Vacant Kanata North council seat will be filled through appointment, council decides
Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date: Oct 13, 2021 • 47 minutes ago • 2 minute read
The vacant council seat for Kanata North will be filled through an application and appointment process, council decided Wednesday.
Jenna Sudds was the councillor for Kanata North until she won the recent federal election as a Liberal in the riding of Kanata-Carleton.
It’s too early in the four-year council term to simply not fill the council seat. The Ontario Municipal Act says if the vacancy doesn’t fall within 90 days of the next scheduled municipal election, council must fill the seat through a byelection or appointment.
The next general municipal election is in October 2022.
A five-day application period for the Kanata North seat will start on Oct. 29. A special council meeting will happen on Nov. 10 and applicants will have the opportunity to make a presentation to council and field questions from council members. At the same meeting, council members will then vote on their preference for Kanata North councillor.
The appointment process would create a “nominal” expense for the city, clerk Rick O’Connor said.
The city expected a byelection would cost $566,676, more than the $349,263 it would likely cost in non-pandemic times. The extra expenses would have been generated by COVID-19 health precautions.
Sudds was elected to city council in the 2018 municipal election, succeeding long-time councillor Marianne Wilkinson.
Community groups in Kanata North have been calling for council to appoint Wilkinson to the vacant seat since she has deep knowledge of the ward and Ottawa’s municipal government.
Wilkinson has indicated that she would be willing to accept an appointment, but the city will advertise the council vacancy and accept applications.
City staff found 41 vacancies that have happened on Ontario municipal councils in 2021 at least 37 were filled by appointments or on track to be filled by appointments.
If Ottawa council chose a byelection, the city would have had to adhere to legislated timelines for an election period. The holiday period would scuttle the chance to hold a byelection at the earliest legislated opportunity, which would have been Dec. 27. The clerk recommended Jan. 24 as a byelection date if council decided the most democratic option to fill the seat.
On Wednesday, Coun. Jeff Leiper won council’s approval for his motion to fill the vacant seat through an appointment process so that Kanata North would have a councillor for the 2022 municipal budget process. Council will consider the final draft budget in December.
Council voted overwhelmingly in support of Leiper’s motion. Councillors Rick Chiarelli, Theresa Kavanagh and Scott Moffatt voted against having an appointment process.
Wilkinson confirmed Wednesday that she will submit an application.
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