Hamilton, Ontario municipal election, 2018

Hamilton municipal election, 2018

October 22, 2018

The fifteen wards of the City of Hamilton contested in the 2014 election. Council has indicated a need to redraw the city's ward boundaries for the 2018 election.

Mayor before election Fred Eisenberger Independent Elected Mayor TBD

The 2018 Hamilton municipal election will occur on October 22, 2018, as per the Ontario Municipal Elections Act, 1996.^[1][2] Electors in Hamilton will be selecting one Mayor, members of the Hamilton, Ontario City Council and members of both English and French Public and Catholic School Boards.^[3]

Issues

Ward boundary reform

In June 2012, councillors committed $260,000 to conduct a study that would examine boundary reform in 2015, with a proposal to come forward regarding changes for the 2018 Municipal Election.^[4] This was following the 2006-2010 and 2010-2014 councils opting to push an examination of ward boundaries into the next council term.^[5]

The issue arose during the 2014 municipal election, with Hamilton's three top mayoral contenders supporting ward boundary reform during their campaigns.^[6] In early 2015, councillors approved city staff's request to put out a call for proposals for the consultants who would examine ward boundaries.^[7] The successful bidders, Watson and Associates Economists Ltd., then began a process of public consultation and examination. Throughout February, 2016, community consolation meetings were held across Hamilton to inform the public and collect feedback from residents.^[8]

City staff's timeline for the project indicates the new bylaw should be in place by 2016, altering ward boundaries in time for the 2018 election.^[9]

The Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board's attempt to reallocate the ward boundaries for trustees in 2013 also resulted in the decsion to task the 2014–2018 Board with examining ward boundary reform after city council redraws boundaries.^[10]

Ranked Ballots

Following the 2014 provincial election, the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Ted McMeekin, announced the province would be reexamining the Municipal Elections Act, 1996 to determine if the length and voting systems of Ontario's municipal elections needed alterations. Part of the reexamination was a proposal that would have allowed municipalities to adopt a ranked ballot system for the 2018 municipal elections.^[11]

In June 2015, Hamilton's manager of elections, Tony Fallis, commented that the system would confuse electors, while Ward Three councillor Matthew Green called the system a "fantastic opportunity."^[12] The following month, Green invited ranked ballot-advocate Dave Meslin to speak in Hamilton on the issue, sparking a call for a citizen's group to promote the proposed electoral system.^[13] Mayor Eisenberger spoke favourably about the new system and indicated he was willing to consider it for the 2018 election.^[14]

Potential Candidates

On election night, 2014, Ward Six candidate Dan Rodrigues told supporters he would run for the seat again in 2018 as he had been told sitting councillor Tom Jackson would not be running for re-election. Jackson denied that was the case and announced that he, too, would be seeking election in Ward Six in 2018.^[15] Rodrigues was later barred from running in 2018 for his failure to submit completed financial statements.

Mid-term elections

Ward Seven Councillor

Shortly after being sworn in for a third term as Ward Seven Councillor, Scott Duvall announced he would be seeking the New Democratic Party's nomination to run in the 42nd Federal Election as their candidate on Hamilton Mountain.^[16] Duvall was selected by party members in the riding at a nomination meeting on March 29, 2015 to stand as their candidate over his opponent, former provincial NDP candidate Bryan Adamczyk.^[17] Duvall was elected to Parliament on October 19, 2015 with 35.8% of the vote.^[18]

Prior to Duvall's election, candidates began expressing interest in running for his seat. By September 4, 2015, four candidates had already announced their intention to run in the by-election if it were to be called.^[19] On Friday, October 23, 2015, Duvall officially resigned from city council.^[20] Duvall told the Hamilton Spectator that, while he had not yet endorsed a replacement, he was watching the competition carefully.

After speculation that the by-election would occur in February or March of 2016, the CBC reported on November 2, 2015, that the election would take place on March 21, 2016, following council's approval of the date through a bylaw passed at their December 9, 2015 council meeting.^[21][22][23]

As the number of candidates increased, local media began to report on the impact the by-election was having on local political party establishments. Candidates Geraldine McMullen and Uzma Qureshi, both NDP members, maintained the support of varying factions within the party. McMullen received support from former Hamilton Mountain MP Chris Charlton while Qureshi was endorsed by current Hamilton Mountain MPP Monique Taylor and Hamilton Centre MP David Christopherson.^[24] Similarly, candidates Bob Charters, Donna Skelly, and Hans Zuriel had the support of elements of Hamilton's Conservative establishment. Charters was the Progressive Conservative's candidate on Hamilton Mountain in 2007, Skelly sought election as a Progressive Conservative in Ancaster-Dundas-Flamborough-Westdale in 2011 and 2014, while Zuriel is the president of the Hamilton Mountain Conservative association and heavily involved with Conservative politics at McMaster University.^[24] With the registration of former Hamilton Mountain Liberal candidate Shawn Burt on January 29, the local Liberal Party was also split between their 2015 candidate and Hamilton West-Ancaster-Dundas nomination contestant Howard Rabb.^[23][25] The local Libertarian Party establishment was also split between Luc Hetu, the party's nominated, but unregistered, candidate for the 2015 election in Flamborough-Glanbrook and Robert Young, the party's Hamilton Centre candidate. Both candidates registered on February 1 and both used Young's business address at 616 Barton Street East on their registration forms.^[26]

In an interview with the Hamilton Mountain News, McMaster political science professor Dr. Henry Jacek noted that he expected voter turnout to be very low, allowing a candidate to win with around 1,500 votes. He also indicated that by his analysis, while the splits in party support were evident, candidates aligned with the New Democrats were likely to perform well considering their historic support in Ward Seven and the popularity of Scott Duvall.^[27]

At the close of nominations on February 5, 22 candidates had registered, making the Ward Seven by-election the most contested election in Hamilton's post-amalgamation history.^[28]

Just prior to election day, Qureshi faced criticism from local media and other candidates for a letter mailed to the community from Duvall and MPP Monique Taylor that encouraged strategic voting to defeat candidates with ties to the Conservative Party. Taking aim at McMullen, who had secured the endorsement of the city's labour council and from Duvall's predecessor, Chris Charlton, the letter claimed "It is clear that (Qureshi) has risen above the pack and presents the ONLY choice if we are going to elect a strong progressive councillor for Ward 7." ^[29] The letter was called "disrespectful" by McMullen and mentioned by Skelly on election night, who called it "political interference".^[30]

On election night, Donna Skelly secured victory with 1,967 votes, 92 ballots ahead of second place finisher, John-Paul Danko. Speaking with reporters after her win, Skelly noted that she wanted to "ruffle a few feathers" with regard to taxes and city finances, while announcing her support for the city's Light Rail Transit project.^[31]

Timeline

2014

• October 27, 2014: 2014 Municipal Election

2015

• January 5, 2015: Ward Seven councillor Scott Duvall announced his intention to run for the New Democratic Party's nomination on Hamilton Mountain.^[32]
• March 29, 2015: Duvall is named the NDP's candidate for the 2015 Federal Election^[33]
• March 30, 2015: Councillors approve city staff's request to hire consultants for a ward boundary review.^[34]
• July 28, 2015: Two council candidates from 2014, Ira Rosen (Ward 1) and Toby Yull (Ward 13) were barred from standing in the 2018 election due to their failure to submit audited financial statements.^[35]
• October 19, 2015: Duvall is elected to Parliament and indicates he will step down from council.^[36]
• October 22, 2015: Duvall officially resigns as councillor for Ward Seven.^[37]
• December 10, 2015: Nominations for the Ward Seven by-election open

2016

• February 5, 2016: Nominations for the Ward Seven by-election close with 22 candidates having registered^[28]
• March 21, 2016: Date of the Ward Seven by-election. Candidate Donna Skelly is elected to replace Duvall.^[38]

2017

• May 1, 2017: Any municipal bylaws changing forms of voting or ward boundaries must be passed in order to take effect for the 2018 vote.

2018

• May 1, 2018: Nominations open.
• July 23, 2018: Nominations close.
• October 22, 2018: Election day.

External links

• City of Hamilton official Municipal Elections webpage

References

Municipal Elections in Hamilton, Ontario
One-year Terms 1847 1848 1849 1850 1851 1852 1853 1854 1855 1856 1857 1858 1859 1860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 Two-year terms 1954 1956 1958 1960 1962 1964 1966 1968 1970 1972 Special election upon creation of the Region of Hamilton-Wentworth 1973 Reversion to two-year terms 1976 1978 1980 Three-year terms 1982 1985 1988 1991 1994 1997 2000 2003 Four-year terms 2006 2010 2014 2018