Bill Hanson and Leslie Beck are familiar with the jobs they won back May 12 - and both say they're ready to get to work.
Hanson received the most votes in the byelection, getting his name on 388 ballots, while Beck got 283 votes - just enough to pip Tom Therien, who finished third with 255 votes and Carrie Hume, who received 242 votes.
Hanson received the most votes in all 11 polls set up at City Hall and in advance/mail-in voting, finishing over 100 votes above the closest challenger. In polls 1-4, Beck and Hume tied for second place, while Beck and Therien tied for second in polls 10 and 11. Therien finished with the second most votes in polls 8-9, while Hume had the second most votes in advance/mail-in voting.
Both Hanson and Beck are former city councillors and will join Mayor Cal Huntley and councillors Colleen Arnold, Tim Babcock, Karen MacKinnon and Ken Pawlachuk until November 2022. The two newly elected councillors will fill seats formerly held by Colleen McKee - who sat as a city councillor from 2006 until her death in 2020 following a battle with cancer - and Barry Kreller, who was elected to Flin Flon council in a Oct. 2020 byelection before stepping down from council in March for personal reasons.
Hanson
Hanson, who received the most votes, was first elected to city council in 1992, leaving after one term before running again and winning in 2002. Hanson held that seat again until he stepped down from council in 2018. Hanson works as a carpenter, general repairman and trades lead with the Northern Health Region and is currently the chair of the Flin Flon Public Library board.
Hanson's election will give him his sixth term as a Flin Flon city councillor - this win, he says, feels different.
“I gotta tell you, it was actually quite humbling. I had a number of people behind me and the vote proved that out. I’m actually excited to get back at it,” he said.
“This feels pretty good. I think I’m more centred. I think my last term, I was a little bit distracted. Now, I’m pretty focused this time on what has to be done. I’m pretty excited about this.”
When Hanson stepped down from council in 2018,
Three years later, Hanson wanted to get back into local politics in an attempt to positively shape Flin Flon’s future.
“I think the City of Flin Flon is in a bit of trouble right now. There’s some key things that have to happen. Anybody that knows me well will know that in my work life, I’ve always known what to do next,” he said.
“I think when it comes to municipal politics, now I finally have that down, where I know what to do next. I guess that’s the motivation for running.”
In Hanson’s past, there have often been events that inspired him to run for office - a conversation with then-mayor Gordon Mitchell in 1992 led Hanson to his first campaign and election win, while a sewer leak that shot untreated sewage directly on a neighbour’s dog house before being fixed did the same before he ran again in 2002.
Hanson said his inspiration for getting back in the game wasn’t a single conversation or any sewage-related dog hijinks - this time, the inspiration was varied.
“It wasn’t just one event - I would say it’s a number of events. I never really lost the pulse of what was going with the City of Flin Flon, the public works and utilities department - I’m close to a lot of those guys. I just thought, ‘We’ve got some fundamental problems here that need to be fixed,’” he said.
“It’s an easy fix and I know how to do that. Maybe it sounds a little egotistical, but it’s not - it’s just common sense. We’re not doing it for the money.”
With almost two decades of past experience on council behind him, Hanson feels he can jump right in and get to work not long after being sworn in.
“Most definitely. I believe that there’s stuff to do - I think that most of the council right now, they know that and understand it and I know a lot about public works and utilities,” he said.
“As a councillor, it’s all about governance and administration, but at the same time, there has to be encouragement and guidance. That’s basically where I’m at right now.”
Beck
Like Hanson, Leslie Beck has some time on city council in her recent past. A former RCMP officer and service provider for the Northern Manitoba Mining Academy, Beck was first elected to city council in 2014, stepping down midway through her first term to run for the Manitoba Liberal Party in Flin Flon in the 2016 provincial election. Beck finished third in the Flin Flon riding in that election.
“As always, I’m grateful to Flin Flon people. When they do come out, they do vote well and I’m glad that I was the one they wanted to vote for. I’m glad they saw me through to getting one of the byelection seats,” said Beck.
Beck said she was able to draw on her two years on council in running. During her time in elected office, five other council members - Babcock, Hanson, Pawlachuk and MacKinnon, as well as Mayor Cal Huntley - were also on the City’s top board. Each of the four councillors (but not Huntley) were incumbents who were reelected - Beck said being a new member on a largely incumbent board was a challenge.
“When I went on council the last time, I was the only person who changed, as far as the councillors go. It is a tough go when you’re the only person who’s changed because the others have already worked together and they already have a plan,” Beck said.
“This time coming in, although it’s Bill and I, Bill was also with the others, so we now have two new councillors - myself and Colleen Arnold. I think the thing is to get my voice heard within the group and I’m hoping that the transition will be one that works well.”
Like Hanson, Beck ran in part because of concerns with Flin Flon’s future, specifically mentioning Hudbay’s plans to shut down most of its Flin Flon-area operations within the next 18 months and the City’s plan with the company’s grants-in-lieu - the annual sum paid by the company instead of paying property tax for the main mine compound, which makes up a substantial chunk of the City’s annual budgets.
“I think we’re in a real state of flux, for Flin Flon. I think it’s really important that some of the questions really start getting answered around the Hudbay transition, what’s happening with the grants-in-lieu and we need to start being better communicators with the community,” she said.
Unlike other candidates, Beck also outlined her own long-term plan in her campaign. Beck announced intentions to run for mayor in Flin Flon in the next full local election, currently slated for November 2022. No other people have publicly announced an intention to run for that seat. Beck has previously sought the City's top seat, running for it in 2010, finishing third.
“For me, it validates it because I said it right out - my intention to come in to council right now is for people to see how I perform in the hopes that I can successfully run and become mayor in Nov. 2022,” Beck said.
“I want to be honest with people, I want them to know what my agenda was, so I put it out there. People responded, I got votes, so that tells me that there is a part of the population that’s looking for change. I’m going to just keep working at that.”
When asked if Beck’s ambitions may cause friction with the present council - including the present mayor - Beck said she felt being transparent about her goals was important in the campaign.
“I wanted them to know right up front what my agenda is, that I’m going on to council with the agenda that I think there’s some things that need to be addressed. I’m going in with a full voice and I do plan on doing that,” she said.
“At the end of the day, there’s seven personalities and there has to be an exchange of ideas. Those have to be cordial, but everybody should be able to bring their ideas to the table and everybody should be on board to accept that.”
