After long wait for official results, rival concedes defeat to Jeff Fawcett in Brandon mayoral race

After a long, late night spent waiting for official election results that never came in Manitoba's second-largest city, Elliott Oleson decided to end the suspense himself.

The Brandon mayoral candidate conceded defeat to his rival, Jeff Fawcett, who had garnered more than 72 per cent of the ballots that had been counted as of 1 a.m. Thursday.

"The writing on the wall is pretty clear," Oleson said in an interview with the CBC on Wednesday night.

"Congratulations to Jeff. I expect that he'll do a good job. He seems like a really, really, really nice guy and seems principled enough."

Unofficial results were released by the city just before 3 a.m. Thursday, saying Fawcett won the municipal election with 4,759 votes, or 72.81 per cent of ballots. Oleson finished with 1,777 votes.

"It did not look great tonight," a weary Fawcett said, speculating that the hand-counted ballots in the city were likely a major factor in the delay.

Oleson was surprised an official declaration failed to materialize Wednesday.

"This election has been just a series of problems from beginning to end, but I guess sometimes things just don't go as planned," he said.

While he was excited at the prospect of taking on the mantle of mayor, Fawcett was "a little surprised" by the low voter turnout in the city, which has 36,528 eligible voters.

The final tallies released by the city say 17.9 per cent of eligible voters cast ballots.

In the 2018 civic election, which saw previous two-term Mayor Rick Chrest acclaimed, voter turnout was 16.86 per cent — 6,185 ballots cast among 36,675 eligible voters. That was a drop of more than 50 per cent from the 42 per cent turnout in the 2014 election.

To increase voter turnout, the City of Brandon offered free transit, encouraging people to use the service to visit a voting station.

"I had high expectations, but I think we all did," Fawcett said. "I thought we would have a bigger turnout. Maybe it is just an era we're going through where this is the amount of people that vote, but we have to work on that."

Oleson called the lack of voter turnout a symptom of the lack of engagement from the City of Brandon when it comes to working with citizens.

"The city hasn't done a good job of reaching out to people and making them feel like they're involved and have a place in Brandon," he said.

Fawcett came to the race with 12 years of experience as a city councillor for Brandon's Ward 1 (Assiniboine).

He ran for mayor based on a platform centred on building Brandon's standing as the second biggest city in the province. He says a vital part of growing Brandon's identity as a large urban centre is being visible at a provincial level and in Winnipeg.

Building the city's reputation provincially will enhance business opportunities in the community, he said during his campaign, including encouraging new businesses to come to Brandon. 

While on the campaign trail, he said helping Brandon's downtown core gain new life after COVID-19 and other challenges remains a priority — but it will take time and targeted planning for revitalization to take root.

Fawcett pledged to continue working with social service groups to help vulnerable people downtown, but he cautioned there is no "silver bullet" to deal with social issues.

He said key steps in this plan will be growing the Community Wellness Collaborative to address the needs of vulnerable people collectively in the city. The collaborative provides opportunities for Brandonites to discuss strategies centred on tackling core community issues.

Fawcett's immediate goal once election results are confirmed is to address the shortage of shelter space in the city. Brandon's only homeless shelter, Samaritan Houses Ministries Safe and Warm Shelter, reached capacity in early October.

Council and school board results

New faces will join Brandon city council, with Heather Karrouze taking Ward 1, Assiniboine, with 371 ballots (36.99 per cent of the vote). Greg Hildebrand defeated Ward 5, Meadows-Waverly, incumbent Sunday Frangi with 551 ballots (77.82 per cent), Jason Splett won Ward 8, Richmond, with 332 votes (75.45 per cent) and Tyson Tame will serve Ward 10, Green Acres, with 370 votes (54.01 per cent). 

Ward 2, Rosser, incumbent Kris Desjarlais took 261 votes (63.2 per cent) and Ward 3, Victoria, incumbent Barry Cullen won with 552 votes (58.66 per cent).

Shaun Cameron (Ward 4, University), Bruce Luebke (Ward 6, South Centre), Shawn Berry (Ward 7, Linden Lanes) and Glen Parker (Ward 9, Riverview) were acclaimed.

Linda Ross, Jim Murray, Blaine Foley, Duncan Ross, Jason Gobeil, Kim Fallis, Calistus Ekenna and Breeanna Sieklicki were elected as school board trustees for Ward 1 (city). Caroline Cramer was acclaimed in Ward 2 (rural).