Chapleau Council Orders Recount

A recount has been ordered for some of Chapleau's municipal election results.

At the request of a former candidate, Chapleau Town Council last night ordered a recount of the councillor results, which had shown a four-vote margin between councillor-elect (a former councillor and Chapleau High School's acting vice principal) Lisi Bernier - who had 496 - and Our Lady of Fatima elementary school principal Natalie Tessier, who just missed a seat on Council with 492 votes.

Current councillor Rick Smith - who was appointed in January 2017 - received 681 votes, followed by incumbent Gerard Bernier with 642, then Chapleau Public School Principal Nicolle Schuurman with 548, while local teacher Alex Lambruschini also failed to win a seat on Council, with 466 votes.

That recount is set to begin Wednesday, with results expected by the end of the week.

Council also ordered a recount of the French separate school board trustee results: those showed incumbent Garry Bruneau win by 276 votes to 273 for challenger Luc Tessier.

As the trustee represents not only Chapleau but also Wawa, White River, and unorganized territory in the region, each community will need to recount their results.

The recount order does set a 15-day limit on getting results.

Recounts could still be requested after that time - election rules set a 30-day limit after official election results are released, which would mean recounts could be requested up to November 22nd - that could either be sent to Council to approve, or a judge.