7 Toronto city councillors could be elected by default as nomination deadline nears
CBC
Candidates in more than a quarter of Toronto's municipal wards hoping to land a city council seat don't have any challengers in the upcoming election, with two weeks left to submit a nomination.
After a three-month nomination period, more than a dozen people have signed up to run for mayor, but seven of the city's 25 wards have only one candidate so far.
According to the Ontario Municipal Elections Act, anyone running in a ward without a challenger is immediately declared the winner on the Monday after nominations close, nixing the need for an election—and the chance for residents to participate in choosing who represents them.
Toronto's state of nominations has political scientists and even some councillor hopefuls concerned.
"I think it's a sorry state of affairs for Toronto," said Myer Siemiatycki, professor emeritus at Toronto Metropolitan University.
"Democracy doesn't work well when the people don't participate, where there isn't an accountability loop. And that's what we're looking at now," he said.
He said the lack of challengers shouldn't be considered an indication that incumbents have residents' full enthusiastic support, but instead may point to the job as undesirable.
Registration for candidates opened on May 2 and closes Aug. 19 at 2 p.m.
Longtime Scarborough Centre councillor Michael Thompson said he has never found himself running unopposed this late.
He told CBC Toronto he has encouraged many people to run for council, but in his ward, there were no real bites.
The prospect of an easier ride isn't leaving him salivating.
"I'm happy to have competition," he said. "I'm happy to roll the team out because it means that, you know, people are out working and they're energized and ready to go."
Thompson said he paused accepting campaign donations given the uncertainty of if there would be a race, but will kick things into high gear if a challenger signs up.
"It's ready to go. All I need to do is press a button."
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