Al McDonald is a politician in Ontario, Canada, who was mayor of North Bay, Ontario from 2010 to 2022. He was previously a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2002 to 2003, and ran unsuccessfully for the Conservative Party of Canada in the 2004 federal election.
Al McDonald | |
|---|---|
| 42nd Mayor of North Bay, Ontario | |
| In office December 1, 2010 – November 15, 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Vic Fedeli |
| Succeeded by | Peter Chirico |
| Ontario MPP | |
| In office 2002–2003 | |
| Preceded by | Mike Harris |
| Succeeded by | Monique Smith |
| Constituency | Nipissing |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Marville, France |
| Political party | Progressive Conservative |
| Residence(s) | North Bay, Ontario, Canada |
Background
Politics
McDonald was politically active on North Bay City Council before entering provincial politics, serving as the deputy mayor of that city for a time. He also served on the North Bay Economic Development Commission, the North Bay Police Services Board, and other local programs.
When former Premier Mike Harris resigned as the member for Nipissing in early 2002, McDonald won the Progressive Conservative nomination to replace him. In a by-election held on May 2, 2002, he defeated Liberal candidate George Maroosis, also a city councillor, by 19 votes, as confirmed by a recount.[2] McDonald served as a backbench supporter of new Premier Ernie Eves.
His tenure in office was brief. The Liberals won a majority government in the provincial election of 2003, and McDonald lost his seat to Liberal candidate Monique Smith by about 3,000 votes.[3]
In the federal election of 2004, McDonald ran for the Conservatives in the redistributed riding of Nipissing—Timiskaming, but lost to Liberal Anthony Rota by 2,253 votes.[4]
On August 26, 2010 McDonald announced his intention to run for mayor of North Bay in the 2010 municipal election.[5] He won 87 per cent of the vote on election day over challengers Valerie Chadbourne and Harvey Villneff.[6] He was elected to a second term as mayor in the 2014 municipal election.
Electoral record
| Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Al McDonald | 13,708 | 86.62 | |
| Valerie Chadbourne | 1,549 | 9.79 | |
| Harvey Villneff | 569 | 3.60 | |
| 2004 Canadian federal election | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |||||
| Liberal | Anthony Rota | 18,254 | 42.3% | |||||
| Conservative | Al McDonald | 16,001 | 37.1% | |||||
| New Democratic | Dave Fluri | 7,354 | 17.0% | |||||
| Green | Les Wilcox | 1,329 | 3.1% | |||||
| Canadian Action | Ross MacLean | 204 | 0.5% | |||||
| Total valid votes | 43,142 | 100% | ||||||
| Total rejected ballots | 222 | |||||||
| Turnout | 43,364 | 62.4% | ||||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | Monique Smith | 18,003 | 49.84 | +6.70 | |
| Progressive Conservative | Al McDonald | 14,978 | 41.47 | -8.95 | |
| New Democratic | Terry O'Connor | 2,613 | 7.23 | +2.37 | |
| Green | Jaimie Board | 528 | 1.46 | +0.51 | |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Progressive Conservative | Al McDonald | 13,989 | 45.54 | -4.88 | |
| Liberal | George Maroosis | 13,970 | 45.48 | +2.34 | |
| New Democratic | Wendy Young | 1,821 | 5.93 | +1.07 | |
| Green | Todd Lucier | 940 | 3.06 | +2.11 | |
References
- ^ "City Council Biography - Inside City Hall - City of North Bay". Archived from the original on 2012-04-20. Retrieved 2012-07-08.
- ^ "Recount confirms Tory won Nipissing byelection". The Windsor Star. May 16, 2002. p. B1.
- ^ "Summary of Valid Ballots by Candidate". Elections Ontario. October 2, 2003. Archived from the original on January 7, 2015. Retrieved 2014-03-02.
- ^ "Nipissing - Timiskaming - Canada Votes". CBC.ca. 2011. Retrieved 2012-07-09.
- ^ "McDonald credits existing council". North Bay Nugget. August 30, 2010. Archived from the original on September 24, 2013.
- ^ "McDonald in a landslide". North Bay Nugget. October 26, 2010. Archived from the original on September 7, 2012.