If it seems like we’re in a cycle of perpetual elections, it’s because we are, with Thursday’s provincial election only the halfway point in our latest round of campaigns.
This followed a Sept. 20, 2021, federal election in which local Liberal candidates Marc Serre (Nickel Belt) and Viviane Lapoint (Sudbury) notched victories.
In Thursday’s provincial election, NDP candidates France Gélinas (Nickel Belt) and Jamie West (Sudbury) retained their seats while Progressive Conservative Premier Doug Ford remained in power with a majority government.
Next up is the Oct. 24 civic election, in which voters select municipal council members and school board trustees.
In Greater Sudbury, this means a mayor and 12 ward council members will be selected. As for school boards, trustees in Conseil scolaire catholique du Nouvel-Ontario, Conseil scolaire public du Grand Nord de l'Ontario, Rainbow District School Board and Sudbury Catholic District School Board will be voted on.
With the three levels of government frequently confused with one another, it’s worth noting that the municipal level deals with City of Greater Sudbury operations. This includes such well-publicized projects as the Kingsway Entertainment District and Junction East, as well as operations such as GOVA Transit, garbage and recycling collection and road maintenance.
It’s Greater Sudbury city council that determines the municipal share of what is collected via property taxes.
Thus far in the mayoral race, there are four registered candidates, including:
- Evelyn Dutrisac
- Don Gravelle
- Bob Johnston
- Miranda Rocca-Circelli
Mayor Brian Bigger and former Liberal MP Paul Lefebvre have also announced their intentions to seek the mayor’s seat but haven’t yet registered.
This brings the 2022 grand total of mayoral candidates to a tentative six. In the 2018 election, 11 people sought the position.
Sudbury.com has published introductory stories on all of this year’s announced mayoral candidates except for Gravelle, who will be introduced in a story to be published in the coming days.
Various city councillor and school board trustee candidates have also registered. The city has been regularly updating the list of registered candidates on its website, which can be found by clicking here.
The nomination period for the civic elections opened last month and will remain so until 2 p.m. on Aug. 19, during which candidates are expected to submit their paperwork with the city.
With provincial candidates currently in the process of taking down all of their election signage, Greater Sudburians are currently within a period of time in which election signs are not allowed. It’s not until Aug. 20 – the day after the nomination period ends – that civic candidates are allowed to begin installing campaign signs, according to a city bylaw.
The same as with federal and provincial elections, municipal campaign signs are only allowed to be installed on private property, with the owner’s permission. Additional rules regarding election signs can be found by clicking here.
In the previous civic election on Oct. 23, 2018, approximately 45 per cent of registered voters cast their ballots for a mayoral candidate. Among wards in which the candidate was not acclaimed, between 39.9 per cent and 51.2 per cent of voters checked off a council candidate.
