Councilor Blames Loss on Dirty Campaign By Marianne Curtis Long time councilor Maurice Leclaire was stunned when he received word that he had lost his seat in the RM of Ritchot on October 27 by a mere 42 votes. “I am shocked – this is a big surprise,” stated Leclaire. “But that is what happens when you run a dirty campaign.” Leclaire’s campaign to retain his seat on council got off to a shaky start from day one. Prior to the deadline for nominations, rumor around Ile des Chênes and Grande Pointe had him seeking nomination as both reeve and councilor in the event that Mayor Bob Stefaniuk did not seek re-election.
Continued on page 2 Unseated RM of Ritchot councilor Maurice LeClaire blames a dirty campaign for the loss of his seat.
By Marianne Curtis The RM of Piney’s new reeve is ready and eager to get down to business. Duane Boutang is looking forward to sitting down with the former council to find out what their major issues are. “We are going to sit down with the former council to find out what they’re major issues were – here it seems to always be drainage, roads, culverts, gravel, economic development, and of course the huge cell phone challenge,” stated Boutang. “There are a lot of problems with the ditches that shouldn’t have been such a problem.” Boutang says he was surprised while campaigning to discover how many ratepayers that are able to vote in the RM of Piney do not actually live in the municipality. “This presents us with a huge challenge because we can not use their voices to go after our MLA’s because they vote somewhere else which presents a unique challenge for the RM of Piney,” Boutang noted. “Only one quarter of the municipality is privately owned and half of that is by outsiders – the remainder is crown land.” Boutang hopes that the next provincial election will work in the municipality’s favour.
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Municipalities See Change Throughout the Region By Marianne Curtis On October 27, voters went to the polls to elect new municipal representatives and school board trustee for the upcoming four years. Some municipalities saw little change while others experienced stunning upsets in areas where ratepayers demanded the biggest changes. It’s business as usual in the RM of Ste. Anne after Art Bergmann retained his seat for a third term. He is joined by five of his previous councilors, including councilors Renald Courcelles, Jake Reimer, Dan Brunel, Roger Massicotte, and Lauri Evans. “This is proof that this council is working well for the municipality,” stated Bergmann. “Very little time will be needed to get up to speed and carry on with business.” Bergmann noted that while Paul Saindon may appear to be
Piney’s New Reeve Ready for Business
just joining this council, he has served on council for several terms until losing during the last election by only two votes. In a stunning upset, the RM of Ritchot did not fare as well. Mayor Bob Stefaniuk was acclaimed and none of the councilors seeking reelection were successful. His new council consists of Elmer Hywarren, Ernie Dumaine, Jackie Schwark and Jeannot Robert. In the RM of Tache William Danychuk retained his seat at mayor, a position he has held for three decades. Councilors Jacque Trudeau, Robert Koop, David Menard were acclaimed and Ross Deschambault, Steven Stein, Bill Heather and Andy Rivard were elected. The only incumbent councilor that did not get re-elected was Ron Tardiff.
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Mortars Found in Ritchot The St. Pierre RCMP were called in to investigate a potentially dangerous find in the RM of Ritchot. On October 23 two teenagers walking along the Rat River in the RM of Ritchot found what appeared to be rockets. Police responded to the call and discovered two items which are believed to be mortar rounds used by the Canadian Armed Forces, said RCMP. The area was secured and the RCMP explosive disposal unit and Canadian Armed Forces explosive team was called to the scene. The mortars were removed and taken to Winnipeg where they were safely disposed of. Police do not know how the mortars got to the location nor if they were live or inactive explosives. For safety reasons all items such as mortars are treated as live and the two recovered shells will be destroyed at a later date. The location of this discovery will not be released to the public as the police will be examining the surrounding area to ascertain if other items were discarded which could pose a risk to the public.