reeve

noun, Cdn. (in Ontario and the Western provinces), the elected leader of the council of a town or other rural municipality (COD); also deputy reeve as below

“We got another reeve, and he decided that we needed two crews on the ferry.”

“Incidentally his father’s father was the reeve there at a time when the year-round population was two or three times what it is now.”

“It was just Wolfe Island wasn’t ready for a woman reeve. And they’ve never had a woman reeve.”

“People decided I should help them out, and so I did that for fifteen years and ran as councillor and then reeve and then mayor.”

“The next reeve painted ‘Wolfe Islander’ on it. That’s how the succession started, because now the ferry that’s there is Wolfe Islander III.”

“When we were little, like the last boat was six o’clock at night. That’s why my dad ran for reeve, because he wanted to get better service at night because I had been sick, and they couldn’t get a doctor over.”

“How many years was he reeve? Do you remember? Thirty-some years?”

“I was defeated by Tom Smith by thirteen votes. For reeve wasn’t it… or deputy reeve?”