Two Kenora residents have put their names forward to lead the community as City Councillors for the first time.
Lindsay Koch and Kelsie Van Belleghem both filed their nomination papers for the 2022 Municipal Election on June 20, and now join incumbent councillor Graham Chaze in the official election race. Biographies or photos for the two were not made available at this time.
Councillor Graham Chaze filed his re-election forms. He was appointed to council in June 2021 to replace councillor Kirsi Ralko. The local business owner says his priorities for his upcoming term, if he’s elected, include downtown revitalization and economic development, reducing policing costs and providing better services to rural taxpayers.
As of the time of writing, no one has filed their papers to run for Mayor. But in December 2021, Mayor Dan Reynard confirmed to Q104 and KenoraOnline that he does plan to run again in the 2022 election.
Reynard is Kenora’s eighth Mayor and was elected in 2018 after Dave Canfield’s retirement. With 14 years of service to the community under his belt including one term as a councillor, Reynard won the Mayor’s seat by over 4,000 votes in 2018.
The lifelong Kenora resident and former KMTS Finance Manager and Municipal Treasurer has also been involved in minor hockey at both local and regional levels in a variety of roles for over 33 years and has been recognized as an RBC Local Hockey Leader.
The final day to file a nomination is August 19 at 2 p.m. Candidates are encouraged to make an appointment to file nomination papers. To schedule an appointment, residents are asked to contact Returning Officer Heather Pihulak at 807-467-2295 or by email hpihulak@kenora.ca.
Municipal and school board elections are set for October 24, with in-person, online and phone voting. Residents will elect Kenora’s Mayor and six councillors, five separate school board trustees and three public school board trustees.
To vote, you must be a Kenora resident who either you or your spouse owns or rents property in the city, you must be a Canadian citizen, must be 18 years old by election day and you must not be prohibited from voting as outlined in the Municipal Act. You’ll need to bring two pieces of photo identification which include your name and address.
Eligible voters are encouraged to make sure they are on the Municipal and School Board Elections voters’ list by visiting VoterLookup.ca, which is separate from the provincial election’s voter list.