Former town councillor Cam Ecclestone has filed his nomination papers to run for a seat on council in the 2022 municipal election, bringing the total number of candidates to seven for the seven Collingwood councillor seats.
Ecclestone was a councillor in Collingwood for the 2014-2018 council term, and though he ran in 2018 he was not re-elected. Though Ecclestone did announce he would be running in the 2022 provincial election for the Consensus Party, his name did not appear on the ballot.
Prior to moving to Collingwood, Ecclestone was acclaimed as reeve for the area of Gull Lake near Minden where he had a cottage. He was one of the applicants for the vacant council position, which was filled by Chris Carrier in March 2022 by council vote.
Of the eight people currently on Collingwood council, six have filed to run for seats next term (two for mayor, one for deputy mayor and three for council). Coun. Chris Carrier and Mayor Keith Hull have not submitted nominations to run in the fall election.
Now that Ecclestone has filed, there are seven people vying for seven seats on council with nine days to go before nominations are closed. The councillor candidates include former councillor Ian Chadwick, current Councillors Deb Doherty, Steve Berman, and Kathy Jeffery, local entrepreneur Brandon Houston, and former town staffer Chris Potts.
Without a contest (more people running than there are seats on council) candidates will be acclaimed.
Current Councillor Yvonne Hamlin, Deputy Mayor Mariane McLeod, and former councillor, Norm Sandberg, have all applied to run for mayor.
Former councillor Tim Fryer and current councillor Bob Madigan will be running for the deputy mayor seat.
Candidates for the school board trustee positions include:
- Shawn Cooper for local trustee on the Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board
- Mike Foley and Barbara-Anne Smith, both of Wasaga Beach, for the Simcoe County District School Board
- Eric LaPointe and Saveria Caruso for Conseil scolaire Viamonde
- Clair Thibideau for Conseil scolaire catholique MonAvenir
Nominations for municipal election candidates opened May 2, and will close Aug. 19.
There is an online uncertified list of candidates including their contact information kept updated by the town's clerk services staff.
The election will take place Oct. 24, 2022.
