Basil L. Stewart is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

served as the

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 ...

Summerside, Prince Edward Island Summerside is a Canadian city in Prince County, Prince Edward Island, Prince County, Prince Edward Island. It is the second largest city in the province and the primary service centre for the western part of the island. History Summerside was ...

from 2018 to 2022. He previously served as mayor from 1985 to 2014 and as the president of the Canadian Federation of Municipalities in 2009–2010. Stewart was defeated in the 2014 Summerside mayoral election by Bill Martin. He returned to office, winning the 2018 Summerside mayoral election, but lost his bid for re-election in 2022.

Before mayorship

Before his election as mayor, Stewart was a police officer for the Summerside Police Department from 1971 to 1984, when he retired from the force.

Mayorship

After his retirement from the police force, Stewart entered municipal politics, being elected mayor of the Town of Summerside in 1985. He was re-elected in 1988 and 1991. In 1994, he became the first mayor of the now City of Summerside (Summerside formerly being a town). He was re-elected in the municipal elections held in 1997, 2000, 2003, 2006 and 2010. In

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

, Stewart ran in a federal election as the Progressive Conservative candidate for the riding of Egmont. He was defeated by then-incumbent

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

Joe McGuire Joseph Blair McGuire, (born June 20, 1944) is a retired Canadian politician. A native of in Morell, Prince Edward Island, he served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the riding of Egmont from 1988 to 2008. A member of the Liberal Party ...

, who won with a plurality of approximately 3,700 votes. He was accused of wasting $1.3 million of taxpayers' money, which was forwarded as a purported deposit towards a Michael Jackson tribute concert that never ended up happening, "In January 2011, the city filed a complaint with the United States District Court, Northern District of California, San Jose Division, for fraud, conspiracy to commit fraud, negligent misrepresentation and rescission (rescinding) of a contract against Katrina Berg Sussmeier and Starlink Productions Inc." At the 2014 Summerside mayoral election, Bill Martin, a Summerside businessman, was elected mayor with a vote of 4614 compared to Stewart's 2092, thus ending Stewart's 29-year run as mayor of Summerside.

Goals and objectives

Stewart has been instrumental in drawing large tournaments and events, such as the Canadian PeeWee Baseball Championship, the Canadian Women's Softball Championship, and an exhibition

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

game to the city. He was also a major force behind the construction of the

Consolidated Credit Union Place Consolidated Credit Union Place (formerly known as the ''Summerside Wellness Centre'') is a multi purpose facility that opened in two stages in April 2006 in Summerside, Prince Edward Island, Canada. It contains an aquatics centre, meeting and ...

Other associations

Stewart is also a member of various associations. He is the President of the

Federation of Canadian Municipalities The Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM, ''Fédération canadienne des municipalités'') is an advocacy group representing over 2000 Canadian municipalities. It is an organization with no formal power but significant ability to influence ...

, and a member of the Federation of Prince Edward Island Municipalities, and National Board of Directors to Sustainable Municipal Infrastructure. In the past, he was also served as Chair of Atlantic Caucus in 1998 and Chair of National Economic Development Committee from 1998–2000. In 2015, he was named to the

National Capital Commission The National Capital Commission (NCC; , CCN) is the Crown corporation responsible for development, urban planning, and conservation in Canada's Capital Region (Ottawa, Ontario and Gatineau, Quebec), including administering most lands and build ...

. In 2017, Stewart was named to the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

Lawsuit against David Griffin

Mayor Stewart and city council of Summerside filed a lawsuit against Deputy Police Chief David Griffin in 1997. The case is still in the courts as of October 2010 appealing the payment of interest on the damages owed to Griffin based on a judgement in March 2006 by Supreme Court Justice Wayne Cheverie who ruled in favour of Griffin in his malicious prosecution suit against the city.

Family and interests

Stewart lives in Summerside with his wife, Gail Inman-Stewart. He has two children—Mary-Jane (Steve) Dyer and Major (Holly Peters) Stewart. Stewart also has four granddaughters — Mya Stewart and Amber, Emma and Madison Dyer. He has four grandsons- Brett, Isaac and Joseph Stewart, and Lincoln Dyer. His interests include

hockey ''Hockey'' is a family of List of stick sports, stick sports where two opposing teams use hockey sticks to propel a ball or disk into a goal. There are many types of hockey, and the individual sports vary in rules, numbers of players, apparel, ...

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

, and

music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...

(he plays

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica incl ...

fiddle A fiddle is a Bow (music), bowed String instrument, string musical instrument, most often a violin or a bass. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including European classical music, classical music. Althou ...

, and

mandolin A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...

). Baw Basil also likes the water street bakery.

Electoral record

References

External links

Mayor Basil Stewart bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, Basil Year of birth missing (living people) Canadian police officers Living people Mayors of Summerside, Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island candidates for Member of Parliament Progressive Conservative Party of Canada candidates for the Canadian House of Commons Candidates in the 1993 Canadian federal election Members of the Order of Canada 20th-century mayors of places in Prince Edward Island 21st-century mayors of places in Prince Edward Island