If you live in a small town and wonder why your municipality doesn’t post the names of municipal election candidates on its website once they’ve been filed, the answer is simple: it doesn’t have to.
While Ontario’s Municipal Act “generally requires that municipal clerks provide electors and candidates with information to enable them to exercise their rights in a municipal election, it does not specifically require municipal clerks to post a list of candidates on their website,” a municipal affairs and housing spokesperson said this week.
It used to be that only medium and large municipalities, like Thunder Bay, posted the names of municipal candidates online in advance of filing deadlines, which this year is Aug. 21.
Currently, the City lists six candidates for mayor; all the names, along with their contact information, is available on the City’s website.
Outside Thunder Bay, some rural municipalities, such as Neebing and Shuniah, follow a similar practice, but some don’t.
In Gillies Township, its website posts plenty of election information — such as who can run for council and how much candidates can spend on campaigns. But there is no list of who has filed so far for the Oct. 26 vote.
A list of candidates in the 2022 election, however, does appear on Gillies’ website. Taxpayers may have learned through regular media, or from social-media posts, that Gillies Township has a two-way race for reeve.
O’Connor Township’s website says the names of election candidates will be posted after the list has been certified on Aug. 24, but some names will likely appear well before that.
“We will be posting the ones we have on the website in the next few weeks, and then as they come in and are certified, I will post them,” clerk-treasurer Lorna Buob said on Wednesday.
Voters “can call the office, if interested, prior to them being posted,” Buob added.
Conmee Township’s website doesn’t currently list names of filed candidates, but clerk Karen Paisley said residents can call her at the municipal office if they want to find out who’s filed so far.
The ministry suggests that may be the best when taxpayers don’t see the names of candidates on websites.
“For specific information on candidate listings and timing, residents are encouraged to contact their local municipal clerk,” the ministry says.
