Cornwall ON – I caught up with Cornwall City Councilor Mr. Maurice Dupelle today.
He’s busy attacking his first term on council with a lot of zest and vigour. We talked tonight about his new position as the city council appointee to the Youth Advisory council and some of the many ideas he has brewing.
He shared that he wanted to get the Boys and Girls clubs more involved as well as having more students participate and attend council meetings.
I then asked the rookie councilor about some rumours swirling about Cornwall about he being courted to run for one of the Provincial parties in the upcoming Provincial election.
I absolutely love what I’m doing on City Council and will not be running for any other office.
Currently none of the political parties have a candidate for the upcoming Provincial election in October. With MPP Jim Brownell announcing that he will not run again the coffee shops and water coolers have many speculating as to who could possibly be in the race.
The Conservatives are keeping their cards close to their chests with rumblings of Todd Lalonde and Chris Savard mingling with 
speculation of former Cornwall Mayor Phil Poirier being considered. Other names have been bandied about too. The Liberals also are keeping things quiet with Mr. Brownell not publicly naming a chosen successor.
Mayor Bryan McGillis of South Stormont has been thought to be a contender and yes, City Councilor Bernadette Clement who is also the Federal Liberal Candidate has had her name mentioned in many places as a replacement for the popular Brownell.
The NDP are kicking tires with the names most bandied being current city Councilor Elaine MacDonald and former Councilor and mayoralty candidate Mark MacDonald’s name floating through; especially with Brian Lynch having been his campaign manager and his presence at so many NDP events.
While the Green Party currently does not have a riding association locally, word on the street that failed council nominee Jason Setnyk is lobbying to run as the Provincial offering.
What do you think Cornwall and SD&SG residents. Who do you think will run and what do you think it will take to actually get voters to come out and reverse the trend of dwindling voter turnout in our area? You can post your comments below.
I’d be very excited if Mark MacDonald decided to run. He’d be a tireless fighter for this riding and community. And I think he’d have enough support to win the seat, regardless of what party he ran for.
I’m not going to support anyone who plays with their cards close to their chest. I want to understand quite clearly in advance what someone believes. Hide from me and I will advise everyone to knock you down.
I think that Mark MacDonald would be a great replacement for Jim Brownell. As you all know these two men are both hard-working, representing the people. I don’t see Jason Setnyk doing anything because since the election we’ve heard nothing about him. He’s just an “also ran”…