EAST GWILLIMBURY VOTES: Mayor Virginia Hackson re-elected for 4th term

Hackson faced a challenge from James Young who was mayor of East Gwillimbury from 2000-2010

Yorkregion.com
Oct. 25, 2022
Kim Zarzour, Matthew Strader

East Gwillimbury witnessed a different race for mayor this time -- an incumbent mayor running up against a former mayor -- but the winning candidate, Virginia Hackson, says it’s all good.

“It challenged me. It brought the better out of me and I’m happy for that,” she said as supporters gathered to congratulate her at Sharon’s Lions and Sun lounge Monday night.

Hackson, who has held the mayoral post since 2010, faced a challenge from James Young who was mayor of this burgeoning municipality from 2000-2010.

Young was elected to council in 1994, at age 19, and in 2000, was the town’s youngest elected mayor and the longest serving -- until now.

That honour is now held by Hackson and she plans to hit the ground running in what Census Canada calls the fastest growing municipality in Canada.

Unofficial results put her ahead of Young with 3,266 votes over his 2,797.

And while Hackson is returning, there will be two new faces on council.

In Ward 2, Brian Johns, former managing partner in the Vince’s Market chain and CEO of the charity Water Ambassadors Canada, earned the most votes, followed by incumbent Tara Roy-DiClemente.

“It’s clear voters in our ward want solutions to our water challenges, shovels in the ground on new schools and a diversified tax base,” Johns said after celebrating at the Sharon Temple Temperance Hall.

In Ward 3, incumbent Scott Crone held a strong lead followed by newcomer Susan Lahey. She’ll take the spot of Cathy Morton who was first elected to the town in 2000.

Ward 1 councillors Loralea Carruthers and Terry Foster were both acclaimed.

The Upper York Sewage System and Bradford Bypass are two big issues facing Hackson and her new team of councillors. Both projects have been on the docket for years, both are swirling with controversy.

At the same time, a large new multi-use recreation centre is in the works, along with a population that is projected to boom from 24,000 to 86,500 by 2031.

“Fully built out, East Gwillimbury will be 83 per cent green which is very unusual anywhere in the GTA,” Hackson said. “We’re able to have growth where it should take place and in areas where we want to have trails and watercourses etc., we’re able to do that as well…That’s what people want. They want the green space. They want the wide open areas. They want families to be able to enjoy the outdoors as much as they enjoy the indoors.”