Natasha Salonen becomes first female mayor of Wilmot in dramatic council overhaul

In a dramatic overhaul, Wilmot voters have elected an entirely new township council – all of whom are newcomers to municipal politics.

The change starts at the top with Natasha Salonen elected mayor, beating out current councillor Jenn Pfenning to become the first woman to ever hold the seat.

“I am really excited to hit the ground running,” Salonen said Tuesday, the day after the election.

The outgoing Wilmot council had been riddled with tension, with some councillors butting head with retiring mayor Les Armstrong. Armstrong – according to the integrity commissioner – violated codes of conduct for the region and the township when he shared a video titled “white lives matter. BLM (Black Lives Matter) exposed” in June, 2020.

But when push came to votes, the people spoke.

None of the running incumbents were re-elected, and five of the six candidates endorsed by Armstrong won.

“That was coming from the people, the people have decided that they weren't happy with what went on over the last four years, and I don’t blame them because I wasn’t impressed with it either,” he said.

Former Ward 4 councillor Jen Pfenning lost her mayoral bid against Salonen.

Salonen said one of the top things she heard at the door was frustration at council’s decision to scrap the controversial Prime Minister’s Path project in Baden.

“Probably at about 60 per cent of the doors, that came up in some capacity, and again going back to people not feeling that their voices were heard,” she said.

In Ward 1, Stewart Cressman beat incumbent Angie Hallman.

“The electorate is never wrong, I guess,” Cressman said. “I think there was some discontent.”

The Ward 2 seat will be filled by Kris Wilkinson, who received more than double the votes of incumbent Cheryl Gordijk.

Wilkinson said affordability was the number one issue he heard at the door.

“How we can impact people’s cost of living and affordability to make it a little bit better for them, and ultimately start healing the divide here,” he explained.

Harvir Sidhu won the empty Ward 3 seat.

The two Ward 4 seats went to Steven Martin and Lillianne Dunstall.

“The first step would be getting to know the other council members,” Martin said. “I think if we can work together as a team we can be more effective and efficient.”