Kaschak tops field of eight
For the first time in more than two decades, Ward 8 has a new representative on city council. Gary Kaschak fought off seven challengers in a fight to the finish Monday night to win the seat left vacant by popular longtime councillor Bill Marra. Kaschak couldn’t be reached for comment before press time. He won with 932 votes, or 24 per cent. David Sundin was second in the tight race with 832 votes, or 21 per cent.
This was the only city ward without an incumbent in the race. Marra, the longest-serving member on council, announced in April he was packing it in after 21 years.
The lack of a popular incumbent encouraged eight hopefuls to step up, a tie with Ward 10 for the most candidates. Most of the eight candidates advocated for improving public transit to help attract and maintain jobs. Most candidates also supported investment in roads and sewers to tackle the ongoing flooding issues.
“It was a lot of ground game, a lot of social media,” said Greg Lemay, the fourth-place finisher. “I kind of laugh about this because if there was a book about what you should be doing on your campaign, I kind of went the opposite way. “Things you probably shouldn’t have done, like mention the game of Risk in a CBC interview, or hang out with the competition. I kind of flew by the seat of my pants each day and kind of winged it. I had a lot of fun doing it.”