Popular Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi may have received 75 per cent of the vote in Monday’s (Oct. 21) municipal election, but he’s got nothing on Canmore’s incumbent Mayor John Borrowman.
Borrowman was re-elected in a landslide victory, garnering 78 per cent of the votes – 2,593 compared to challenger Hans Helder’s 672.
The numbers couldn’t have been more exciting for Borrowman, who said he was elated, as the past year since winning the byelection last spring has felt like a “probationary period” for the first-time mayor.
“I have been thinking about it and it has felt like a probationary period for the last 16 months and I was really hoping to get a strong mandate and I got a strong mandate today – this is fabulous,” Borrowman said. “It feels good to have that really solid voice from the community saying I have been doing a good job and they trust me.”
Helder acknowledged the electorate of Canmore had obviously spoken.
“Obviously, I was disappointed and also it is pretty clear the electorate have spoken and I have said before voters are never wrong, so they have made their choice for mayor and done so pretty convincingly,” he said.
However, Helder expressed concerns over tactics used during the election that he felt were inappropriate.
Those concerns include the public distribution of an email marked private and confidential sent by TSMV developer Blair Richardson seeking financial contributions for Helder’s campaign. The email stated $100,000 was to be raised, but Richardson, a longtime friend of Helder’s, acknowledged the number was an error and the figure should have been $10,000.
“The fact that people will distribute at will something marked private and confidential and think nothing of it – that is a concern to me. The whole notion of privacy is seen to be within a political context not worth thinking about,” Helder said.
“The second part is a broader one and it is that the nature of some of the comments that were made during the election campaign became very personalized and that was reflected in a letter to the editor and reflected in a question at the environmental forum.
“It was a very personalized attack on my character and integrity and that also causes me concern – I don’t think that is appropriate within an election campaign.
“It is based on untruths, half truths and innuendo and I don’t think those are appropriate things to be part of an election campaign.”
Helder said he doesn’t think the results were necessarily seen in the voting booths, but it is inconsistent with how politics in the community are conducted. He said active misinformation campaigns against him are a disappointment because it reduces the political dialogue in Canmore.
“I respect the electorate and I respect the outcome of the election and it is democratic process and that is the way it ought to be,” he said. “I have no concerns about the outcome of the election, just concerns with some of the tactics.
“The ideals of the political process and the ideals that are really important to our democracy and country ought to be respected and not dragged through rumour and innuendo.”
Although disappointed, Helder said his feelings about the community remain very positive and he had a lot of support during his campaign.
For Borrowman, the upcoming term will be for four years, after the provincial government extended municipal terms from three years since the last general election.
“For a newly elected person, it really does take the better part of a year to get up to speed, particularly with new councillors,” Borrowman said. “I think it is a really good step and I am glad the province took that step.”
