POUCE COUPE -- When the votes were counted for the mayor's race in Pouce Coupe, Danielle Veach beat incumbent Mayor Lorraine Michetti by only five votes.
In a tight four-way race Veach finished with 84 votes while Michetti finished with 79. William Plowright finished in third place with 53 votes and Edmond Boyer was fourth with 45.
Marcel Woodill was the only incumbent to keep his seat. He will be joined on council by Kurits Rabel, James Wall and Raymond Johnston.
Veach was elected in a by-election and sworn in last October. One of the first motions she put forward was to remove Mayor Michetti from her portfolios for a second time. The motion was passed by council.
This came after Michetti was stripped of her responsibilities earlier that year, after she compared gun owners to Holocaust victims and allegedly made racist comments about Indigenous people.
On both occasions, Michetti sued the village and had her responsibilities restored by the Supreme Court.
Michetti’s initial controversial comments were greeted with swift reaction from local political leaders. The Peace River Regional District, the District of Taylor, and the Mayor of Fort St. John all denounced her behavior.
Last fall, Michetti attracted further controversy when she claimed the media was lying about people in hospital with COVID-19. BC’s Health Minister Adrian Dix denounced her comments.
