Newcomer challenging veteran

Approximately 560 residents eligible to choose who will lead their town in Tignish’s mayoral race

The campaign for mayor of Prince Edward Island’s westernmost town pits a veteran municipal politician against a relative newcomer to Tignish.

Allan McInnis served as a councillor for Tignish almost continuously from 1999 until he took over as chairman of the community council in

2012. He was re-elected in 2014 and became mayor a year and a half ago when Tignish was granted town status.

Dryden Buote just moved into Tignish last November, but he comes from the “next-door” community of Anglo-Tignish.

He says he loves his town.

“Just the small-town feel of it; everybody knows everybody, and it is a very welcoming and warm community,” he observed.

“I’ve been very transparent and I talk to a lot of people in the coffee shops and on the streets and I ask them their opinion,” McInnis said in describing his leadership style.

“We try to accommodate our constituents in the community. I think it makes everything easier when you do that.”

McInnis says he’s proud of the Tignish council’s accomplishments during his six years as chairman and mayor, highlighting a splash pad at Bicentennial Park, sidewalks on Dalton Avenue and MacLeod Lane and a new lagoon.

Buote says he thinks things have been going fairly well in the new town and he wants to play a part in promoting Tignish even more, so that people right across the province know Tignish as a “really great place.” He said he wants to promote its wholesomeness.

Approximately 560 Tignish residents, out of a population of around 700, are eligible to vote either in Saturday’s advance poll or on election day Monday.

SUBMITTED PHOTOS Two people are in the running to be the next mayor of Tignish. Allan McInnis, right, who was elected twice as chairman of the Tignish Community Council, became mayor last year when Tignish became a town. Dryden Buote grew up next door to Tignish and moved into town last year.