Pretty much the moment a federal election is announced, we start seeing campaign signs. Provincial elections are no different. In the United States, we were hearing about this November 2012 election more than a year ago. Because elections occur at fixed intervals south of the border, the term "permanent campaign" gets thrown around to describe the situation. Politicians are seeking votes with every action they take.
Canadian politics has too seen its fair share of intense campaigning. And politicians in any democratic society are always aware of the importance of attracting votes for whenever the next election happens.
Right now in North Battleford, we have what could be an interesting race. Ian Hamilton is running for reelection along with councillors Crush, Buglas and Fox. Steve Cormons is running again. With less than a week before the nomination deadline closes, the race might not be especially interesting, but the addition of a few more candidates could give North Battleford residents some serious choices about how they want their city to be run.
Some interesting stories have also come out of Battleford. Long time deputy mayor Derek Mahon is running for the mayor's seat come October, and Chris Odishaw, as he formally announced months ago, will not seek reelection to spend more time with his family. Bill Halewich, who has served two terms on council, also announced he would not seek reelection because of health issues.
But note the phrasing of the first sentence in that paragraph. Some good stories have come out of this election, sure. But this is not shaping up to be an interesting election. At the moment, there are no more submitted nomination papers than there were last week. And no one interested in running has contacted our newsroom. The best-case scenario is that the many people interested in running just haven't submitted their papers early or made a formal announcement of their candidacy to the media. The worst-case scenario is that voting becomes optional in October because there are only as many candidates as seats to be filled.
So let's hope for the best, and again urge anyone interested in running for town council (or for mayor of Battleford) to contact our newsroom at 445-7261 or by email at [email protected]. Let's hope that, come November, we actually have a choice.
