Staff
With one less seat for Fort Frances on the Northwest Catholic District School Board, it was incumbent Paul Cousineau who was ousted once the results of Monday’s municipal election were in.
Anne Marie Fitzgerald and Harold Huntley retained their seats, garnering 370 and 293 votes, respectively.
Cousineau was third with 246.
“I’m very grateful to the Catholic community for the chance to serve as a trustee for another four years,” said Fitzgerald, who has been chair of the board this past year.
“[I’m] looking forward to the challenges that will face us in the next four years,” she remarked.
“We’ll be ready to meet them and we have a great team to work with,” she added, lauding the board’s administration team, teachers, and staff.
Fitzgerald also said it will be exciting with three new faces on the board.
“I’m looking very forward to meeting them and working with them for the next for years.”
She added Cousineau, who “did a lot of good work” in the four years he sat with them on the board, will be missed.
“They are what they are,” Cousineau said about the results.
“I was hoping to get back in again. I didn’t.
“But there’s two great people that are in,” he stressed. “Our schools are covered very well and I’m sure things will be great.”
Fort Frances saw its number of Catholic trustees cut from three to two after the board voted earlier this year to adjust the trustee distribution due to a shift in the electoral quotient.
Fort Frances lost a seat while Sioux Lookout gained one.
An additional trustee also was added to represent Atikokan due to its amalgamation with the local board.
The three trustees from Sioux Lookout and Dryden, as well as Cousineau, voted in favour of the redistribution while Fitzgerald, Huntley, and Mark Chojko-Bolec (Stratton) voted to keep the trustee distribution as is.
Despite his election loss, Cousineau said he doesn’t regret voting to reduce the number of trustee seats for Fort Frances.
“The way the numbers were presented to the board dictated how I voted,” he explained.
“In the north, Sioux Lookout got the extra seat because they had the numbers there.
“I enjoyed my four years there, it was a heck of a learning curve, and maybe someday I’ll try running again,” Cousineau added.
“I wish the people that are there all the luck and I know they’ll continue doing a great job.”
Chojko-Bolec, meanwhile, was re-elected in a close race, garnering 60 votes to edge challenger Roseanne Zimmerman by just four (56).
Teresa Larson was acclaimed for the Atikokan area.
Incumbent Robert Van Oort and newcomer Kathy Bryck were acclaimed for the two seats in Dryden after John Borst did not seek re-election.
Incumbent Cathy Bowen was acclaimed in Sioux Lookout, with newcomer James Kulchyski taking the second seat there by acclamation.
