Taylor mayor Rob Fraser will run for mayor in Fort Nelson

PEACE REGION, B.C. — The second-to-last day of the nomination period for the local government elections in 2022 saw a rush of activity in some municipalities.

Rob Fraser, previously the mayor of Taylor, is running for mayor in Fort Nelson.

The Northern Rockies Regional Municipality (Fort Nelson) saw four new candidates for council: Leslie Dickie, and Jeff Thompson, as well as incumbents Danny Soles and Lorraine Gerwing, joined the race on Thursday. 

Incumbent councillor Kyle Andrews is also running alongside Kristi Leer, Kanina Fulton, and Fred McLachlan. 

Peggy Alexander will join the race for Fraser’s old seat in the District of Taylor against long-time councillor Brent Taillefer. Gordon Davies joined the race for Taylor’s council alongside incumbents Betty Ponto and Michelle Turnbull.

Two races to watch also saw new entries on the second-last day of the race. Both the District of Hudson’s Hope and the District of Pouce Coupe have seen several turbulent moments over the last term. 

Hudson’s Hope, a small town currently plagued by struggles with a failing water plant, saw three more residents register to run for council: Tina Jeffrey, Joseph King, and Tashana Winnicky will join Deborah Beattie in the race. Incumbents Kelly Miller, Valerie Paice, and Travous Quibell will also run again. 

Candidates for mayor in Hudson’s Hope still include incumbent Dave Heibert and Reginald Knox.

Pouce Coupe, a name known across the province for current mayor Lorraine Michetti’s recurring fight in B.C.’s supreme court to keep her position, has four candidates for mayor. 

Michetti will run again. Running against her will be Danielle Veach (a councillor,) William Plowright (who served in office before 2018,) and Edmond Boyer. 

Raymond Johnson will seek a council seat again. He will run with incumbents Marlene Hebert, Barbara Smith, and Marcel Woodill. 

Councillor Lilia Hansen and newcomer Shannon Stange will run for mayor in Fort St. John. The city’s current mayor, Lori Ackerman, said she would not run again in June.

Councillors running in Fort St. John so far include Lyle Goldie, Sarah MacDougall, Amy Cox, Gary Patara and five incumbents: Jim Lequiere, Byron Stewart, Trevor Bolin, Tony Zabinsky, and Gord Klassen. 

Dawson Creek still has two candidates for mayor: Darcy Dober and Shaely Wilbur, both previous council members. Dawson Creek’s current mayor, Dale Bumstead, announced his early retirement effective Friday after saying he would not run again last February.

Dawson Creek saw one new name enter the race for council on Thursday: Johanna Martins. Incumbents Amy Kaempf, Jerimy Earl, and Charlie Parslow will also run as well as newcomers Aaron Rogers, Sue Kenny, Kyle MacDonald, Raistlin Van Spronsen, Micheal Sudnik and April Cire Floriant. 

Incumbents Janet Wark and Clay Bassendowski will run for council again in Chetwynd. Kayla MacDonald will run for a seat as well. No candidates have put their name forward for mayor yet.

Tumbler Ridge gained two more candidates for council on Thursday: Luana Dusseault and Ron Hoffman will join Timothy Walker in running for seats alongside incumbent Chris Norbury and previous school district trustee Roxanne Gulick.

The town still has three candidates for mayor: McPherson, Rick Consalvi, and Darryl Krakowka.

In the Peace River Regional District, newcomer Jordan Kealy has registered to run to represent Electoral Area B after Karen Goodings said she would not run again over the summer. Kealy is joined by incumbents Brad Sperling running in Electoral Area C, Leonard Hiebert running in Electoral Area D, and Dan Rose running in Electoral Area E. 

School Districts 59 and 60 will also elect trustees in this municipal election.

SD 60 so far has seven candidates registered to run: incumbents Madeleine Lehmann, David Scott-Moncrieff, Helen Gilbert, Bill Snow, Nicole Gilliss, and Ida Campbell will seek to remain on the school board, and Tom Whitton is seeking a seat alongside them.

SD 59 has five candidates for the school board: incumbents Roxanne Gulick, Jennifer Lalonde, Chad Anderson, and Travis Jones are joined by newcomer Lynnsy Noll.