Halifax council gets face lift following municipal election

CITYnews halifax / By Chris Halef

The Halifax municipal election has wrapped up and it looks like regional council is getting a facelift with a new mayor and some new councillors.

HRM has elected Andy Fillmore as the city’s next mayor, as the former Liberal MP beat out former regional councillors Waye Mason and Pam Lovelace, along with 13 other candidates.

Fillmore isn’t the only new face on council as Janet Steele defeated incumbent Iona Stoddard for the District 12 seat.

Laura White is taking over Waye Mason’s District 7 seat, Virginia Hinch is taking over Lindell Smith’s District 8 seat while Nancy Hartling picked up a win in District 13.

Hartling told 95.7 NewsRadio she’s very excited to take on the role.

“I couldn’t be more delighted and really just goes to show that hard work pays off,” she said. “You can’t know a neighbourhood, you can’t know a community until you walk it, you can’t understand their problems until you hear them. It’s a priceless experience and I’m so grateful that I did it.”

Related:

• Halifax and Nova Scotia municipal mayoral election results

This while John A. Young looks to be taking over for Lisa Blackburn in District 14 and Jean St-Amand is stepping into Tim Outhit’s former post in District 16. Both Blackburn and Outhit chose not to re-offer this year.

In District 8, Virgina Hinch was elected to represent north-end Halifax. Former area councillor Lindell Smith did not re-offer.

It’s not all new faces, however, as longtime District 6 Councillor Tony Mancini scored an overwhelming victory over his opponent Lori Ogden.

Following his win, Mancini said he wanted to run again because he still feels he has work left to do.

“I have another vulnerable community in my district near the Caledonia area, Churchill, Kennedy Drive and so I really didn’t accomplish what I wanted to accomplish there,” he said. “The other reason I wanted to come back was to do some work for first responders, particularly firefighters and police officers and mental health support.”

Other returning Councillors include Sam Austin, Cathy Deagle-Gammon, Becky Kent, Trish Purdy, Patty Cuttell, Kathryn Morse, Shawn Cleary and David Hendsbee who is projected to win.

It took the night for all votes to be counted to ensure Billy Gillis’ seat in council who replaces Paul Russell in District 15 Lower Sackville – Beaver Bank.