ISSUE 12 - Wrapping up 2021
Welcome to another issue of #munipoli Matters, where we discuss all about municipal elections and the often unreported arena of local government across Canada and beyond.
For this week, I’m going to wrap up whatever #cdnmuni and #munipoli updates I’ve managed to dig up. But that doesn’t mean there is no more news that’s coming in 2022!
Will ‘Jimmy K’ face even MORE music?
Former Toronto city councillor Jim Karygiannis faces more trouble even after getting himself kicked out of office for overspending for his reelection campaign, which violates the Ontario Municipal Elections Act.
A former Liberal MP from Scarborough since 1988 who retired from federal politics in 2014 to run successfully for city council, Karygiannis faced a tougher reelection fight in 2018 after Premier Doug Ford reduced the size of council, forcing him to face off against fellow incumbent Norm Kelly.
But in that election’s aftermath, in which Karygiannis won his seat after a hard fought race, a race where he raised $217,000 in contributions, Jimmy K decided to throw a post-election party that went from being a fundraiser to a ‘volunteer appreciation’ event…at a cost of $43,000.
This resulted in Karygiannis being removed from his council seat, but the city’s audit compliance committee has now sent the former councillor’s case to a prosecutor, meaning Jimmy K, even though no longer a councillor, could be back in court once again.
BC city councillor wants to lower voting age to 16
Proposals to lower the voting age began almost twenty years ago as far as I can remember, but the movement has increasingly been picking up steam and now an incredibly young councillor from Vancouver Island is openly advocating for it.
Saanich Councillor Ned Taylor, 22, is pushing for his colleagues to endorse a local BC campaign to lower the voting age to 16. Taylor is planning to introduce a motion doing so at the next Saanich council meeting.
“I’ve supported lowering the voting age to 16 since before I was that age – youth are the ones who are going to be experiencing the impact of current decisions in the long-term,” Taylor said.
The petition can be seen here.
BC town loses almost entire council
While Taylor’s efforts are admirable, maybe the issue isn’t having enough voters of legal age, but just eligible candidates to run for office and stay in those jobs. Case in point, the town of Wells, BC, just outside of Quesnel.
Mayor Gabe Fourchalk, who was only elected back in 2018, recently resigned because of a perceived conflict of interest as he is also an equipment operator for a prominent mining company in the town, which is currently in the midst of an environment review over it’s expansion into Wells.
Below is Fourchalk’s statement published on the Wells, BC Facebook page.
As you may well know, municipal conflict of interest rules prevent elected officials from voting on matters where they have a direct pecuniary interest. Being an employee of a company with business down in the town of which you are mayor certainly qualifies.
Not only did the mayor resign, three other councillors also stepped down. Councillors Ksenya Dorwart and Chris Cooley stepped down, with Cooley giving his notice that he would resign early November. Another councillor, Jordan Rohatynski, also resigned but said he would run for mayor in the upcoming by-election.
This leaves one councillor, Mandy Kilsby, serving as acting mayor. By-elections for all the vacant positions has been set for February 5, 2022, with nominations for candidates open from December 21 to 31, 2021.
Kilsby admitted she thought of stepping down as well, but changed her mind.
“Being a part of council has meant that I along with my fellow council members and district staff have been subjected to bullying and harassment including verbal abuse, malicious gossip, and even occasionally threats,” she said, calling it an often stressful position.
“Council’s decisions are not made lightly and we do our best to make those decisions while balancing the values and concerns of the community as a whole along with expert advice, empirical evidence and the guidance of the authorities to whom we as a municipality must answer, and all of that with a teeny tiny little budget in one of the smallest tax payer bases around. It’s not an easy job, and thank you to those that have stepped up to do it.”
Eastern Ontario municipal resignations
Meanwhile, back out east in Ontario, another municipal councillor stepped down after not evening finishing his one four year term. Councillor Tyler Hoy has stepped down from North Dundas town council effective December 1, 2021.
No reasons were given by Hoy, who served three years on council, for his departure, but he was reprimanded by council in August 2020 for calling Black Lives Matter a terrorist organization.
The vacancy in North Dundas follows a series of council members stepping down for various reasons:
Brockville Mayor Jason Baker stepped down after he longer met residency requirements as he moved to a house outside of the city limits. Councillor Leigh Bursey also resigned for personal reasons.
Cornwall Mayor Bernadette Clement, who previously ran as a Liberal candidate, was appointed to the Senate of Canada in June. Councillor Glen Grant was selected by his colleagues to fill the vacancy, which allowed 2018 candidate Denis Carr to fill Grant’s council seat. Cornwall voters rank their preference for the top 10 candidates for council during elections; Carr placed 11th in the 2018 vote.
‘YUGE’ scandal out of rural Ontario town
Finally, in a story that pretty much exemplifies small town Ontario, the mayor of the community home to the renowned ‘Wiarton Willie’ revealed that the renowned groundhog famous for predicting the weather died about a year ago...but kept it from the public.
Mayor Janice Jackson of the town of South Bruce Peninsula said the albino rodent died “quite a while before the last Groundhog Day,” but didn’t specify when, other than it was before it's typical hibernation period in 2020.
“Wiarton Willie is everything to Wiarton and South Bruce Peninsula,” Jackson told The Canadian Press in an interview. She further added that Willie will be replaced by a brown groundhog.
You can read the Globe and Mail story (if you can get behind the paywall) yourself to dive deeper into the juicier details…but suffice it to say, this comes off as the most quintessential small town Ontario story ever.
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With that, I hope you all had a fantastic holiday and a Happy New Year ahead.
Photos from Jim Karygiannis’ Facebook page