Former PC MLA coasts to victory as mayor of the Fort McMurray region
Don Scott, a former PC MLA and cabinet minister, will be the new mayor of the Fort McMurray region.
Scott won with 8,911 votes. Realtor Alan Grandison came in second place with 3,160 votes.
Voter turnout was approximately 22.4 per cent, with 13,212 of the 59,000 eligible voters casting a ballot, according to the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo.
Scott will be the oilsands capital's first mayor in 13 years after Melissa Blake announced she would not seek re-election.
"What I want to see is a place where people want to live," Scott said Monday night. "I want to see more people move into this region and an even more vibrant downtown. This is going to be a fantastic four years."
He said he also wants to address the NDP government's bid to change the tax structure of municipalities which he and others fear will significantly reduce municipal tax revenues.
Scott also said he wants to tackle the issue of oilsands companies relying on outside labour instead of drawing from the local labour pool.
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