While councillors in Creighton and Denare Beach will be determined on election day, we now know two people who have been re-elected - Creighton mayor Bruce Fidler and Denare Beach mayor Carl Lentowicz.
The community's longtime mayors will both keep their jobs through acclamation, the Town of Creighton and Northern Village of Denare Beach announced Oct. 8. No other candidates for the positions came forward.
Fidler was first named mayor in 2003, having formerly served nine years on the town's council. No other candidates stepped forward for the job that year, or for any election since. The mayor has now won six consecutive elections - in 2003, 2006, 2009, 2012, 2016 and now 2020 - without ever having to sweat it out on election night. Every time Fidler has won as mayor, he's done so unchallenged.
Over his past term, Fidler presided over the creation of the Regional Economic Development Corporation (REDC), an economic development group covering Flin Flon, Creighton and Denare Beach. Fidler has also presided over the creation of Creighton Connection, a passenger transport service operating between Creighton and Prince Albert, after the 2017 shutdown of the Saskatchewan Transportation Company (STC) ended bus service between Creighton and the rest of Saskatchewan.
Fidler also organized a multi-million dollar reworking of the Town's water and sewer lines, renovations at the Creighton Sportex and had several meetings with high-ranking provincial officials on local issues.
"Now that my part of the election is over for me, I can relax and get down to work," said Fidler in a statement sent out by the Town.
"I greatly appreciate being able to serve another term as Creighton's mayor. I am really looking forward to the next four years. We have a lot of work to do and will focus on economic development along with all the other town business and projects. We have a great community and will make it better."
Lentowicz will earn his seat for the eighth time. The political stalwart has been the mayor of Denare Beach since 1997 and has won every election he has contested since. Most recently, Lentowicz defeated challenger Paul Trottier in 2016, earning over 70 per cent of the overall vote.
Six council seats are still up for grabs in the upcoming election in both Creighton and Denare Beach. In Creighton, eight candidates have stepped forward to run on council - Neal Andrusiak, Martyn De Decker, Kory Eastman, Darren Grant, Dan Hlady, Richard Masson, Anita Rainville and Colleen Stallard. All six current Creighton councillors will run for re-election - Andrusiak, Eastman, Grant, Hlady, Rainville and Stallard all incumbents.
In Denare Beach, the situation looks similar. All six incumbent councillors will run for re-election, along with a pair of new faces. The list of total candidates includes Nicole Holmgren Bayless, Jean Champagne, Dale Holmgren, Scott McCullum, Karen Thomson, Trottier, Beverly Wheeler and Frank Wiegers. Champagne, Holmgren, McCullum, Thomson, Wheeler and Wiegers are incumbents.
Trustees will also be elected for the Creighton School Division, which has five seats, including one specifically for a Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation (PBCN) representative.
Election day in Creighton and Denare Beach will be Nov. 9. In Creighton, voting will be held at the Town Office in the council chambers boardroom from 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Advance polls will be held at the Town Office Oct. 27 and Nov. 4 from 4 p.m.-8 p.m. Denare Beach residents will vote at the DenarePlex from 9 a.m.-8 p.m. on election day, while an advance poll will be held Oct. 27 from 4 p.m.-8 p.m. at the DenarePlex. Mail-in ballots will also be available for pick-up at the Village Office from Oct. 13-26.
