Chatham-Kent elects Darrin Canniff as mayor for next 4 years

After 12 years of Randy Hope, Chatham-Kent has voted Darrin Canniff to serve as the municipality's mayor until 2022.

Using a combination of traditional polling stations and online voting, 19,316 chose Canniff to take the municipality's top seat, based on preliminary results released at 9:13 p.m.

The mayoral race was considered a battle among three with Hope, Alysson Storey and Canniff. Other candidates who ran were Harold Atkinson, Robert Salvatore Powers and Allan Robert Traylor.

"It was surprising," said Hope after his loss. "That's the way elections work, I mean, you never know."

Cultural change and attracting people

Canniff served his first term in city hall as one of six councillors for Ward 6.

One of the things Canniff hopes to change as mayor is the culture among staff working at city hall. He said the previous mayor, Hope, isn't a leader and "doesn't create teams."

"It's impossible for any one person to do a large project, or to move the needle on things," he said during the campaign period.

Canniff mentioned attracting people to move to the municipality remains a challenge and there's a shortage of skilled labour.

However, having the housing available for those people who want to move here is also an issue, he said, along with having fibre internet to attract younger families.

He proposed having a welcoming package for newcomers to the municipality that is so extensive that people will settle into Chatham-Kent faster and feel a sense of home.