CORNWALL, Ontario – A familiar face will be returning to the Cornwall Council table. Denis Carr who has served multiple terms on Cornwall City Council across four decades will be back to fill a vacancy left by Glen Grant.
Grant was appointed Mayor of Cornwall in July to replace Bernadette Clement, who herself was appointed to the Senate of Canada in June.
Cornwall City Council officially declared Grant’s council seat to be vacant at their Aug. 9 meeting and by a vote of six-to-four decided to fill the vacancy with the person who got the next most votes in the 2018 election without winning a seat, that person being Carr.
Council was presented with two other options to fill the vacancy, including holding a by-election or “Option C” would which allow Council to appoint any other eligible member of the community.
Councillor Carilyne Hébert advocated for Option C.
“We would be best served by going to the community for an application process. It can be a four week process. It doesn’t have to be lengthy,” she said.
Other members of Council pointed out that the way the council vacancy was being filled was inconsistent with the way that the mayoral vacancy was filled. For the mayoral vacancy Council did not appoint the person who got the next most amount of votes in the 2018 election, David Murphy.
Carr confirmed on Tuesday that he had received and accepted the invitation to fill the council vacancy and would be sworn in at the first meeting in September.
This is not the first time that Carr has been brought in to fill a council vacancy. During the 2014 to 2018 term of Council Carr was again brought in to fill the vacancy left by Brock Frost.
In an interview with Seaway News Carr said that he was excited to get to work and had a range of issues that he felt needed focus, including housing, and the further development of the East End and Le Village area.
“I would like to see from Gray’s Creek to the (Seaway International) bridge a whole boardwalk that shows what Cornwall was really all about,” he said.
Carr was first elected to Cornwall City Council in 1986. The Mayor at the time was Brian Lynch.
