote over for-mer councillors, Mr. André Picard (36.14%) and Mr. Alain Fournier (24.8%). Where citizens did vote for a change was in Ormstown and in Dundee. In Ormstown, Mr. Jacques Lapierre was elected with 55.5% of the vote over outgoing mayor, Mr. Chrystian Soucy (44.5%). In Dundee, former municipal councillor, Ms. Linda Gagnon was elected as mayor with 60.36% of the vote, defeating outgoing mayor, Ms. Jean Armstrong (33.73%), who has served since 2002, and Mr. Richard Dufour (5.92%). A number of familiar faces For almost half the municipalities in the Haut-Saint-Laurent, the position of mayor was filled without any opposition. In Elgin, Ms. Deborah Stewart, who was first elected in 2009, ac-cepted another mandate. Mr. Denis Henderson, who was first elected as Mayor of Havelock in 2005, was also elected for another term. Likewise, Ms. Carolyn Cameron will continue to serve as Mayor of Hinchinbrooke, after first being elected to the post in 2013. The title of Mayor in Howick once again belongs to Mr. Richard Raithby, who was voted in during the last election in 2013. With the retirement of the outgoing mayor in Franklin, Ms. Suzanne Yelle Blair, who had been in office since 2005, the municipality will now be served by former councillor turned mayor, Mr. Douglas Brooks. Residents of Très-Saint-Sacrement saw a similar outcome with the departure of outgoing mayor, Mr. François Rochefort, leading to the election of former councillor, Ms. Agnes McKell as mayor. Voter turn out In general, voter turn out was fair, with the majority of municipalities in the Haut-Saint-Laurent reporting percentages above or around 50% where a vote was taking place for the posi-tion of mayor. The highest participation rate was recorded in Saint-Chrysostome with 62.7%, while the lowest rate was in Huntingdon, with 48.1%. For all election results, please see the website for the Director General of Quebec Elections at: https://electionsmunicipales.quebec