Flin Flon has elected a pair of familiar faces back to city council.
The two winners of the May 12 byelection, as confirmed by City of Flin Flon election officials, are Bill Hanson and Leslie Beck. Hanson received the most votes in the byelection, getting his name on 388 ballots, while Beck got 283 votes - just enough to pip Tom Therien, who finished third with 255 votes and Carrie Hume, who received 242 votes.
Both Hanson and Beck are former city councillors and will join Mayor Cal Huntley and councillors Colleen Arnold, Tim Babcock, Karen MacKinnon and Ken Pawlachuk until November 2022. The two newly elected councillors will fill seats formerly held by Colleen McKee - who sat as a city councillor from 2006 until her death in 2020 following a battle with cancer - and Barry Kreller, who was elected to Flin Flon council in a Oct. 2020 byelection before stepping down from council in March for personal reasons.
Hanson, who received the most votes, was first elected to city council in 1992, leaving after one term before running again and winning in 2002. Hanson held that seat again until he stepped down from council in 2018. Hanson works as a carpenter, general repairman and trades lead with the Northern Health Region and is currently the chair of the Flin Flon Public Library board.
Hanson's election will give him his sixth term as a Flin Flon city councillor.
Beck, a former RCMP officer and service provider for the Northern Manitoba Mining Academy, was first elected to city council in 2014, stepping down midway through her first term to run for the Manitoba Liberal Party in Flin Flon in the 2016 provincial election. Beck finished third in the Flin Flon riding in that election.
During the campaign, Beck also announced intentions to run for mayor in Flin Flon in the next full local election, currently slated for November 2022. Beck has previously sought the City's top seat, running for it in 2010, finishing third.
The Reminder has spoken to both candidates about their wins - comments and quotes from both Beck and Hanson will be added to this story Thursday.
More to come...
