« There’s a certain amount of relief, » said Lefebvre, during a phone interview, following confirmation of his successful campaign to become the next mayor of Hawkesbury. He described the past few months of campaigning, including daily door-to-door canvassing of voters as « very busy and very intense. »
Lefebvre received an overwhelming amount of support for his mayoral bid, with 2468 confirmed votes after the polls closed at 8 p.m. Incumbent mayor Paula Assaly received 896 votes for her reelection campaign effort. The new mayor-elect indicated he was still surprised at the amount of votes he received.
« I’m always an optimist for everybody else, except myself, » he said, with a chuckle.
Lefebvre’s immediate goal when he is sworn in next month as the new mayor is to ensure that he and the new town council « work together and participate equally together » and also have a good working relationship with administration and staff.
« We have a good team that got elected and they are motivated, » he said, « and have a good young staff to work with. »
Lefebvre expressed thanks to Hawkesbury residents who turned came out for the Monday poll and also for the advance polls earlier in the month.
« I appreciate the turnout of people who wanted to vote, » he said. « Some people were turning up today on crutche or in wheelchairs so they could vote. It was good to see people lining up and willing to wait to vote. »
New council
Several incumbent councillors will rejoin Lefebvre at the table in November along with two new faces.
Raymond Campbell, André Chamaillard, Yves Paquette, and Antonios Tsourounakis all won their reelection bids. Paquette received 1715 ballots, Campbell 1682, Tsourounakis, 1662, and Chamaillard 1557.
Joining them at the council table in November will be Jeanne Charlebois, a former mayor of Hawkesbury now turned councillor. She polled 1930 ballots to support her return to council. Close behind Charlebois in ballot numbers is Julie Séguin with 1878.
Incumbent councillor Lawrence Bogue lost his reelection bid, polling 1280 votes. Among the other four candidates for council seats, Marie Valérie received 1526, Yvon Cayen 1296, Simon Guindon 1263, and Gérard Malo 650.
André-Paul Lalonde will represent Hawkesbury on le Conseil scolaire de district catholique de l’Est ontarien, receiving 1040 votes compared to his rival, Gilles Roch Grefee with 862.