The four biggest cities in northeastern Ontario all have new mayors after Monday’s election.
In Sudbury, former two-term Sudbury MP Paul Lefebvre is the new mayor. He enters city politics at the top, having won more than half of the votes.
Lefebvre told CTV News that he is honoured and is ready to make positive changes.
“My promise is that I’ll be working really hard, I’ll do my best with all the capacity that I have to deliver in the platform that I proposed and to work with council,” he said.
Peter Chirico, the new mayor in North Bay, is the former deputy mayor and current chamber of commerce president.
He told CTV News he is looking forward to working with the councillors and building trust.
“I think we’ve got a great mix -- five old, five new. Five female, five male,” Chirico said.
“We can work together as a council and we can bring this city to a much better place.”
In Timmins, Michelle Boileau was declared mayor, taking just more than 61 per cent of the vote. She said it was an overwhelming feeling at first, but she’s looking forward to working with partners on all levels.
“I’m cautiously optimistic for the next four years, but of course I don’t want to make too many promises and commit to too many things because we never know what’s going to happen tomorrow,” said Boileau.
Two-term city councillor, Matthew Shoemaker won the mayor’s race in Sault. Ste. Marie. He said he is thrilled that people believed in him and the changes he promised while campaigning.
“We ran the campaign that we wanted to run, we ran it on ideas and I’m happy the result is what we had hoped for,” Shoemaker said.
“All I can say is that I’m ecstatic the result reflects the work that we had put in.”
Voter turnout was around 40 per cent in most cities.
