Tignish to choose new councillor
Three candidates seeking vacant seat; vote takes place Monday
Three people are in the running for a vacant seat on Tignish Town Council.
The first byelection since Tignish became a town will be held on Monday, June 19, to fill a seat vacated in April by former finance committee chairman, Jeff Hackett.
The election will be open in the Tignish Municipal Building from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and there will be a special mobile election poll in the Tignish Seniors home Monday morning. An advance poll was held at the municipal building on June 10. Seeking the seat are Kelly Ashley, Cheryl Des Roches and John McInnis.
“I think I bring experience with me,” said Ashley, a mother of two grown children and grandmother of two.
She said she was asked to run previously but couldn’t because she was working for a provincial and then federal cabinet minister. She’s now employed at a doctor’s office and wants to take her federal and provincial
experience to the municipal level.
“I know mostly everybody in the community. I feel I’m pretty good friends with everybody,” she said.
Ashley said she would want to work with the present council to make Tignish even better. “It’s home; we want the best for home.” Des Roches is a mother of one and grandmother of three and volunteers in fitness and healthrelated activities with Go! PEI, delivering fitness and yoga classes for seniors. She has also been on the board of Tignish Initiatives and a volunteer with IWK fundraising initiatives.
“I like being involved and I think it would be challenging and interesting,” said the longtime Royal Star Foods staff member, in explaining why she responded positively to suggestions she seek the seat.
“I’m open to listening to what other people want. I’m willing to learn. I’m usually up for a challenge. I’m not afraid to try new things.”
Having benefitted from the programs and services Tignish has provided over the years, McInnis says he wants to give back. “I thought it might be a chance to return the favour. Maybe I can do similar good for the community,” he said in explaining why he is seeking a council seat.
McInnis is an oyster grower, a father of three and grandfather of three.
He worked some out West but says he always missed home. “I hate seeing young people leaving here,” he said in expressing his interest in helping to bring new opportunities and more jobs to the town.