By Joel van der Veen
July 23, 2010

CRAIK - The residents of Craik elected Garry Gilbertson to fill the vacant seat on town council in a byelection on Wednesday.

Gilbertson, 69, a semi-retired mechanic who has lived in Craik for 23 years, won in a landslide, capturing 103 ballots or about 63 per cent of the total vote. He ran against three other candidates: former town administrator Shirley Eade, small business owner Sarah Needham, and semi-retired truck driver and handyman Ron Thys.

The results of the vote were declared Thursday morning by town administrator Jeff Murray. The election was held to replace former councillor Brian Skeet, who moved to Edmonton, Alta.

Speaking to The Davidson Leader on July 23, Gilbertson said he wanted to thank his fellow citizens for electing him.

"I'll do my best to look into their grievances at council meetings," he said. "That's about all I can say."

Gilbertson formerly lived in Viceroy, Sask., where he served as mayor. He also unsuccessfully ran as a candidate for mayor of Craik in a previous election.

He will join Connie Nielson, Aaron McRae, Vern Luther, Craig Watt and Richard Bisson, who currently serve on council along with Mayor Rick Rogers.

Rogers said he has known Gilbertson for over 20 years and looks forward to working with him on council.

"I congratulated him this morning," he said Thursday. "He'll do well."

Rogers noted he was pleased with the turnout at the polling station, but was surprised at the election results, as he believed the other candidates also deserved the position.

"The other people were very capable too," he said. "It's good to see they're interested in becoming councillors."

Out of 162 votes cast, Eade received 42, Thys received 10, and Needham received seven. There were no spoiled or cancelled ballots.

The leaderonline is a division of The Davidson Leader, Davidson, Saskatchewan, Canada.