Newmarket Ward 2 councillor candidate Bill Kukulewich gets by with a little help from his friends.
The longtime resident and paralegal, who is running on a platform of improving services and keeping an eye on taxes, received an endorsement this week from childhood friend and former Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper.
“I have known Bill for over 50 years going back to childhood, and I have had many opportunities to spend time with him and his family. Bill is smart, hardworking, sincere and ethical. He would make a fine Councillor for Ward 2 Newmarket,” signed The Right Honourable Stephen J. Harper.
Harper, who was Canada's prime minister from 2006 to 2015, has been back in the news with the upcoming Oct. 9 release of his book, Right Here, Right Now: Politics and Leadership in the Age of Disruption.
Kukulewich said he didn’t ask Harper for the endorsement, it was something he offered to do after the pair chatted about Kukulewich’s civic ambitions.
“I was so, so humbled by Stephen’s endorsement. I’m so touched by it. He’s just that kind of guy. I’m speechless,” Kukulewich said.
Kukulewich and Harper first met as children in elementary school, where they both lived in the same Leaside neighbourhood in Toronto, he said. As the years went on, they lost touch but reconnected in 2003.
“We’ve been in constant contact ever since,” said Kukulewich, adding their respective families get together usually once or twice a year.
Harper’s endorsement was posted in the 390-member Newmarket Votes group on Facebook and drew a mixed review of comments, mostly positive and congratulatory.
Ward 1 councillor-candidate Grace Simon said, “Congratulations, Bill! What an incredible endorsement.” On the other hand, Ward 2 challenger Victor Woodhouse wrote, with a smile, “It won’t change my mind. Still voting for the other candidate.”
On the spectrum of political endorsements, Harper’s is a nice thing one does for a friend when you respect and support them and know their character, Kukulewich said.
The municipal election is Oct. 22 and you must be on the municipal voters list before you can vote, so visit Vote Newmarket to register and learn more. You'll be voting online or by telephone for the first time this year as the town has scrapped paper ballots.
Incumbent Ward 2 Councillor Dave Kerwin is not seeking re-election. The Ward 2 candidates are Bill Kukulewich (http://electbill.ca/) and Victor Woodhouse (https://victorwoodhouse.ca/).
