Looks like we’re in for a race, folks.
Who would have thought that on Nomination Day, Sept. 18, every division in Westlock County would have someone, or several people step up.
Initially several seats in the county were looking like shoo-ins for at least two incumbents, but now it looks like they’ll have to put up a fight this election.
What a change from the 2013 election when three councillors got a free pass.
The Town of Westlock and Village of Clyde were all quiet leading up to last Monday, so it wasn’t a surprise — well maybe a little bit — that the town had an empty spot and had to extend nominations by 24 hours.
Looks like a couple of town residents noticed and took that as their cue to throw down their name. One of them, or perhaps both if we play devil’s advocate, will end up on council this October.
Although we hadn’t heard outright who would run in Clyde other than the incumbents, it was a good sign that three people handed in their nomination papers.
One is a former councillor who is looking to step back into his old shoes, another is a business owner and the third is a concerned citizen with union experience.
Each has something to offer.
With all that being said, it looks like the province’s “Ready for Her” campaign was mostly lost in this area.
Out of 31 municipal council candidates spread across the county, town and village, only three are women and of those two are newcomers.
That low number is disappointing, to say the least.
As an aside, the same can’t be said for the school trustee elections as two women have been acclaimed and two more are seeking election.
Yet, whether it’s the county, town or village, you don’t need a census to tell us that women make up more than one per cent of the population.
While three woman running for municipal office is better than none, that number certainly needs to increase.
