An Orillia resident thinks a provincial policy that impacts people who might want to become a city councillor in the Sunshine City could be unconstitutional.
Jacob Kearey-Moreland, who ran as a co-operative interdependent candidate in the last federal election, used the open forum at the conclusion of Monday night’s council committee meeting to express his concerns.
He said the “nomination filing fee” municipal candidates must pay “could potentially be unconstitutional.”
The young activist told council that a recent court decision out west is a precedent-setting case that could have reverberations in Ontario.
“I wanted to alert council and the community to a recent court case in Alberta that ruled that the $1,000 deposit requirement charged to federal election candidates was recently ruled unconstitutional and, consequently, was struck down,” Kearey-Moreland said. “As you may be aware, in past elections to run in the federal election, one would have to raise $1,000 and put down a deposit and this constituted, basically, a means test which the court ruled was unconstitutional.”
With that in mind, he believes the $100 filing fee for those seeking a council position and the $200 filing fee for the mayor’s position should be eliminated. “I understand this may be a standard practice in municipalities across the province, so I would like to put that on the agenda to make sure this is a constitutional practice and council isn’t actively discriminating against low-income members of the community by putting in place a … fee to participate in our democracy.”
Janet Nyhof, the city’s deputy clerk, told OrilliaMatters the nomination filing fee is set by the province. She suggested concerns should be addressed to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs.
“Another option would be for a request to be made in writing to council requesting that a letter be sent to the Ministry regarding the filing fee, which could be placed as an item on a future council agenda,” said Nyhof.
She noted the province “did a complete review of the Municipal Elections Act” following the 2014 election and “made many changes … but changing the nomination filing fee did not occur.”
Nyhof said she has never received a complaint about the filing fee and said “this has been the same fee for the last many elections.”
