ISSUE 1 - Munipole Matters
My name is Alan and I am currently an insurance professional living and working in the Greater Toronto area. In my spare time, I do dragon boating, swimming, and exploring small towns and other cities.
I am also a relentless political junkie and I’ve done almost the entire gamut in terms of that area: volunteering on election campaigns at all three levels, activism and advocacy on specific issues as well as writing about politics for a hyperlocal news site.
That’s why I have started up this newsletter: I needed an outlet for me to write on the latest in municipal politics and local elections in Canada, a topic which I feel gets little to no attention. MUNIPOLE MATTERS will focus on what elections are taking place in our local communities, who is running and what major issues are driving the campaign narrative.
With that being said, let this exciting new chapter commence!
Municipal election dates 2021
In the midst of the September 20 federal election, there are also municipal election campaigns taking place at the same time, as well as in 2022. The national Canadian resource on municipal issues, Muniscope, has a list of when elections are taking place in each province.
Let me highlight three provinces that are going to the polls after the federal election to elect their local municipal councils.
Newfoundland and Labrador will hold municipal elections on September 28, barely a week after the federal election concludes. Considering the Rock just finished a provincial election entirely done by mail in ballot, it will be curious to see how voter turnout will be affected on the 28th by any pandemic restrictions.
Five mayors along the Avalon Peninsula won their races by acclamation since no other candidates registered to run by the deadline. This includes the mayor of the province’s capital city St. John’s, Danny Breen. Breen served on council before becoming mayor in 2017, beating back a challenge from former mayor Andy Wells.
Alberta will go next, holding municipal elections on October 18, 2021, except in summer villages where elections took place over the, not surprisingly, summer. A summer village is a municipality in Alberta with a permanent population of generally less than 300, as well as seasonal (non permanent) residents.
The major contests are taking place in the two major cities, Calgary and Edmonton, as the two mayors in those cities are not running again. Three sitting city councillors are vying to replace Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi, who was first elected in 2010.
But even if Nenshi wasn’t leaving and enticing three councillors to run for his job, five sitting councillors have opted not to run again and a massive turnover on Calgary City Council is expected. One of them, George Chahal, is actually contesting the Calgary Skyview riding for the Liberals in the federal election.
Another interesting observation is that there are 27 candidates looking to replace Nenshi. One of them, Grace Yan, was once interviewed by a Mississauga radio personality who happens to be the former husband of current Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie.
Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson is seeking greener pastures as he leaves the mayor’s chair after 8 years on the job, having first been elected to council in 2007 and mayor in 2013. Only 10 candidates are vying to replace Iveson, one of whom is Amarjeet Sohi, the former MP and federal Liberal cabinet minister who lost his seat in 2019. Sohi was also a former Edmonton bus driver and city councillor. There will be four open council seats as incumbents either are retiring or, in the case of Councillor Mike Nickel, running for mayor himself.
What’s interesting for Edmonton’s municipal election this year is that the 12 wards have changed from being numbered to having Indigenious names. The City of Edmonton did individual YouTube videos describing each name and its meaning, which can be found here.
Quebec will be holding their municipal elections on November 7, 2021. Like British Columbia, Quebec allows municipal political parties to run slates in local elections, commonly named after the leader of that local party.
The three major races to watch involve the three largest cities: Laval, Montreal and Quebec City. Marc Demers, who was elected Mayor of Laval in 2013, is stepping down and so is Quebec City’s Regis Labeaume after 16 years in office.
However, the contest that observers may be paying the closest attention to is in Montreal, where a rematch is taking place. Four years ago, then mayor Denis Coderre was defeated after serving one term from 2013-2017 by city councillor Valerie Plante, the leader of a municipal party called Projet Montreal, which is the closest thing to the NDP having a municipal political party.
Plante, an urban progressive type who campaigned on building a new subway line in Montreal four years ago, is once again facing Coderre, a former Liberal MP who isn't holding back on his criticisms of the Plante administration. The last poll taken back in May 2021 shows Coderre in the lead with 39% to Plante’s 29%.
No matter what happens on November 7, Montreal will be a grudge match for all to see, and also watch to see if either Coderre’s or Plante’s respective parties take a lion’s share of seats on city council.
Municipal politicians looking to “level up”
The local government arena is always a place where those looking to run for higher office reside, usually recruited by the main parties or they go looking for a better gig. Here’s a list of current or former municipal politicians I know of running in the 2021 federal election. I am leaving out current MPs running for reelection who once served in local government:
Miramichi-Grand Lake, NB: the previous Liberal MP, Pat Finnigan won by only about 400 votes and is not reoffering. In his place, the Liberals nominated former provincial cabinet minister Lisa Harris, a former deputy mayor of Miramichi. The Tories have nominated former Blackville, NB councillor Jake Stewart, who is also a former provincial Tory cabinet minister. Stewart and Harris’ provincial ridings are actually adjacent to each other.
Saint John-Rothesay, NB: Liberal MP Wayne Long is seeking another term, but he has to face the former mayor of Saint John, Mel Norton, who is running for the Conservatives.
Trois-Rivières, QC: one of the closest three way races in the country, with the BQ winning this seat with only 28% of the vote. Conservatives are once again fielding the former mayor of this city, Yves Lévesque, who managed to get a respectable 25% last time. Lévesque served as mayor for 17 years from 2001 to 2018.
Kanata-Carleton, ON: Liberal MP Karen McCrimmon is not reoffering after serving two terms in Parliament, and Ottawa city councillor Jenna Sudds is running as the Liberal in her place. Sudds has been councillor for the Kanata North ward since 2018.
Kingston and the Islands, ON: the local flavour is certainly on display in this riding, as current city councillor Gary Oosterhof is running for the Tories against the Liberal incumbent Mark Gerretsen, a former mayor of Kingston. Gerretsen is one of the more vocal Twitter attack dogs for the governing party.
Hamilton East-Stoney Creek, ON: Liberal MP and former mayor Bob Bratina is opting not to run for another term after disagreements rose between him and his own government over the local LRT plans. In his place, Liberals have nominated city councillor Chad Collins to try to hold this seat, but the NDP are looking to regain it after having held the riding from 2006 to 2015.
Niagara Falls, ON: Tory Tony Baldinelli is looking to hold this seat after succeeding former MP Rob Nicholson in 2019. He once again faces former city councillor Andrea Kaiser, who is running for the Liberals.
London West, ON: Liberal MP Kate Young is not running for another term after first getting elected in 2015, so London city councillor Arielle Kayabaga , the first black woman on city council, is looking to level up as the Liberal candidate. Kayabaga was first elected to city council in 2018 under the then ranked choice voting system, which was subsequently cancelled by the Doug Ford government.
Moose Jaw-Lake Centre-Lanigan, SK: Conservative incumbent Tom Likiwski is not running again, and the Tories have nominated Moose Jaw Mayor Fraser Tolmie as their candidate. Considering this riding was held by the Tories with 55% of the vote even during the 2015 Trudeau landslide, Tolmie is a shoo-in to win.
Edmonton Mill Woods, AB: City councillor Amarjeet Sohi won this riding for the Liberals in 2015 in a squeaker but lost it to the Tories’ Tim Uppal in 2019. Sohi is now running for Edmonton mayor, and the Liberals have nominated another city councillor, Ben Henderson, to try to get this seat back in their column. Henderson, who has been on council since 2007, is not running for reelection to council.
Calgary Skyview, AB: This wasn’t expected to be a close race but now may represent the best pickup opportunity for the Liberals in Calgary. Ward 5 city councillor George Chahal, who had previously planned to run for reelection, is now contesting this northeast Calgary seat under the Liberal banner. The Liberals won this riding surprisingly in 2015, but lost it back to the Conservatives in 2019. Tory Jag Sahota is tasked with turning back the strong challenge from Chahal.
Cariboo-Prince George, BC: A riding that is usually a Conservative and NDP battle, the Liberals are looking to build on their strong second place from the previous elections by running Prince George city councillor Garth Frizzell, who is also a past president of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.
Pitt Meadows-Maple Ridge, BC: Believe it or not, the Liberals actually held this seat from 2015-2019 and placed second in both races, although the Tories took this riding two years ago. Maple Ridge city councillor Ahmed Yousef is carrying the Liberal flag this time around.
Burnaby North-Seymour, BC: this is a strange riding combining parts of Burnaby including Simon Fraser University and the District of North Vancouver. Jim Hanson, a two term councillor for the DONV, is running for the NDP.
There may be more municipal officials running in this federal election that I’m not aware of, so if you’re from a specific riding and know there is a local council member running to become an MP, let me know.
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