Sharie Minions was elected mayor with 32.3 per cent of the vote on Saturday. Four years ago, Mike Ruttan defeated John Douglas by a count of 1891 votes to 1460 votes. Douglas had served as mayor from 2011 to 2014.
Ron Corbeil, Debbie Haggard, Ron Paulson, Helen Poon, Cindy Solda and Dan Washington were elected councillors.
Candidates
Mayor
Mike Ruttan (incumbent)
Sharie M Minions (elected)
Gary E Robertson
Denis E Sauve
Kevin A Wright
Council
Christopher J Alemany (incumbent)
Aaron C Brevick
Hira L Chopra
Ron M Corbeil (elected)
Seva K Dhaliwal
Rick D Ethier
Debbie J Haggard (elected)
Karl E Hamagishi
Jerome E Luchka
Michael G Moore
Todd G Patola
Char A Patterson
Kris M Patterson
Ron A Paulson (incumbent and elected)
Matthew D Pearson
Helen Poon (elected)
Blain Pouliot
Helen R Robertson
Cindy N Solda (elected)
Dan W Washington (incumbent and elected)
Boundary
Port Alberni is a Vancouver Island community that can be found on Alberni Inlet. It’s located about 50 kilometres from Parksville.
Population (2016)
17,678
History
The Nuu-chah-nulth people, specifically the Tseshaht and the Hupacasath, were first to the area that would one day be known as Port Alberni.
Nuu-chah-nulth translates as “all along the mountains and sea.”
And they were there when the Spanish set up a fort in 1789, and then started trading with the Nuu-chah-nulth.
Settlement began in earnest in the 1880s amid the growth of the forestry industry.
The town of Port Alberni was incorporated after the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway arrived in 1912.
It would amalgamate with Alberni, a sister community, in 1967.
Port Alberni’s forest industry would attract big names such as MacMillan Bloedel and the Rockefellers before it went into decline.
The city would see major waves following the 1964 Alaskan earthquake, which shook so hard it would create a tsunami.
No one was killed, but homes were lost.
Median total income of couple economic families with children (2015)/B.C. median
$93,376/$111,736
Crime Severity Index (CSI) — 2016
RCMP — municipal/B.C.
136.84 (+11.62)/93.63 (-0.71)
RCMP — rural/B.C.
47.99 (-1.34)/93.63 (-0.71)
Violent Crime Severity Index (CSI) — 2016
RCMP — municipal/B.C.
180.72 (47.65)/74.86 (-9.81)
RCMP — rural/B.C.
35.62 (-5.67)/74.86 (-9.81)
Political representation
Federal
Gord Johns (NDP)
Provincial
Scott Fraser (BC NDP)