I am surprised city officials are attempting
to re-write the law with regard to election recounts. The city
staff proposal that anyone who requests a recount following a
municipal election will have to pay the entire cost upfront is
a slap in the face of the democratic process. I am astonished
staff
would make such a suggestion and that it is
even being entertained by council. Please, hold the bus. The
proposal is not enforceable.
The Municipal Elections Act already has the
necessary provisions for determining the rules set out for a
recount. It is clear that if the result is not a tie, then a
Superior Court Judge will make the decision whether a recount
is to be done, where it is to be done, and the prescribed
manner in which it will be done. Any other disputes, such as
fees, would also be handled by this process.
The city can't create any bylaw that
supersedes the Municipal Elections Act nor the decision of a
Superior Court Judge. Why city officials have wasted a single
second on re-writing laws that are not enforceable is beyond
me.
It has been written that some city officials
still say what they did was not wrong. The Superior Court sees
the actions of the city in a much different way. It is
important for those involved to accept the ruling and take
steps to ensure such a debacle does not happen again at the
expense of taxpayers.
Jason Bubba
, Greater Sudbury