George L’Heureux’s came in third-place of the four-person race in last Monday night’s Lac La Biche County municipal election. Receiving 770 votes of the 3,263 ballots cast—L’Heureux finished 300 votes behind mayor-elect Paul Reutov.
The loss halted L’Heureux’s one-term local political career. L’Heureux was elected in 2017 as a first-time Lac La Biche County councillor for Ward 2. He says that becoming mayor was his next goal to move the county forward.
“I went into the [race] to invest in people, to bring people to the community, to bring jobs and help different industries locate here in Lac La Biche County. That was my big objective, to bring the people in first, then the big box stores like McDonald’s which will follow once you have your traffic count and population up.”
Even though the former councillor won’t be a part of these decisions around the next council table, he hopes to see the next group of council members work on creating amenities like shopping centers and establishing an environment that families want to work, live and play in, he says.
That vision for the community’s future, however, is up to the newly-elected crew, he says.
“I don’t think they need advice from a guy on his way out,” L’Heureux told Lakelandtoday with a smile.
What’s next
L’Heureux is now looking forward to having time off and getting involved in the community in other ways, he says. Taking a step back from municipal politics is on his agenda but that doesn’t mean the rancher, Metis advocate, and agricultural promoter will be slowing down. He plans to stay involved in local, regional and national matters involving, joining boards and committees that can help the community and the agricultural industry.
L’Heureux says he will miss talking to the constituents, engaging with other politicians and lobbying on behalf of the community as a council member, but he wishes the new council well on their journey, saying they all now have the shared responsibility to the voters.
“I think it’s a huge learning curve, especially for the new people always, and for the experienced people there, it’s their choice to satisfy their conscience and to satisfy the people who elected them.”
The results of the October 18 election were made official last Friday with no recounts or contested outcomes. A ceremony will take place early in the coming week to officially swear in the new council
Mayors municipal election results:
Mayor-elect Paul Reutov—1065
Arlene Hrynyk —815 votes
George L’Heureux —770 votes
Incumbent candidate Omer Moghrabi— 613 votes
