"Re-elect Shaun Collier"

I've gotten quite a few e-mails and Tweets regarding an ad Ajax Ward 1 councillor Shaun Collier ran in his ultimately successful bid to win the Ward 1 and 2 Regional seat.

The ad says "Re-elect Shaun Collier For Regional Councillor Ward 1 and 2".

Now, people had issues with it because he was not the incumbent Regional councillor. People also questioned us publishing it in the News Ad.

I spoke with the ad rep who sold the ad and she said the contents of advertising are the responsibility of the advertiser. As well, she confirmed that Coun. Collier had approved the ad. She asked him about the word "re-elect" and he said he wanted to use it.

I spoke with Coun. Collier and he sent me the following e-mail:

Hi Reka,

I understand that you are getting Tweeted etc… about my ad in last Friday’s paper. Here are the facts:

Prior to approving my ad, I researched the Municipal Act and the Municipal Elections Act. I also spoke with an Attorney and received a legal opinion. I am an elected official therefore I am seeking re-election by the residents and chose to use the wording. This is not in any way misleading and is a common marketing strategy. I have been a Councillor for 7 years and the residents of Ajax are fully aware of both mine and Scott Crawford’s positions.

I challenge anyone to show how my ad in any way contradicts the Municipal Elections Act and, if so, to take appropriate action.

Regards,

Shaun Collier

Town of Ajax - Ward 1 Councillor

Regional Councillor Wards 1 & 2 Elect.

Office: 905-409-6891

Fax:905-683-2426

I also called Blair Labelle, the deputy clerk at the Town and he said there's no rule about how to use words like "re-elect" in the Town's bylaws or in the Municipal Act and there are no rules regarding advertising content.

I know in Whitby former mayor Marcel Brunelle used the word "re-elect" in some of his signs and in Pickering former councillor Kevin Ashe used the word "return". Some folks thought the latter was fine since it wasn't the word "re-elect", but I'm not sure to the average voter there's a big difference between the two words.

Others argue anyone who has held a seat is entitled to the word "re-elect", even if they aren't a current councillor or they're running for a different seat.

Regardless, it doesn't look like any of it is against the rules, but a question of personal ethics.

In fact, we all know there's been cases where politicians have lied about their education or work experience and not faced any consequences in terms of election rules.

What do you think? Do you think using the word "re-elect" swayed someone to vote versuse "elect"?

Ajax election by the numbers

Because Ajax had a vote anywhere system, I don't have the voter turnout by ward broken down yet. But I'll post it when I get it. Ajax had a 26 per cent overall voter turnout rate.

Here's how each of the candidates did:

Mayor
Steve Parish - 13,541 (79 per cent)
Sherry Clymer - 3,582 (21 per cent)

Ward 1 Local Councillor
Marilyn Crawford - 1,753 (43 per cent)
Katie Kortekaas - 1,314 (32 per cent)
Robert MacArthur - 571 (14 per cent)
Jacob McMaster - 220 (5 per cent)
Raymond Durrani - 198 (5 per cent)

Ward 2 Local Councillor
Renrick Ashby - 2,064 (54 per cent)
Nancy Henry - 1,494 (39 per cent)
Chandra Kumaran - 246 (7 per cent)

Ward 3 Local Councillor
Joanne Dies - 1,999 (47 per cent)
Marsha Jones Dooley - 1,217 (29 per cent)
Terry Knox - 1,007 (24 per cent)

Ward 4 Local Councillor
Pat Brown - 2,589 (51 per cent)
Lisa Patel - 1,276 (25 per cent)
Lynda Everson - 1,259 (25 per cent)

Regional Councillor Wards 1 and 2
Shaun Collier - 3,385 (44 per cent)
Scott Crawford - 3,047 (39 per cent)
Khari Gaynor - 1,257 (16 per cent)

Regional Councillor Wards 3 and 4
Colleen Jordan - 5,516 (62 per cent)
Kim Dowds - 3,403 (38 per cent)
 
Durham Catholic District School Board (Two elected)
Janice Oldman - 1,788 (40 per cent)
Karen Valentine - 948 (21 per cent)
Scott Graham - 801 (18 per cent)
Teri Pereira - 523 (12 per cent)
Margaret Cecconet - 453 (10 per cent)
 
Durham District School Board Ward 1 and 2
Yvonne Forbes - 1,748 (33 per cent)
Eric White - 1,517 (29 per cent)
Risa Sanchez - 1,117 (21 per cent)
George Hawtin - 930 (18 per cent)
 
Durham District School Board Ward 3 and 4
Donna Edwards - 3,271 (49 per cent)
Brian Johnson - 1,550 (23 per cent)
Lynn McGurk-Weil - 1,184 (18 per cent)
Alarna Mckie - 673 (10 per cent)

Conseil Scolaire de District du Centre-Sud-Ouest Trustee
Sylvie Landry - 43 (52 per cent)
Mike Ross - 39 (48 per cent)

Conseil Scolaire de District Catholique Centre-Sud Trustee
Olga Lambert - 114 (65 per cent)
Andre Barrett - 62 (35 per cent)

Referendum Question on electing the Regional Chair:
Yes - 13,788 (85 per cent)
No - 2,375 (15 per cent)

More Ajax election night in pictures

Surrounded by her family, Ward 4 councillor Pat Brown congratulates Jacob McMaster for running. Mr. McMaster was the youngest candidate in the Ajax council race.

Mayor Parish is congratulated by his assistant Cherry Sevigny. Although Mayor Parish is returning, Ms. Sevigny is retirement-bound.

Renrick Ashby has a word with Khari Gaynor who was one of three candidates in a hot Ward 1 and 2 Regional race.

Ward 1 and 2 Regional winner Shaun Collier attributes his victory to strong support, especially from fiancee Cindy Hosking. The happy couple at Coun. Collier's victory party at the Ajax Legion.

Ward 3 and 4 winner Colleen Jordan is all smiles with daughters Tracy and Jackie Jordan after being re-elected.

Karen Valentine celebrated her election to the Catholic school board with her family.

Ajax election night in pictures

Re-elected Mayor Steve Parish arrives to a big hug from re-elected Ward 4 councillor Pat Brown.

Coun. Brown, Mayor Parish and re-elected Ward 3 councillors Joanne Dies exchange congratulations.

Mayor Parish gets a big hug for congratulations from Norma Telfer.

Coun. Dies gets a big hug from a supporter.

Big hug for re-elected Ward 2 councillor Renrick Ashby from his daughter.

Defeated Regional councillor Scott Crawford commiserates with Mayor Parish and Coun. Ashby. Shaun Collier is the new Reginal Ward 1 and 2 councillor.

Ajax election results in

Ajax is done.

Mayor: Steve Parish

Ward 1: Marilyn Crawford

Ward 2: Renrick Ashby

Ward 3: Joanne Dies

Ward 4: Pat Brown

Ward 1 and 2 Regional: Shaun Collier

Ward 3 and 4 Regional: Colleen Jordan

Catholic Board: Jancie Oldman and Karen Valentine

Public Board, Ward 1 and 2: Yvonne Forbes

Public Board, Ward 3 and 4: Donna Edwards

French Board: Sylvie Landry and Olga Lambert

Voter turnout was 26 per cent, up three points, and a total of 17,685 ballots cast. Last time it was 14,718 votes cast.

A few photos from election night

Here's a few snaps from election night in Ajax.

Renrick Ashby, in the lead, gets congratulated by his nephew.

School board trustee candidate George Hawtin watches the results come in.

MPP and former Ajax councillor Joe Dickson takes a couple of questions from Rogers.

Regional chair on ballot question

Regional Chair Roger Anderson watched the election results come in at Ajax Town Hall.

Early results overwhelming showed support in Ajax for electing the Regional chair with 2,950 in support of it and 478 opposed.

"It's not anything I wasn't expecting in the urban areas of Durham Region," said Mr. Anderson.

He said the ballot question passed at Regional council on the strength of the lakeshore municipalities.

"I think the votes in northern Durham will be different."

Should the ballot question pass, Mr. Anderson said he expects it to come back to Regional council in early 2011.

"Hopefully we'll have it in the hands of the local municipalities by June," he said.

If that happens, Durham could have the needed triple majority on the issue by September.

"If that's the case my job will be to get to Queen's Park to make it happen," he said adding, that's assuming he's re-appointed Regional chair following the election.

Ajax election results

Ajax election results are due to come in very soon. Follow them here. For the latest updates on my impression, follow me on Twitter here.

Election action at Ajax Town Hall tonight

I'll be at Town Hall tonight, 65 Harwood Ave. S., covering all the breaking news for the election. The Town has invited the public to pop in and watch the results come in. I understand there will be refreshements and it all kicks off at around 7:30 p.m. Polls close at 8 p.m. Ajax uses electronic voting, so I expect we won't be there into the wee hours of the night tabulating votes.

I'm expecting a bit of a festive atmosphere and any Ajax residents who have been following my election coverage should pop by and say hi. I'll be easy to identify with the notebook, laptop, camera and possibly a partridge in a pear tree.

If you're at home, follow the election results at durhamregion.com and on this blog for notes and photos. I'll create an open thread for reactions. Also, I'm on twitter: twitter.com/rszekely.

Anyone still undecided?

We're in the home stretch now. I'm sure candidates will be campaigning like mad this weekend, but I think a lot of people have already made up their minds. Anyone still undecided?