Another person throwing their hat into the ring for the upcoming municipal elections. John Lawrence has announced his candidacy for Weyburn City Council in the election, which is set to be held on November 9th.  

“You need to know the community in itself, and you have to bring some experience to the table too,” Lawrence explained. “I think my time in financial services, and foreign service and my volunteering has given me a good basis for that.” 

Lawrence was born and raised in Weyburn, and with the exception of time spent in the armed forces, and in the diplomatic foreign service, has lived in the community. He says he sees an optimistic future for the city. 

“Weyburn in itself has got some excitement to experience in the future here, with the hospital being announced, and the new school that’s going to be opened and come online next year and the community centre that’s there,” Lawrence added. 

Having spent the majority of his life in Weyburn, he feels it is time to give back to the community by serving it on the city council. He points to an incident when he was younger as one of the reasons he wants to give back – the barn on the family farm burned down. 

“The community responded by building us another barn, and I’ve felt somewhat indebted ever since, so this is one way, by working for the community, that I can kind of give back to the community that helped us in the past.” 

Lawrence has also been a presence on a number of volunteer committees in the city over the years. He served on the board for Grace United Church for 17 years, serving as the secretary-treasurer for a period, and also managing the building committee that oversaw their expansion. He also served 19 years on the board of the Weyburn Housing Authority, nine years as a unit member with the Canadian Cancer Society and four years with the Saskatchewan Division of the Canadian Cancer Society 

The deadline for candidates to submit their nominations and public disclosure forms for the upcoming election is October 7th. The election will be held on November 9th.