Waterloo Region elects six new mayors; Vrbanovic stays

Voters in Waterloo Region elected six new mayors on Oct. 26, and Kitchener’s Berry Vrbanovic was the only sitting mayor to keep his seat, CTV News Kitchener reported.

Vrbanovic won another term, securing his fourth as Kitchener’s mayor, according to unofficial results. In Waterloo, Shannon Weber defeated incumbent Dorothy McCabe. In Cambridge, Scott Hamilton beat incumbent Jan Liggett with more than 56 per cent of the vote, based on the results CTV compiled from the city’s unofficial count.

The townships also changed hands. Rodney Rolleman won in North Dumfries, Chris Martin defeated incumbent Joe Nowak in Wellesley, Kristopher Wilkinson was elected in Wilmot and Evan Burgess won in Woolwich. In Wilmot, incumbent Natasha Salonen finished third, behind Stephanie Goertz, CTV said.

Waterloo’s own count shows how many people took part. The City of Waterloo reported that 29,171 ballots were cast by 94,989 eligible voters, a turnout of 30.71 per cent, on its election results page, which also carries the unofficial results.

The tightest race came for regional council in Waterloo. Incumbent Chantal Huinink received 8,605 votes, three more than Chris Moser’s 8,602, a gap of 0.006 per cent, CTV reported. The margin is small enough that it may draw a recount request, though none had been reported when this story was published.

Residents were not asked to pick a regional chair this year. The position has changed from an elected role to one appointed by the province, and the appointment is to be announced after the election, CTV said.

All figures are unofficial until each municipal clerk certifies them. The City of Kitchener also posts its unofficial results online. Elsewhere in Ontario, voters elected new mayors in Hamilton, Mississauga and other cities, while Olivia Chow won a second term in Toronto.

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