Susan Swan has narrowly grabbed the mayoral seat of Clinton with one vote. She earned 121 votes, edging out Roland Stanke who earned 120 votes. Candidates Diana Guerin and Ira Zbarsky earned 81 votes and 11 votes respectively, according to CivicInfo BC.
Incumbent councillor David A. Park was re-elected along with newcomers Sandra Burrage, Christine Rivett, and Kim McIlravey.
Below is the full list of mayoral and councillor candidates in Clinton.
Candidates
Mayor:
Diana Guerin
Roland Stanke
Susan Swan
Ira Zbarsky
Council:
Sandra Burrage
Kim McIlravey
Theodore Pappas
Laura Paquette
David A. Park (incumbent)
Christine Rivett
Cynthia Robinson
David R. Tapping
Boundary
The tiny village of Clinton can be found along Highway 97, just east of Marble Range and Edge Hills Provincial Parks. It’s just over 100 kilometres from Lillooet.
Population (2016)
641
History
Clinton once formed part of a region where the Shuswap Nation hunted and fished before exploration and development by Europeans began in the 19th century.
Back then, Clinton was a place where the Cariboo Wagon Road from the Fraser Canyon and the Cariboo Trail from Lillooet connected, in a location known as the “Junction.”
There was a roadhouse in that spot, and it helped to create a “boomtown” that Queen Victoria named after a colonial secretary in 1863.
Gold mining drove the economy there, then cattle ranching took over.
From Clinton, the Harper brothers conducted the longest cattle drive in Canadian history as they looked to herd cows to Salt Lake City, then San Francisco. The drive took three years.
The Pacific Great Eastern Railway stirred Clinton’s economy in the early 1900s, and forestry became a driver in the 1950s, with sawmills and bushmills established in the area.
Last summer, the Village of Clinton was the subject of an evacuation order as it sat between two wildfires on opposite sites of Highway 97.
Median total income of couple economic families with children (2015)/B.C. median
$110,080/$111,736
Political representation
Federal
Cathy McLeod (Conservative)
Provincial
Jackie Tegart (BC Liberal)