Brantford municipal election, 1982

The 1982 Brantford municipal election was held on November 8, 1982, to elect a mayor, councillors, and school trustees in Brantford, Ontario, Canada. The surrounding rural and small-town municipalities also held elections on the same day.

Results

• Robert MacKeigan said that unemployment was the key issue in the election. He called for Brantford to generate more high-tech jobs.^[1]
• Lenny Kerr was a baker at the time of the election. He called for Brantford to seek loans from the government of Canada and the government of Ontario to target its high unemployment.^[2]

• Daniel O'Regan (died May 20, 2010) moved to Brantford from England in 1971. He served on the executive of Brantford's United Auto Workers local and was president of the Brantford and District Labour Council.^[3] He sought election to the Brant County Board of Education in 1980 without success. In 1982, he ran for council with support from the New Democratic Party and the labour council.^[4] O'Regan was also active with the Brantford Minor Sports Association. He died in 2010 at age sixty-six, after suffering a heart attack.^[5]
• Andrew Sywyk worked with an insulation company in 1982. He campaigned against expensive municipal projects.^[6]

• Mary E. Welsh is a businesswoman, farmer, and prominent volunteer in Brantford. Raised in the city, she attended Queen's University in Kingston in the 1950s. She was elected to the Brant County Board of Education in 1970 and served for six years, finishing at the top of the City of Brantford poll in 1972 and 1974. Welsh was elected to the Brantford City Council for the city's fifth ward in 1980 and was re-elected in 1982; she did not seek re-election in 1985.^[7] She made national headlines in 1987, when a cylinder from a U.S.S.R. rocket landed in her backyard.^[8] Welsh is a founding director of the Brant Waterways Foundation and promoted completion of the Trans-Canada Trail track in Brantford.^[9] She also recommended completion of a YM/YWCA condominium-hotel to promote downtown renewal in 1999,^[10] and she led a movement to rebuild the historical Brantford Collegiate Institute in the 2000s.^[11] Welsh received the 2006 Outstanding Achievement Award for Voluntarism in Ontario,^[12] and she was appointed to the Order of Canada in 2009.^[13]

References

1. ^ Brantford Expositor, 5 November 1982.
2. ^ Brantford Expositor, 5 November 1982.
3. ^ Vincent Ball, "Labour leader 'larger than life,'" Brantford Expositor, 26 May 2010, p. 3. Preserved by the Brantford and District Labour Council.
4. ^ "Layoffs cutbacks white farm," Globe and Mail, 28 August 1992, C2; Brantford Expositor, 2 November 1982, p. 9.
5. ^ Obituary: Daniel O'Regan, Yourlifemoments.ca, accessed 12 November 2010.
6. ^ Brantford Expositor, 2 November 1982, p. 9.
7. ^ Michael-Allan Marion, "Mary Welsh; Tireless champion of civic causes," Brantford Expositor, 2008, accessed 12 November 2010.
8. ^ "Cylinder traced to Soviet craft," Globe and Mail, 22 September 1987, A18.
9. ^ Allison Lawlor, "Comedian raises big money for waterways," Brantford Expositor, 26 May 1999, A1; Michael-Allan Marion, "Completion of trail top priority for foundation," Brantford Expositor, 10 July 1999, A5.
10. ^ Mary Welsh, "Different options for downtown renewal," Brantford Expositor, 23 September 1999, A10.
11. ^ Michael-Allan Marion, "Friel floats proposal for BCI: Mayor says high school could house Brant, military museums," Brantford Expositor, 9 May 2003, A1.
12. ^ "Welsh receives Ontario volunteer award," Brantford Expositor, 28 April 2006, A16.
13. ^ "Former premier David Peterson heads list of 27 given Order of Ontario," Canadian Press, 15 January 2009.