Greater Sudbury municipal election, 2003
The Greater Sudbury municipal election, 2003 was held in the city of Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada on 10 November 2003. All municipal elections in the province of Ontario are held on the same date; see Ontario municipal elections, 2003 for elections in other cities.
The election chose the mayor and city councillors who would sit on Greater Sudbury City Council from 2003 to 2006.
Issues
The primary issue in the 2003 elections was the municipal amalgamation of 2001. Prior to 1 January 2001, the current city of Greater Sudbury consisted of seven separate municipalities, together comprising the Regional Municipality of Sudbury. On that date, the provincial government of Ontario dissolved all seven former municipalities and the regional government, merging them all into the current city government.
Under longtime mayor Jim Gordon, the preceding city council — the first to govern the amalgamated city — had struggled to pull the new city together, with soaring costs and deterioration of public services that had not been foreseen by the provincial government when the amalgamation was legislated. Voter anger was directed primarily at the provincial government of Mike Harris rather than the city council, although the council was criticized for some of the budgeting decisions it made, such as closing many municipally-owned recreational facilities.
Ward boundaries
When the current city of Greater Sudbury was created in 2001, the city was divided into six wards, each of which was represented by two councillors. This structure was controversial, as some voters felt that the division of responsibility among councillors was vague and ill-defined — it could, for example, be unclear which of the two ward councillors to approach in regards to a political issue.
In 2005, the city council adopted a new ward structure, in which the city would now be divided into twelve wards with a single councillor per ward. The new ward structure was implemented for the first time in the 2006 municipal election.
Results
Mayoral race
Incumbent mayor Jim Gordon did not run for reelection in 2003. As a result of his retirement, the mayoral race attracted an unexpectedly large field of 14 candidates. This was the second largest slate of mayoral candidates of any Ontario city in this election cycle — Toronto was the only city in the province with more candidates for mayor.
| Candidate | Total votes | % of total votes | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| David Courtemanche | 19,152 | 35.56 | |
| Paul Marleau | 11,360 | 21.10 | |
| Colin Firth | 8,096 | 15.03 | |
| Louise Portelance | 5,645 | 10.48 | |
| John Caruso | 4,693 | 8.71 | |
| Tom Boyuk | 1,930 | 3.58 | |
| Brian R. Gatien | 1,280 | 2.38 | |
| Richard Doyon | 667 | 1.24 | |
| Mary Fournier Pagnutti | 405 | 0.75 | |
| David Chevrier | 271 | 0.50 | |
| Yvonne Neison | 141 | 0.26 | |
| Robert Maurice | 102 | 0.19 | |
| Ed Pokonzie | 67 | 0.12 | |
| David Popescu | 42 | 0.08 | |
| Total valid votes | 53,851 | 100.00 |
Ward 1
Two to be elected.
| Candidate | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|
| Terry Kett | 5,028 | 31.64 |
| (x) Eldon Gainer | 4,095 | 25.77 |
| Joe Cimino | 3,582 | 22.54 |
| (x) Gerry McIntaggart | 3,187 | 20.05 |
| Total valid votes | 15,982 |
Ward 2
Two to be elected.
| Candidate | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|
| Claude Berthiaume | 3,815 | 23.99 |
| Ron Bradley | 3,679 | 23.13 |
| Evelyn Dutrisac | 3,067 | 19.28 |
| Claude Gravelle | 2,178 | 13.69 |
| Carol-Ann Coupal | 1,456 | 9.15 |
| Bill Hedderson | 1,074 | 6.75 |
| Andrew Fahey | 635 | 3.99 |
| Total valid votes | 15,904 |
Ward 3
Two to be elected.
| Candidate | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|
| Ron Dupuis | 4,355 | 30.69 |
| André Rivest | 3,098 | 21.83 |
| Jean-Yves (John) Robert | 3,065 | 21.60 |
| Joe Niceforo | 1,865 | 13.14 |
| Robert Boileau | 1,224 | 8.63 |
| Maurice Sarrazin | 583 | 4.11 |
| Total valid votes | 14,190 |
Ward 4
Two to be elected.
| Candidate | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|
| Russ Thompson | 3,315 | 23.57 |
| Ted Callaghan | 2,360 | 16.78 |
| Rick Grylls | 1,689 | 12.01 |
| Daniel Gingras | 1,629 | 11.58 |
| Fabio Belli | 1,517 | 10.79 |
| Maurice Lamoureux | 1,102 | 7.84 |
| Tony Sharma | 1,060 | 7.54 |
| Jim Lanzo | 1,022 | 7.27 |
| Sean Peters | 189 | 1.34 |
| Harry Will | 179 | 1.27 |
| Total valid votes | 14,062 |
Ward 5
Two to be elected.
| Candidate | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|
| Doug Craig | 5,226 | 30.05 |
| Frances Caldarelli | 3,926 | 22.57 |
| Austin Davey | 3,619 | 20.81 |
| Jason Bubba | 1,948 | 11.20 |
| Fern Cormier | 1,711 | 9.84 |
| Neil Faddis | 963 | 5.54 |
| Total valid votes | 17,393 |
Ward 6
Two to be elected.
| Candidate | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|
| Janet Gasparini | 3,923 | 25.81 |
| Lynne Reynolds | 2,642 | 17.38 |
| Jim Ilnitski | 2,565 | 16.87 |
| Mike Petryna | 2,379 | 15.65 |
| Rick Villeneuve | 1,552 | 10.21 |
| Eric Thériault | 604 | 3.97 |
| Richard Madison | 568 | 3.74 |
| Jeff MacIntyre | 411 | 2.70 |
| Shawn Ouimet | 294 | 1.93 |
| Jerry O'Brien | 263 | 1.73 |
| Total valid votes | 15,201 |