Greg Sawchuk has been named the next reeve of the MD of Bonnyville.
On Oct. 16, residents submitted their vote for who would take the place of Ed Rondeau, a long-serving reeve of the MD who announced earlier this year that he would not be running in the municipal election.
First to throw their name into the running was Sawchuk, who promised to work on combating crime, building relationships with surrounding municipalities, and looking into the budget for road construction.
He won the race for reeve with 1,835 of the 3,411 votes. Residents who cast their ballot in Fort Kent, Ardmore, at the Alexander Hall, the Riverhurst Hall, in Cold Lake, and at the Cherry Grove Hall voted in Sawchuk's favour.
“It's pretty exciting and a little overwhelming. I am very humbled that enough people felt I was the right guy to move the ship forward,” he said after receiving the news on Monday night.
Sawchuk was running against Barry Kalinski, who finished the election with a respectable 1,576 votes.
“The hardest part about this whole election was that I was running against Barry, who was a man I truly respect. He is a fine man, and I consider him my friend. That was the toughest part, and I know that was tough on each of our families,” Sawchuk said about his opponent.
“I know he will be there if I ever want to ask him anything, I am sure he would share with me.”
As Sawchuk steers the MD towards the next four-years, he plans on working with both old and new councillors to continue to build on the municipality's success.
He admitted, they would rely heavily on returning councillors Mike Krywiak and Dana Swigart.
“I want to encourage communication, not only amongst the councillors, but I want to see good discussions. We will probably do some team building, and just make sure that the entire MD is well represented in a fair manner. That means being fair to all of the councillors and being fair to all of the wards.”
He added, “This is going to be a full-time-plus job for me.”
