Bonnie Lewis was elected as mayor of the Town of Allan. (Submitted photo/Bonnie Lewis)

By Angie Rolheiser

Saskatchewan Municipal Election 2020

Town of Allan elects first female mayor

Nov 10, 2020 | 5:55 PM

History was made in rural Saskatchewan last night as part of the 2020 municipal election.

Allan’s newly-elected mayor ‘tick’s off all of the boxes,’ as she put it.

Bonnie Lewis, who is Indigenous and a person of colour, became the first woman to be elected to the office.

“It is a good form to show that diversity in your town so that it welcomes more people of diversity into the town,” Lewis said.

Election evening was a ‘nail-biter’ according to Lewis who has never had the opportunity to be part of the process of a town election.

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Lewis won with 87 votes, while her opponent Justin Gunnarson had 84 votes. Lewis replaces Les Alm who did not seek re-election.

Allan has been home for Lewis since 1996 when she moved to the community east of Saskatoon.

“I gave a lot of thought and entertained the idea of running for council several years ago but found myself a little too busy for it,” Lewis said. “Nothing has changed and I’m still busy but I just decided I’ll let my name stand and here I am.”

She is employed with the Saskatoon Co-op and is very involved with the retail, wholesale department union as the local president and is vice president of the provincial body.

“Those all offer leadership skills which I can apply to the town and help out,” Lewis said.

Seeing more women getting involved in politics and having more diversity is ‘just the way of the world,’ according to Lewis.

“It’s a matter of everyone transforming forward for a better world, or a better town or a better council,” Lewis said.

There aren’t many issues that Lewis can see with the town for the time being other than roads and infrastructure, and said it has been running quite efficiently over the years. Lewis said she is excited to lead the town forward, working with the people she has known for many, many years, and making it an even better place to live.

“Allan has great people, a sense of community around them and that is why I choose to stay here and want to be part of it,” she said.

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angie.rolheiser@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @Angie_Rolheiser