August 21, 2026

Jen Wilkinson, FEO

Fort Erie residents will know by the end of today whether there will be any last-minute changes to the list of candidates for the Oct. 26 municipal and school board election.

The deadline for candidates to file a nomination or withdraw from a race is 2 p.m. today, Friday, Aug. 21. According to the Town of Fort Erie, no nominations or withdrawals can be accepted after that time.

There have been no new candidates registered for mayor or Town Council since the Fort Erie Observer’s last election update. The mayoral race remains a four-way contest between Wayne Redekop, Tom Insinna, Juan Liu and Mike Campbell.

There have, however, been changes to the school board races.

Owen Riel has withdrawn from the English Language Public District School Board race. Susan Jovanovic remains in the race, while Keith Sutherland filed his nomination on Aug. 20, meaning the position remains contested.

The English Language Catholic District School Board continues to have one candidate, Danny DiLorenzo.

The French Language Public School Board (Conseil Scolaire Viamonde) has three registered candidates: Amanda Leduc, Marcel Tikeng and Matthew Julian Graham.

Jean Max Philome, who filed Aug. 17, is currently the sole registered candidate for the French Language Catholic School Board (Conseil Scolaire Catholique MonAvenir).

While today marks the end of nominations and withdrawals, the candidate list is not officially certified until Monday. The Town has until 4 p.m. Aug. 24 to certify the nomination papers, after which any acclamations will be declared.

The Fort Erie Observer will provide a final update once the certified candidate list is available.