CORNWALL – Her campaign slogan “It’s time” rang true Monday night as Bernadette Clement was elected mayor of the City of Cornwall.
The three-term councillor took a commanding lead right out of the gate as the first poll reported and held the lead right through.
The unofficial results show Clement with 54 per cent of the vote (6,688 votes), followed by David Murphy with 25 per cent (3,042 votes) and incumbent Leslie O’Shaughnessy with nearly 20 per cent (2,450 votes). Nicole Spahich had 238 votes – less than 2 per cent.
“I’m exhilarated and so grateful. Just grateful for all the people who talked to me about all the struggles that they’re facing. Some of the things they want to see us do better as a city and a community,” Clement said.
The mayor-elect said “it’s not one mayor” that moves the city forward – it’s a team of council. “We need the community to tell us the good, the bad, all the things they want to see done.”
She also wanted to thank Leslie O’Shaughnessy but he had left the Cornwall Civic Complex before she arrived. “I can only imagine that this is a difficult gig and I want to thank him for his service. It doesn’t matter if you disagree or fight in a campaign you always owe respect to the people who are in office,” Clement said.
Clement says her first order of business is to sit down one-on-one with the new council. “We’ve got a lot of work to do. We’ve got a lot to live up to.”
Watch the interview with Bernadette Clement here:
The 10 people elected to council are Justin Towndale (5,323), Elaine MacDonald (4,715), Carilyne Hebert (4,485), Maurice Dupelle (4,365), Claude McIntosh (4,331), Eric Bergeron (3,999), Glen Grant (3,673), Todd Bennett (3,652), Syd Gardiner (3,424) and Dean Hollingsworth (3,361).
More to come.