New Mayor and Council Sworn in

June 7, 2021, at the Brundage Point River Centre, the Swearing in Ceremony for the 2021-2025 Council took Place. Brittany Merrifield (Mayor), Erin M. Toole (Deputy Mayor), Jim Balcomb (Councillor) John Balemans (Councillor), Beverley Day (Councillor) and Stephanie McIntosh Lawrence (Councillor) took the oath of office. Due to COVID-19 restrictions the Special Council Meeting was closed to public attendance and was live streamed to the Town’s YouTube channel.

The new Mayor and Council will hold their first official Regular Council Meeting on Monday, June 14, 2021.

Read Mayor Merrifield’s remarks: Mayor’s Remarks

Learn more about Mayor and Council by reading their bios Here

Acknowledging the service of Former Mayor and Council.

With this swearing in, former Council members, who has served Grand Bay-Westfield for the last 5 years, have stepped down. At this time of change the Town of Grand Bay-Westfield would like to take the time to appreciate those who have spent the past several years working to improve the Town. Former Councillors have many great accomplishments that led to advancements in municipal projects. Over the past several years, they have worked towards building a better community, and now as they leave their time in local public office behind, the community is invited to reflect on their hard work.

For former Councillor Stephen Evans, his work with the Town is a great source of pride for him, the advancements in recreational facilities while still maintaining the feeling of a small town are a particular highlight. Similarly, previous Council member Ryan Snodgrass is honoured to have taken part in building recreational facilities with children in mind, inspired by his own young family. Councillor Beverly Day, who is continuing with the new council, is proud to have been involved with improving road and sidewalk conditions as well as creating a new municipality plan. While decisions made were not always perfect, former Councillors Evans and Snodgrass leave regretting the lack of communication with the Town. Evans additionally feels he would have wanted to be more aggressive while developing the Town. Despite this, former Mayor Grace Losier is confident that a strong foundation has been built for the new council, and that these mistakes were necessary to learn and move forward even stronger. She also noted that she is proud of the investments in infrastructure which will be there for future generations to enjoy, and that their investments have helped to cultivate a richer community.

As the Town moves forward, our new Council is looking to continue improving through building on the steps taken by past councils. While Grand Bay-Westfield looks forward to future projects and achievements, it is important to take the time to appreciate the work done in the past. Thank you for taking a moment to appreciate the hard work done by the Councillors who have served our community these past years.