By Justine Kelsie

Bill Given re-elected as Mayor of Grande Prairie

Oct 18, 2017 | 10:26 AM

Voter turnout in the city was 22 percent, up one percent from the 2013 election.

Bill Given has been re-elected as Mayor of Grande Prairie in the 2017 Municipal Election. With 68 percent of the vote of the unofficial vote, he will serve the next four years on council. Dick Baillie received approximately 26 percent of the vote and Theodore Nikiforuk came in third with four percent.

Given was at Earl’s watching election results with family and friends when he found out he would be serving his third term as Mayor.

“I am feeling really great right now. It is a strong endorsement and mandate. I am excited and honoured to be able to work for the city of Grande Prairie and the community for the next four years,” Given explained as polls closed Monday night. “I am excited looking at the results to see this new council and team that is forming. I think people voted for change, and they are absolutely getting that.”

With three returning and five new Councillors at the table, he says it could be a struggle to get going at first.

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“That is absolutely not a deficit. It is a strength, I believe,” he explained. “It means we will have to be more intentional about our council orientation and we will have to make sure council gets all the information they need to make good decisions. I know our team at the city is absolutely up to that task.”

Jackie Clayton, Chris Thiessen, and Kevin O’Toole were re-elected to council. Eunice Friesen, Dylan Bressey, Clyde Blackburn, and Wade Pilat are fresh faces at the table. Yadvinder Minhas returns to council chambers after a two-term break. After two terms on council, Kevin McLean was the only one not to be voted back onto council.

Incumbent Rory Tarant decided to not put his name in the hat for this election after serving a term. Incumbent Councillors Helen Rice, Lorne Radbourne, and Dwight Logan did not put their names on the ballot after announcing their retirement earlier this year.