The people of Ile-a-la Crosse have spoken. After three days of voting – including two advance polls and Election Day itself last Wednesday (Sept. 24) – Myra Malboeuf has secured the mayor’s seat at the Ile-ala Crosse council table. The by-election, which was deemed necessary when former mayor Buckley Belanger resigned from the role upon being elected to the House of Commons as MP for the Desnethé-Missinippi-Churchill River riding earlier this year, saw Malboeuf secure 329 votes to runner-up Lloyd Yew’s 155 and fellow candidate Mervin Bouvier’s 16.
“First and foremost, I want to thank the people of our community for placing your trust in me,” Malboeuf shared via social media following her victory. “This is not my victory alone – it belongs to all of us. I want to recognize and thank the other candidates who put their names forward. It takes courage and commitment to step into this role, and your voices have added to the strength of our community.” Malboeuf went on to state the real work begins now. “Together, we will roll up our sleeves and showcase not only who we are today, but the historic presence and strength that has always defined our community,” she said. “This is a time to come together, to do things differently and to show what can be accomplished when everyone has a place at the table. I look forward to working with each of you as we move forward, united in building the future our community deserves.”
Malboeuf previously served as a member of Ile-a-la Crosse council and unsuccessfully ran for mayor against Belanger last fall. Meanwhile, seeing as Belanger also held a seat on the Ile-a-la Crosse School Division, the by-election also saw voters choose a new member of the board. Nathan Favel was the successful candidate, earning 254 votes to fellow candidate Alex Laliberte’s 238. “I believe the by-election went fairly well,” explained Ile-a-la Crosse chief administrative officer and returning officer Donny Favel. “We had 500 voters come out over the three days, which is a good number for a by-election. The school division vote was very close.” Malboeuf is expected to be officially sworn in as mayor this week. The next regular meeting of Ile-a-la Crosse council is Oct. 6.
“It’s important this process took place and we have a new mayor back at the table,” Favel added. “It will be great to have some new vision and some new goals brought to the table. I also have to give a huge thank you to Vince Ahenakew who stepped up as deputy-mayor since May… His efforts were really appreciated, especially with all the chaos this summer because of the forest fires and whatnot. Vince really pulled through and made things a lot easier for me… Thanks again to the candidates, congratulations to the winners, and thank you to my election staff who helped make things run smoothly. Hopefully we don’t have to of this again until the next general election.”