THUNDER BAY – Coun. Brian McKinnon will not be running for reelection in 2022, putting an end to a more than 15-year run as the councillor for the Red River Ward.
McKinnon has held the ward since he was first elected in 2006.
“This has been a difficult decision, but circumstances have dictated that I think it’s the best thing for me and my family,” he said during brief remarks at a Monday city council meeting.
Mayor Bill Mauro said McKinnon had “touched the community in a variety of important ways” as a councillor, and in years of work as an educator and volunteer.
“That’s a very long time to serve the community in the role of public service – a very difficult job that I think everybody around the table acknowledges is just getting more difficult to be in the public eye,” Mauro said.
The mayor highlighted McKinnon’s work driving forward waterfront development, and on the police services board.
McKinnon, a one-time candidate provincially for the Ontario Conservatives, had taken a leave from council for personal reasons earlier this year.
Incumbent Couns. Cody Fraser and Rebecca Johnson have also announced they will not run in 2022.
