New mayors usher in new era across northeastern Ontario

The four largest cities in northeastern Ontario have new people at the helm following Monday's municipal election.

Taking office are Michelle Boileau in Timmins, Matthew Shoemaker in the Sault, Peter Chirico in North Bay and Paul Lefebvre in Greater Sudbury.

In the Sault, Shoemaker succeeds Christian Provenzano as mayor, taking 44 per cent of the vote, compared to Ozzie Grandinetti, who was second with 25 per cent.

He told CTV News the city’s opioid crisis is his top priority. Shoemaker said getting a supervised consumption site is job No. 1 and he hopes to get the ball rolling on that as soon as he officially takes office.

He said he's looking forward to working with the newly elected city council and that he’s proud of his campaign.

“We ran the campaign that we wanted to run," Shoemaker said.

"We ran it on ideas and I’m happy the result is what we had hoped for. And all I can say is that … I’m ecstatic the result reflects the work that we had put in.”

Boileau was the first to be elected Monday, taking 61.47 per cent of the vote, well ahead of Joe Campbell, who was second with 32.07 per cent.

She succeeds George Pirie, who became a provincial cabinet minister after the spring election.

“I haven’t even processed it, really," she told CTV News about her win.

"It’s a little overwhelming. It’s really nice. It’s really special to be here with all my friends and family. I think that’s what’s really making the moment feel so special.”

Timmins mayor-elect Michelle Boileau is seen Monday evening with her husband, Andrew Morrish, at Full Beard Brewing. (Lydia Chubak/CTV News)

Boileau said she was looking forward to working with her council colleagues.

“I think we have a really great council," she said.

"We’ll be able to move a lot of things forward … addressing social issues. It’s something I’m very familiar with working in the downtown, working with social services. That’s something I’m looking forward to continue working on.”

In addition, she said the need for housing is a priority.

"We want to touch on some of those other priorities, such as population growth, you know, just being able to track skilled workers, attract post-secondary students," Boileau said.

"A lot of that is going to come down to housing, as well. Luckily we’ve already made quite a bit of leeway with provincial partners."

It was a much tighter race in North Bay, where Chirico was declared winner just before 9:30 p.m. He was in a tight race with Johanne Brousseau, winning with 48.6 per cent of the vote to Brousseau's 44.4 per cent.

He told CTV News voters he talked with are unhappy with the arena project, including the location.

Peter Chirico has been elected mayor of North Bay. CTV's decision desk declared Peter Chirico winner just before 9:30 p.m. He was in a tight race with Johanne Brousseau, winning with 48.6 per cent of the vote to Brousseau's 44.4 per cent. (Eric Taschner/CTV News)

"Most people at the doors said they weren't in favour of it," said Chirico, who succeeds Al McDonald.

"The other was openness and transparency and that's what we're going to restore to this building."

Finally in Sudbury, Lefebvre said he was honoured by the support and ready for the challenge

“It’s a huge honour to have that support but at the same time there’s expectations," he said.

"I think people were ready for change but I think they wanted positive change. I truly believe in the future of Greater Sudbury and northern Ontario. There’s lots of opportunities and lots of challenges."

Among those challenges is a $17.7 million budget gap the city is facing in its 2023 budget. He's going to start with one-on-one meetings with council.

"I want to really sit down with city councillors," Lefebvre said.

"I know that there’s a budget coming up and the (tax) increase is way too much, so there’s a lot of work to be done.”

-- With contributions from Lydia Chubak, Molly Frommer, Mike McDonald and Eric Taschner.