Ken Boshcoff wins Thunder Bay mayoral race
CBC
It took until nearly all the ballots were counted, but Ken Boshcoff managed to hold onto his early lead and will become the next mayor of Thunder Bay, Ont., winning the position with a lead of just under 1,400 votes.
With 18 of 18 polls reporting, Boshcoff won with a 1,393-vote margin of victory over his next closest challenger, Gary Mack. Boshcoff's tally was 13,538 votes, to Mack's 12,145.
"This election is a message for people who want to get some action on things," he said in a speech to supporters shortly before midnight, when the final results came in.
"I'm going to work body and soul to make sure this city becomes the city we always dreamed it could be. We know why we love living here."
Boshcoff will replace Bill Mauro, who didn't seek re-election this fall.
During his victory speech, he included a message to the councillors who'll be joining him.
"You will have my support, I'll have your back as we all pull together," he said. "We know what the common cause is, we need good, strong directed leadership."
Based on early returns, it appeared Boschoff would cruise to a victory, but the race tightened shortly after 10:30, when the online results were announced. The race remained tight for the rest of the evening — within 2,000 votes — until CBC's Decision Desk projected the winner just before midnight.
Despite the slim margin of victory, Boshchoff held the lead throughout the night, opening up a lead from the first poll to report, shortly after 8:30 p.m.
The other three candidates finished far behind the two front runners. Peng You finished third with 6,377 votes, Clint Harris had 2,728 and Robert Szczepanski finished fifth with 633 votes.
Elsewhere on city council, three incumbents were elected to at-large positions: Mark Bentz, Shelby Ch'ng and Trevor Giertuga. They'll be joined in those at-large seats by newcomers Rajni Agarwal and Kasey (Taylor) Etreni.
Boshcoff, a veteran politician in Thunder Bay, comes to the mayor's office with the most political experience of any of the five candidates.
He previously served seven terms of city council — including two as mayor, from 1997 to 2003. He has also served two terms as an MP for Thunder Bay-Rainy River.
During the 2022 election campaign, he made that experience a key part of his pitch to voters, emphasizing his track record in working with community organizations and boards.
P.E.I.'s Public Schools Branch is looking for 50 substitute bus drivers, and it'll be recruiting at three job fairs on Saturday, June 8. The job fairs are located at the Atlantic Superstore in Montague, Royalty Crossing in Charlottetown, and the bus parking lot of Three Oaks Senior High in Summerside. All three run from 9 a.m. until noon. Dave Gillis, the director of transportation and risk management for the Public Schools Branch, said the number of substitute drivers they're hiring isn't unusual. "We are always looking for more. Our drivers tend to have an older demographic," he said.