Re: "Losing her way to the top not a win for Heron," Letters, The Gazette, Oct. 27.
In reading JD Lavender’s claims that Mayor Cathy Heron "lost" her way to getting re-elected, I have to offer my commentary on what is apparent to even the most amateur review of the mayor-race results, namely that Lavender is spewing utter nonsense.
How so? Well, how about these gems:
Lavender claims that six out of every 10 voters decided Heron was not the person best suited to be mayor. Maybe, but an even greater number of voters decided that all of her competitors were not suited to be mayor either. They all "lost" even more than Heron did.
Another factor Lavender neglects is that Heron faced three opponents in this race. In competitive races with a lot of candidates, it’s not unusual for the winner to get less than half the vote when their opponents run strong campaigns. Next door in Edmonton, new Mayor Amarjeet Sohi only got 45 per cent of the vote. By Lavender’s logic, that means more than five out of every 10 voters rejected Sohi as their mayor. Is a candidate’s victory only legitimate if they get 50 per cent or more of the vote?
Sorry, that’s not how elections work in Canada.
According to the City of St. Albert's official election results, some 17,794 people voted in this election. If we look at the election results for council, Sheena Hughes came in first overall with 7,813 votes, or just under 44 per cent. According to Lavender's logic, that means more than 56 per cent of the voters apparently decided they didn’t want Hughes on council. That proportion goes up with each councillor who got fewer votes than Hughes did.
Should we be worried everybody on our new council was rejected by a majority of the population? Of course not, because that’s a ridiculous claim. But Lavender’s claim is just as ridiculous. The election was simply competitive with a lot of people running.
Heron and our incoming councillors all won. It’s as simple as that.
Jared Milne, St. Albert
