The unofficial election results are in, and Maggie Horsfield will be North Bay’s new mayor, the first woman to do so.
“I am feeling honoured and humbled and excited for the future of our city,” she says. “It’s a great honour to be elected mayor and have that vote of confidence from the public. I’m excited and looking forward to it.”
Horsfield takes over from outgoing mayor Peter Chirico, who didn’t seek re-election. She garnered 9,277 votes with Jamie Lowery finishing second with 6,496 votes. Connor Currie placed third.
Horsfield says priorities in the short term include setting the tone at the council table and working with members of council.
“That’s going to be bringing them in to have conversations about where they see the future of our city during our term of council,” she says. “But, also making sure as a team, we’re aligned on those goals and that we’re setting that from the very beginning as our marching orders for the next four years.”
Horsfield says conversations at the door were about affordability, safety and making sure North Bay remains a thriving community.
“That’s where I built my platform for the next four years,” says Horsfield. “At the end of the day all of the conversations have to come back to that. How is this more affordable for our community, is it making our community safe and are we thriving.”
Joanne Brousseau is back on council as Deputy Mayor after finishing second in the mayor’s race in the last election.
“Happy to be back and ready to go,” she says. “I’ve attended almost all council and budget meetings and I stayed current, read all the reports.”
Brousseau thanked her volunteers and family, saying her team stayed on topic and took the high road all the way through.
“I want to thank everybody who voted for me and the ones who didn’t, I’m still going to take care of North Bay,” she says.
Newcomer Dave Dale and incumbent Tanya Vrebosch are the other two committee chairs after finishing second and third, respectively.
Dale is excited about having a leadership position.
“I’ll learn a lot more about the ropes. Joanne [Brousseau] is going to do a great job as budget chief. She’s had that before and worked hard for it,” he says. “I’m looking forward to working with the team. I’m looking forward to working with Maggie [Horsfield], I’ve talked to her before and I like her platform and how she goes about things. We have a good mix of experience and new faces, and that’s what people were asking for.”
Incumbents Justine Mallah, Mark King, Chris Mayne and Sara Inch were all returned to council while other newcomers include Caroline Corbett, Jordaan Allison and Terry Parolin.
Incumbent Lana Mitchell lost her seat after finishing in 11th spot, just under 400 votes behind Parolin.
18,134 eligible voters cast a ballot in this year’s election with voter turnout at 38.83%, slightly higher than the 2022 municipal election.
North Bay’s election took place entirely online this year.
In West Nipissing, Yvon Duhaime is mayor-elect after garnering more than 64% of the vote.
Incumbent Kathleen Rochon was a distant second with just over 32%.
