East Gwillimbury election night live: Carruthers, Crone, Foster new faces on council

Find out who won, read what winners, candidates are saying

Yorkregion.com
October 23, 2018
Dina Al-Shibeeb

Virginia Hackson has easily won the race to be East Gwillimbury's mayorship for the third time.

Unofficial results show Hackson garnering a whopping 4,607, positioning her far ahead of Franco Colavacchia, who reaped only 1,292 votes.

Hackson, who has been the town’s mayor since 2010 after serving as a councillor beginning in 2000, has lobbied alongside council members for the past four years for a ward system in East Gwillimbury.

This year’s municipal election saw the creation of three wards and the number of councillors increased from four to six with two representatives per each ward.

“I think [ward system] it will be very effective,” Hackson said at the Shawneeki Golf Club, where she was celebrating her win. “There were a number of council members that felt that it was time to have a ward system; for me it was very important because we had a community that didn’t have any representation whatsoever.”

First-time candidate Ward 1 Loralea Carruthers was among the first to congratulate the mayor.

Carruthers, a veteran local school trustee and recent chair of the York Region District School Board, had a decisive victory for Ward 1, receiving 1,263 votes.

Terry E. Foster, career firefighter, garnered 871 votes, finishing second in the ward.

With three candidates running in Ward 2, incumbents Tara Roy-Diclemente and Joe Persechini finished neck in neck with 891 and 821 votes respectively.

In Ward 3, lifelong Mount Albert resident and political newcomer Scott Crone led the pack with 1,525 votes, followed by Cathy Morton, who sat on council from 2000 to 2014, with 1,169 votes.

East Gwillimbury’s city council has begun counting votes after polls closed at 8 p.m. on Monday.

Unlike previous municipal elections, the ward system was put in place in hopes for better representation amid continuous growth the town is experiencing.

As its projected population is expected to boom from 24,000 to 86,500 by 2031, nuisance coming from construction and lack of services are among the top priorities to the voters, who like to keep what they describe as the “unique” identity of East Gwillimbury.

George, who didn’t want to disclose his last name, from Ward 2 said “I don’t expect changes.”

“I chose to vote with somebody who is already in place, so maybe i am happy with what they are doing,” he said without wanting to mention the name of the candidate he voted for.

George, who works in downtown Toronto but has been living in East Gwillimbury for the past two years,  highlighted the importance of “taking care of the community, the way it has been developing” while “keeping the local flavour.”

Like him, Carol Peresely from Sharon, covets to  “keep the town the way it has been.” But she added: “ I don't want mind expansion but i like it done nicely.”

“The dirt from construction is my biggest concern,” she lamented.

However, Taha Hafiz says the “change I would like to see is more diversity in the council chambers, more transparency and openness.”

Hafiz also said he wants to see how the “strategic plan” for East Gwillimbury is being implemented.

Asked about East Gwillimbury’s continuous growth, the newly elected mayor said she welcomed the population boom.

Hackson said East Gwillimbury is the “only municipality” that doesn’t have an indoor swimming pool nor a high school, and an increased population will bolster the town.

“It is one of the things I feel strongly about, parks and recreational generally, swimming pool, trail system, all about having families active and healthy,” Hackson said. “Swimming in my opinion is a life skill.”