‘Best Job in the World’: Tolmie Steps Down as Mayor of Moose Jaw

Describing it as the “best job in the world” Fraser Tolmie bid farewell to city council on Tuesday night.

Tolmie made it official during a special city council meeting that he will be stepping down as the mayor of Moose Jaw to focus on his federal election campaign.

In his resignation letter, Tolmie said he would be vacating the mayor’s office effective 12:01 Wednesday morning.

The resignation will end nearly five years of Tolmie in the mayor’s office. He was first elected as mayor on Oct. 31, 2016, and was re-elected for a second term this past November. Tolmie was elected as a city councillor in 2009 prior it becoming mayor.

Tolmie looked back on when he was first elected as mayor.

“In 2016, being elected we were a community that was going through a referendum concerning the funding of our cast iron water main replacement. We found a solution. This community, what they were really saying at that time was that they wanted to be a community that was united,” he said.

According to the Local Government Election Act, 2015, a by-election must now be held within six months of the vacancy.

Regardless of the outcome, Tolmie said that the city will be in good hands with the current council.

“We’ve got a good council that is going to carry the ball and the people of this community have put their confidence in, not only myself but in those people and it’s a real privilege,” he said.

Details about the by-election will go before city council during its Aug. 23 meeting, where council will be required to set a date to elect a new mayor.

Below is his farewell speech to city council: