Municipal Election Results

Two long-time municipal leaders retained their seats in last night's municipal elections across the Rainy River District.

Dennis Brown successfully defended his mayor's seat in Atikokan by taking 80 per cent of the vote to beat out Bob Davidson.

Jerry Duhamel, Bud Dickson, Bob Gosselin, Mary Makarenko, Marj Lambkin and Marlene Davidson were elected as councillors.


In Lake of the Woods township, Valerie Pizey outdistanced challenger Gerald Fisk to hold on to her mayor's seat.

Colleen Fadden, Glenn Anderson and Bill Lundgren were elected as councillors.

The fourth spot ended in a tie between incumbents Nancy Gate and JoAnn Moen which will force a recount.


Vince Sheppard is the new Mayor of Emo, defeating incumbent Ed Carlson.

Gary Judson was the only Emo councillor to be re-elected and joins newcomers Anthony Leek, Robert Simmons and Vernon Thompson.


Ross Donaldson beat out Ken McKinnon to be elected the new Reeve in LaVallee township.

He'll be joined at the council table by Dennis Allen, Jim Belluz, Freeda Carmody and Darcy Robson.


Brenda Jodoin, Aime Desaulniers, Bennett Drennan and Archie Wiersema were elected as councillors in Dawson township.

Mayor Eltjo Weirsema was acclaimed.

In Rainy River, Larry Armstrong, Ashley Stamler, Brent Anderson and Gord Armstrong were elected councillors and join Mayor Deb Ewald, who was acclaimed, at the council table.

And Rick Neilson was winner of the councillor race in Ward 4 in Chapple township's only election.

He returns to the council table along with Ken Wilson, Rilla Race, James Gibson and Reeve Peter Van Heyst who were all acclaimed.

Morley Reeve Not Yet Decided

Residents in Morley will have to wait until December before they know who will be reeve of that community.

Clerk-Treasurer Anna Boiley says because no one filed nomination papers for the position, it will be left up to the new council to determine how the vacancy is filled.

One option is an appointment among the four councillors who were acclaimed.

New Mayors in Northwestern Ontario

There are many new faces in the mayor's chairs elsewhere in northwestern Ontario.

Keith Hobbs won the top council seat in Thunder Bay.

Dryden Mayor Anne Krassilowsky lost her seat to Craig Nuttal.

Dave Canfield is back as mayor in Kenora after losing four years ago.

And Dennis Leney is the new mayor of Sioux Lookout.

The changes in Thunder Bay, Dryden and Kenora likely mean major shifts to the board of directors for the Northern Ontario Municipal Association where Krassilowsky is President.

School Board Elections

There are a couple of new faces on the Rainy River District School Board.

David Kircher out-polled both incumbents Dan Belluz and Terry Higgins to capture one of two seats in the Fort Frances area.

Belluz, who is currently chair, finished second in voting.

Ralph Hill beat out incumbent Glenda Belluz for the position representing the Alberton and LaVallee areas.

Dianne McCormack won the seat representing the Rainy River and area.

Margaret Heyens in Emo and Mike Lewis in Atikokan were acclaimed.

Chair Anne Marie Fitzgerald and incumbent Harold Huntley were returned to the Northwest District Catholic School Board as trustees for the Fort Frances area.

Teresa Larson will sit as trustee for Atikokan.

Results for the seat representing the west part of the Rainy River district were not received.

Delays Stalling Local Projects

Kenora-Rainy River MPP Howard Hampton is pushing the provincial government to help keep seniors in the their own community.

Hampton says requests for funding for supportive housing projects in the Rainy River district are being held up by the Northwest Local Health Integration Network.

"In Fort Frances, where the waiting list is equally long, they’re interested in supportive housing," says Hampton, "but they have put proposal after proposal after proposal to the North West LHIN without much of a response."

Hampton says the Rainy River District Social Services Administrative Board is also waiting for funds for a project in Rainy River.

Riverview Manor Open House

An open house will be held the renovated Riverview Manor in Rainy River today.

Executive Director of the Rainy River District Social Services Administration Board Donna Dittaro says residents will get a glimpse of the more than 430-thousand dollars worth of work done to the 14-unit complex.

"What resulted in two modified two-bedroom units and two modified one-bedroom units," says Dittaro. "The one-bedroom units will accommodate wheelchairs. The two-bedroom units accommodate people with walkers or prosthetics."

The open house goes from 1 p.m. until 3 p.m. this afternoon.