With the official ratification of nominations on Monday, a contest for both mayoral and council seats has opened up in Fort Frances, with 11 candidates running for local office—nine for council and two for mayor.
Election Day, Oct. 26, is just over eight weeks away. Now that ratification is complete, the campaigning can begin in earnest. An Election 2026 Town Hall, hosted by The Fort Frances Times and the Fort Frances Labour Council, will be held on Oct. 1 at the Memorial Sports Centre auditorium, at which all candidates can have their say and voters can question them.
Town Council, which is comprised of six council seats (one of whom will be designated deputy mayor) and one mayor, is the governing body at the municipal level. It is responsible for developing town bylaws, setting and managing budgets and representing resident interests during meetings.
Two are vying for the mayor’s seat: current council member John McTaggart and lifelong community resident Brent Calder. Both have now placed signs around town to present themselves as the ideal candidate.
McTaggart, who is currently serving his second term on town council, thought it was the right time to take the next step towards the mayor’s office with a goal of making economic development his key platform.
“We’ve got a great slate of candidates, and I’m looking forward to the campaign and getting on with the issues and the future of the community,” McTaggart told The Times. “Economic development has to be the absolute No. 1 issue. We need to attract industry in order to sustain the viability of the community and share the tax load.”
Calder is new to local politics but threw his hat in the ring due to a personal desire to see the town jump at available development opportunities and make sure people are kept up to date on decisions.
“One of the reasons I’m getting into the race is because I don’t see a lot of action on the council making decisions,” Calder said.
“I’m also running on transparency. I want to make sure that everybody in the municipality of Fort Frances knows where their money is being spent and why it’s being spent.”
Incumbent council members Kaleb Firth, Mike Behan, Steven Maki and Bill Morrison Jr. have filed to keep their seats, along with new nominees Gary Cousineau, Nathan Galusha, Anthony Andrusco, Kathy McKenzie and former chief administrative officer Doug Brown.
Morrison expressed how pleased he is to see so much interest from community members in getting involved with local politics.
“It’s great, I’m happy to see so many people running,” he said. “It’s a really good thing; it shows people want to get involved in the community and that people care what happens with their community.”
On the education side, there are two candidates for English Separate School Board trustee, Lisa Cousineau and Kenny Desjardins. There are also two for English Public School Board trustee, Heather Latter and Mike Walchuk, who currently serves as a trustee.
Both school boards had two positions that required filling. Because there were only two nominees for each, there will be no need for a trustee election, and those candidates will be acclaimed.
All nominations for mayor, council and school board trustees have now been certified by the municipal clerk, meaning they have been verified as having all necessary documentation, paid all fees and made all required declarations. No new nominees can file at this time.
