You can officially remove the "acting" tag from Ben Hendriksen's mayoral title.

Hendriksen has been appointed as the city鈥檚 mayor for the remainder of this council鈥檚 term. It happened during a special council meeting at city hall on Monday afternoon to discuss what to do to fill the role.

He will be officially sworn in at the next regular council meeting on May 12.

He had been serving as acting mayor since Rebecca Alty took a leave of absence to campaign federally for the Liberals. Her win on April 28 meant that she could no longer be mayor and she resigned shortly afterwards.

Council had several options to fill this vacancy:

• Have a by-election, though that could be costly to taxpayers, especially with how little time is left in this term - this current term ends in September 2026;
• Appoint one of the current council members to serve out the remainder of what would have been Alty's term, which would mean a mayor and seven councillors or;
• Leave the seat vacant.

Prior to Hendriksen鈥檚 appointment, Couns. Garrett Cochrane and Stacie Arden Smith both expressed interest in the mayor's role. 

"I believe I can provide the strategic foresight, formidable skillset, abilities in advocacy, temperament, diplomatic approach and proven track record in leadership it will take to serve as Mayor for 2025-2026," wrote Cochrane in a social media post on Sunday.

Arden Smith announced her intentions a day before Cochrane, but she originally played coy when asked by 黑料吃瓜网 about her aspirations on the evening of the federal election.

"I can't let out all my little secrets," she laughed.

Most councillors supported appointing a mayor, arguing it would be the most efficient option. Coun. Tom McLennan, for example, noted the council鈥檚 current term has already experienced multiple disruptions and a by-election would only add to that.

In contrast, Coun. Steve Payne argued that a by-election would be the most democratic choice.

"I do think having a full democratic process is worth spending a bit of money," said Payne, talking about the cost for holding a by-election. "I don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 fair for the councillors remaining to make a decision as important as bringing on a new mayor.鈥�

According to a briefing package submitted by city administration, the cost to hold a by-election would have been somewhere between $100,000 and $150,000.

The next municipal election is on Oct. 19, 2026.