Murray Wood: Who's hot... and who's not
Every Friday, Murray Wood takes a look at the week's news and decides who's hot... and who's not. This week's list inclu...
A former Regina city councillor is reflecting on her time in office, which ended Monday after 17 years.
Sharron Bryce was first elected in 2003, but lost her seat in Ward 7 during Monday’s municipal election.
Three other incumbents — Mayor Michael Fougere and councillors Barbara Young (Ward 1) and Joel Murray (Ward 6) — also were defeated.
As well, two new councillors were elected to fill seats that were vacated when the incumbents didn’t seek re-election in their wards.
Bryce says she has seen a great deal of shuffling over the years, but never on this scale.
(Sharron Bryce/Facebook)
“This is the first term that I’ve seen this much turnover,” Bryce said Tuesday. “When I was first elected, I think there were four or five of us that were elected at the same time. That was a pretty major turnover at that time. So five new council members and a new mayor is a huge change.”
Terina Shaw earned 31 per cent of the vote in Ward 7 on Monday, beating Bryce, John Gross, Mike Parisone and Shobna Radons in the process.
The victory for Shaw gives a new perspective to a ward that hasn’t seen a new face in almost two decades.
“I respect that people do want change. I’m accepting of that,” Bryce said. “I’m feeling fine.”
When Bryce was asked if she could see herself returning to politics in the future, she noted she’s still soaking everything in.
“I haven’t thought that far ahead. This all happened last night, so it’s a big change for me,” Bryce said. “Seventeen years of my life has been as a ward councillor. It’s a huge change for me and it’ll be a huge change for the community.”
John Findura is now the longest-serving member on council after he won his fourth term Monday in Ward 5. He defeated Rodney Francis, Reinier Van Everdink and Cameron Wilkes.
Sandra Masters defeated Fougere in the race for the mayor’s chair. Fougere was seeking his third term as mayor.
Cheryl Stadnichuk edged Young in balloting in Ward 1, while Dan LeBlanc prevailed over Murray in Ward 6. The other newcomers to council are Shanon Zachidniak (Ward 8, replacing Mike O’Donnell) and Landon Mohl (Ward 10, replacing Jerry Flegel).
Incumbents Findura, Bob Hawkins (Ward 2), Andrew Stevens (Ward 3) and Jason Mancinelli (Ward 9) won their respective races Monday, while Lori Bresciani returns to council after being acclaimed in Ward 4.
