Nomination period opens for municipal and school board elections

Greater Sudbury is now in the municipal and school board campaign season, with candidates’ nomination period beginning today.

As nomination papers are filed with the city, campaigns become official and candidates can begin incurring election expenses and delving into their campaigns in earnest. 

The nomination period continues until 2 p.m. on Aug. 19, and the election has been scheduled to take place on Oct. 24. 

Nomination paperwork is available online by clicking here, and must be accompanied by at least 25 signatures from eligible voters and a nomination fee of $100 for ward councillors and school board trustees and $200 for mayor. 

Candidates for municipal council must be: 

• A resident of the municipality, a non-resident owner or tenant of land in the municipality, or the spouse of such non-resident owner or tenant
• A Canadian citizen
• At least 18 years of age
• Legally able to vote
• Not be disqualified by any legislation from holding municipal office 

School board trustee candidates have a similar list of criteria, only they must be residents of the district’s area of jurisdiction and be qualified to vote for members of that district school board. 

Additional board-specific requirements are outlined at greatersudbury.ca/elections/for-candidates. 

Third parties for municipal and school board elections also open today, and will be accepted until 4:30 p.m. on Oct. 21, with more information available at www.greatersudbury.ca/elections/for-third-parties.

Both mayoral candidates Evelyn Dutrisac and Bob Johnston had announced their intentions to file their nomination paperwork today. Candidate Miranda Rocca-Circelli announced her candidacy today.

In conversation with Sudbury.com last week, Paul Lefebvre said that he intends to wait out the provincial election scheduled for June 2 and will file his nomination paperwork afterward. 

Incumbent Mayor Brian Bigger told Sudbury.com today that he isn’t filing his nomination paperwork today but intends to before the nomination period ends.

Political newcomer Mike Parent, who is running to replace Robert Kirwan in Ward 5, wrote a Facebook post today noting that he’d filed his paperwork this morning. 

“I want to thank the great staff at Tom Davies Square who were so positive and pleasant as we walked through the registration process,” he wrote. 

Kirwan and the majority of city council members have already announced that they are seeking re-election. A list of candidates will be published online at the city’s website as their nomination paperwork is filled out, with the first update expected sometime on Tuesday.*

The city’s elected officials recently updated municipal rules for the election, which will include a hybrid voting model, with 11 days of electronic voting and one day of in-person paper ballot voting. 

Ward 5 Coun. Robert Kirwan has advocated for additional days for paper-ballot voting, which city council has not yet approved.

As Greater Sudbury eases into a municipal election season, the city is also urging residents to ensure their correct information is on the voters’ list by visiting voterlookup.ca.

*This paragraph has been updated to reflect the latest timeline from City of Greater Sudbury spokespeople.