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First declared mayoral candidate represents the status quo

T hompson’s 2018 municipal election campaign season got underway, if not officially, then at least for real, with the May 7 announcement by current Coun.

Thompson’s 2018 municipal election campaign season got underway, if not officially, then at least for real, with the May 7 announcement by current Coun. Penny Byer, who was first elected in 2010, that she would be seeking to become Thompson’s next mayor-elect as of Oct. 25, the day after Manitobans vote in new mayors, reeves, councillors and school board trustees.

That Byer has come out and announced her intentions probably shouldn’t come as a surprise. A number of current councillors have been rumoured to be mulling a run at the top spot, and it would be unusual not to have someone currently on council running. In deed, if you go back over the previous terms, both Thompson’s previous mayors – current Mayor Dennis Fenske and his predecessor Tim Johnston – spent time as councillors before ascending the ladder, as did Johnston’s predecessor Bill Comaskey, Comaskey’s predecessor Don MacLean and MacLean’s predecessor Tom Farrell. Thompsons first and second mayors – Jack Knight and Brian Campbell, who held office from 1966 to 1969 and 1969 to 1972, respectively, served in the top job without previous council experience, which in Knight’s case was not possible anyway.

That fact alone makes Byer, who has served as deputy mayor,  a status quo candidate. What marks her as that even more is the fact that she has mostly sided with Fenske and four other members of council to enact policies and legislative changes over the past four years, though she said prior to the 2014 election that her mind isn’t usually completely made up on the night that she enters council chambers to vote. 

That isn’t to say that she necessarily has always agreed with Fenske. Sometimes in politics, you may have to vote against an option you may actually prefer in order to keep the door open later to attract support for something you strongly wish to see passed. It’s called compromising and, in many ways, it is the stock and trade of politicians.

However, it is rather difficult to distance yourself from the support you have given to unpopular policies or decisions, and to those who see the current group of councillors as mostly made up of people making unwise decisions, Byer will probably not be their first choice to mark on the ballot for mayor, even if we don’t yet know who she will be up against.

Elections haven’t necessarily gone the way of politicians who represent the status quo lately and, though previous political experience has long been seen as practically a requirement for some elected positions, the fact that there is a President Donald Trump pretty much throws that script out the window. 

Undoubtedly some Thompson residents believe that anyone associated with the current majority on council can not be considered as having done anything positive for the city, while others believe that those councillors have done the best they can under difficult circumstances. Depending on who else decides to take a stab at being elected mayor, we may have a chance in October to see which one of those factions really has the most support.

Stay tuned.

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