B.C. municipal election 2018: Ashcroft results

Barbara Roden has been elected mayor of Ashcroft. She won with 319 votes, beating out Sandy Agatiello and Alf Trill who earned 283 votes and 138 votes respectively, according to unofficial results from CivicInfo BC.

Marilyn Anderson, Jonah Anstett, Nadine Davenport and Debbie Tuohey were elected to council.

Below is the full list of mayoral and councillor candidates in Ashcroft.

Candidates

Mayor:

Sandy Agatiello

Barbara Roden

Alf Trill

Council:

Marilyn Anderson

Jonah Anstett

Nadine Davenport

Carolee Lizee

Debbie Tuohey

Boundary

The Thompson River runs right through Ashcroft, a village on desert terrain in B.C.’s Interior. The Highland Valley Road takes you out of Ashcroft and into Elephant Hill Provincial Park, the site of a devastating wildfire that burned almost 200,000 hectares in the summer of 2017.

Population (2016)

1,558

History

“Mile zero” is how Ashcroft was known in the 1800s, as prospectors made their way to the Cariboo gold fields after a trip on the Canadian Pacific Railway.

Ashcroft was where prospectors offloaded their supplies, and it was a place that became a hub of activity with blacksmiths, stables, warehouses and wheel and harness repair shops.

The village was prosperous up until 1920, when the Pacific Great Eastern Railway provided access between Prince George and the Northern Interior to Alberta, taking away Ashcroft’s strategic position.

Ashcroft burned under what’s known as the “Great Fire” of 1916, and residents had to be creative. They poured water onto the soil between the hills, a place where almost anything could grow under the region’s baking hot sun.

The village became the focal point of wildfire activity in the summer of 2017, after the Elephant Hill wildfire burned an estimated 191,865 hectares.

Median total income of couple economic families with children (2015)/B.C. median

$111,232/$111,736

Political representation

Federal

Jati Sidhu (Liberal)

Provincial

Jackie Tegart (BC Liberal)