High five, Jasperites! You rocked the polls on Monday.
A total of 1,486 of you showed up and cast your vote. That鈥檚 43 per cent of eligible voters, which is up seven percentage points from the 2010 election. It鈥檚 also the largest turnout Jasper has ever seen.
Now, of course, 43 per cent isn鈥檛 a huge number. If you think about it, that leaves 57 per cent of eligible voters twiddling their thumbs, rather than engaging in the democratic process.
Then again, if you compare Jasper鈥檚 turnout to cities and towns around the province, we鈥檙e not faring too badly鈥攊n fact, we come out looking mighty fine.
In Edmonton and Drumheller there was a 34.5 per cent turnout. In Cochrane, 33 per cent. In Calgary, 22 per cent, and in Airdrie there was a dismal 18 per cent turnout.
Looking at those numbers, Jasperites deserve a roaring round of applause.
While voters in communities across our province let apathy reign, Jasperites engaged and took advantage of the opportunity to choose a council to represent the town for the next four years.
And it was that engagement, along with the sheer number of candidates, that made the 2013 municipal election an exciting one.
People always say, 鈥渆very vote counts,鈥� but on Monday, Jasperites proved that to be true.
It was one vote that decided the sixth council seat.
One vote!
It was an exciting end to an all-around exciting campaign period and election night.
For Jasper, the excitement began on nomination day, when the community was surprised by the list of candidates: 20 for council and three for mayor. That excitement carried on, as each candidate hit the pavement, answered questions in the paper, hosted community conversations and participated in the two all candidates forums, creating a wealth of discussion around town.
All of that was topped off by a healthy race to the finish Monday night.
Although the mayor鈥檚 seat and the top four spots on council were nailed down early on, the race for the sixth seat was a close one, with a few twists and turns along the way.
First Gilbert Wall was behind Bob Covey by one vote. Then, after the next round of numbers, Covey was behind Helen Kelleher-Empey by two votes, and finally Covey finished just one vote behind.
All of the candidates, those elected and those who were not, deserve the community鈥檚 thanks and praise for a job well done.
The commitment of those 23 candidates gave every resident a reason to engage and vote on Monday.
Congratulations to our newly-elected council: Mayor Richard Ireland, Couns. Dwain Wacko, Brian Nesbitt, Rico Damota, Vonna Arsenault, Gilbert Wall and Helen Kelleher- Empey. And all the best over the next four years.
