BONNYVILLE – Although the official results for the MD of Bonnyville’s municipal election will not be confirmed until later this week, results show that residents in the MD will have a new reeve and two new councillors.
Unofficial results released just before 10 p.m. last night show Barry Kalinski has won the race for reeve by a margin of 351 votes in the 2021 municipal election.
With 4,103 MD residents casting ballots on election day, through special ballots and in advance polling, Kalinski received 54.3 per cent of the vote, whereas reeve incumbent Greg Sawchuk received 45.7 per cent of votes. There were 1,876 ballots marked with Sawchuk’s name and 2,227 with Kalinski’s.
Bombarded with calls and messages of congratulations Tuesday morning, Kalinski jokes “I may be getting a little bit of tendinitis from texting and probably have one or two ears ringing.”
Trying to go with the flow of the evening, Kalinski says he wasn’t watching for the results on Monday. However, he began receiving calls letting him know that he had won following an initial release of preliminary results from the first three stations that had finished counting.
“I got 300 votes somewhere and people were phoning me to congratulate me. I had to text them back and explain to them that there's probably going to be close to 4,000 votes, so I'm nowhere even near yet,” he says. “People (were) getting excited for me before it happened.”
Kalinski tells Lakeland Today the only call he was waiting for was the one from the MD of Bonnyville’s CAO Al Hoggan.
“I knew I had probably been successful when I saw that 403 number come on the screen,” says Kalinski.
Although this is Kalinski’s first time filling the role of reeve, he is not new to the MD of Bonnyville council. Kalinski sat on the MD council for 10 years as the councillor for Ward 4, prior to losing the 2017 municipal election for reeve against Sawchuk.
Beginning his four-year stint as the MD’s reeve, he says he expects a little bit of a learning curve until he sees where everything sits.
“I'm going to have to rely on some of the veterans coming back,” he adds.
Returning after a four-year gap, Kalinski says, “I'm not going to be able to go in there and just fix everything in the first few minutes.”
His plans are to start by looking at the finances of the MD and then to get to the bottom of what is happening with regards to the Ardmore and Fort Kent Fire Halls, as well as the Kopala building.
Kalinski adds that he is thankful for the support of the community and the outstanding numbers that came out in the 2021 municipal election.
Sawchuk wishes good luck
In a statement to Lakeland Today, former Reeve, Greg Sawchuk wrote, "I am thankful to have had the opportunity to serve the MD residents and region."
He continued, "We accomplished many significant, enduring projects and I want to wish the best of luck to the new council on fulfilling their election goals."
2021 MD council
In Wards 1 and 4, running candidates Josh Crick and Don Slipchuk snatched the majority of votes, replacing incumbent councillors Marc Jubinville and Edward Duchesne.
Crick received 398 votes whereas the former Ward 1 Coun. Jubinville received 246 votes. Louise White received 88.
Running against three other candidates, Don Slipchuk saw the majority of votes in Ward 4.
Slipchuk was selected on 324 ballots, incumbent Coun. Edward Duchesne received 310 votes, and Marvin Tkachuk received 51.
Four incumbent councillours will return to their spot on the MD’s council.
Darcy Skarsen will remain the councillor for Ward 2. Running against Skarsen, was David Fox who received 259 votes and closely behind him was Kurt Richard who garnished 255 votes.
Mike Krywiak reclaimed his spot with a very narrow margin of six votes against running candidate Lawrence Makaruk in Ward 3. Krywiak pulled in 276 votes, whereas Makaruk received 270 votes.
In Ward 5, Dana Swigart had a clear majority with 233 votes. The remaining votes were divided among other candidates.
Following a close race in Ward 6, Ben Fadeyiw will return to council. Fadeyiw came out with 338 votes and 36 votes behind was Diane Jenkinson with 302.
Ballot break down
For Reeve
Barry Kalinski - 2,227
Greg Sawchuk* - 1,876
Ward 1
Josh Crick - 398
Marc Jubinville* - 246
Louise White - 88
Ward 2
Darcy Skarsen* - 435
David Fox - 259
Kurt Richard - 255
Ward 3
Mike Krywiak* - 276
Lawrence Makaruk - 270
Ward 4
Don Slipchuk - 324
Ed Duchesne* - 310
Marvin Tkachuk - 51
Ward 5
Dana Swigart* - 233
Andy Wakaruk - 188
Angela Cook - 109
Monika Iverson - 91
Roy Dell - 35
Erwin Thompson - 20
Ward 6
Ben Fadeyiw* - 338
Diane Jenkinson - 302
