B.C. municipal election 2018: Midway results

Martin Fromme has been elected as the mayor of Midway narrowly defeating incumbent Doug McMynn.

Fromme won with 136 votes to McMynn’s 121, according to CivicInfo B.C.

Incumbent councillors Richardson Dunsdon, Darrin Metcalf, Gary Schierbeck were all acclaimed along with newcomer Fred Grouette.

Below is the full list of mayoral and councillor candidates.

Candidates

Mayor:

Martin Fromme

Doug McMynn (incumbent)

Council:

Richard Dunsdon (incumbent)

Fred Grouette

Darrin Metcalf (incumbent)

Gary Schierbeck (incumbent)

Referendum question

Are you in favour of the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary adopting Bylaw No. 1678, 2018 establishing a service for the promotion of watershed management planning in all parts of RDKB Electoral Areas C/Christina Lake, D/Rural Grand Forks, E/West Boundary, City of Grand Forks, City of Greenwood and the Village of Midway, to be known as the Boundary Integrated Watershed Service, which, if approved, will result in an annual overall requisition of up to $160,000 on the net taxable value of land and improvements?

Boundary

Located right along the Canada-U.S. border, about 55 kilometres from Grand Forks is the Village of Midway. It’s located close to the Kettle River and along Highway 3.

Population (2016)

649

History

The area that would encompass the Village of Midway was once used as a hunting ground and a place where early peoples would gather rock rose roots.

Then prospectors, fur trades and settlers came in the 19th century.

The U.S. initially claimed the midway area, but then the treaty of 1846 changed that, setting the 49th parallel as the Canada-U.S. border.

Gold was discovered in Rock Creek in 1859 and that sent American prospectors flooding into the area.

Midway’s first official resident was living there by 1884, and a ranch would later be built that would become the village’s townsite.

There were plans to set up a smelter, but they never materialized.

The town was originally called Boundary City, but that was changed to Midway out of concern that the first name was too close to “Boundary Falls.”

It drew its new name for a number of reasons, including that it was about midway between Marcus, Wash. and Penticton, and that it was about midway between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains.

At the turn of the century, Midway was made the western terminus of the Columbia and Western Railway.

A conflict between the Canadian Pacific Railway and a crew with the Vancouver, Victoria and Eastern Railway (VVE) would erupt into gunfire in 1905, as the latter wanted to run a path to Midway from Spokane, Wash. Eventually, the VVE was built there.

Then, the Kettle Valley Line was completed, running its first passenger train there in 1915. It would run its last passenger train in 1964, but remnants of the railway remain.

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

$94,464/$111,736

Political representation

Federal

Richard Cannings (NDP)

Provincial

Linda Larson (BC Liberal)