The 2003 Brantford municipal election was held on November 10, 2003, to elect a

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

, city councillors, and school trustees in the city of

Brantford Brantford ( 2021 population: 104,688) is a city in Ontario, Canada, founded on the Grand River in Southwestern Ontario. It is surrounded by Brant County but is politically separate with a municipal government of its own that is fully indep ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

. Mike Hancock narrowly defeated incumbent Chris Friel in the mayoral contest, winning by only fifteen votes. Despite the close margin, Friel decided not to seek a recount.

Results

*Randy Tooke was thirty-one years old during the election and owned a café in Brantford. He focused his campaign around a call for downtown revitalization to benefit small-business owners. {{2003 Brantford municipal election/Councillor, Ward Five (two members elected) *Wally Lucente was born and raised in Brantford. He first ran for the Brantford City Council in

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with support from the

Brantford and District Labour Council The Brantford and District Labour Council is a labour council in Brantford, Ontario, chartered by the Canadian Labour Congress The Canadian Labour Congress, or CLC ( or ), is a national trade union centre, the central labour body in Canada to whi ...

; he was thirty years old at the time and worked for the provincial labour ministry. Defeated on that occasion, he was elected in

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

, and

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. During his time on council, he chaired Brantford's police services board; waterfront advisory committee; Mohawk Lake committee; and engineering, public works and community services committee. In 2001, he raised the option of a combined municipal police force for Brantford and neighbouring

Brant County The County of Brant (2021 population 39,474) is a single-tier municipality in the Canadian province of Ontario. Although it retains the word "county" in its name, the municipality is a single-tier municipal government and has no upper tier. The C ...

. While he often had poor relations with his fellow ward councillor Marguerite Ceschi-Smith, he nonetheless supported her downtown

brownfield Brownfield is previously-developed land that has been abandoned or underused, and which may carry pollution, or a risk of pollution, from industrial use. The specific definition of brownfield land varies and is decided by policy makers and l ...

rehabilitation program in 2002. When Lucente ran for re-election in 2003, he said that he wanted to see the Brantford Southern Access Road through to completion. During the 2003 election, local journalist Tim Philp described him as a "good councillor" who "carries out his duties but contributes little useful to council discussions." After his defeat, he continued working for the provincial labour ministry and chaired the Brant County Police Services Board as a citizen member. *Charles "Skip" Pennell is best known as a tourism supporter in Brantford. He was active with the Pine Tree Native Centre in the 1990s and early 2000s and was the project coordinator for Kanata, a replica seventeenth-century

Iroquois The Iroquois ( ), also known as the Five Nations, and later as the Six Nations from 1722 onwards; alternatively referred to by the Endonym and exonym, endonym Haudenosaunee ( ; ) are an Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Ind ...

village that opened in 2000. The village won an award for Best New Tourism Attraction in Ontario and was runner-up for Best New Attraction of Canada. Pennell has also chaired Brantford's tourism advisory board. He was fifty-one years old when he ran for council; he said that he respected incumbent councillors Marguerite Ceschi-Smith and Wally Lucente and was running to offer another voice.Michael-Allan Marion, "City voters will have choices for council," ''Brantford Expositor'', 26 September 2003, A6. ''Source: Vincent Ball, "Council table shake up: Four new faces elected by Brantford voters wanting change," ''Brantford Expositor'', 11 November 2003, A3.''

References

2003 Ontario municipal elections

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...