The 2016 civic election and conflict of interest legislation were among the topics covered during the provincial city clerks’ convention in Estevan on April 14 and 15.
About 15 delegates from across the province were in Estevan for the meetings. Local city clerk Judy Pilloud said they tackled a busy agenda, as not only did they talk about issues they encounter on a daily basis, but they held meetings about high-profile issues they will be facing this year.
“We do a lot of roundtable discussions, and we try to put everybody on the same page and share information,” said Pilloud.
Most of the talk on the election focused on procedures for the clerks and roles for election workers. They also discussed requirements for criminal record checks, signage, interim appointments, procedures and orientations for the new council members who will be elected in October.
“The City of Saskatoon, upon nomination day, stops any (council-related) meetings from happening in the city,” said Pilloud. “Everything will be held in abeyance until November.”
An Electronic Software Systems (ESS) representative came to Estevan to discuss electronic voting systems. Estevan will be leasing the technology from ESS in the upcoming civic election.
The city used an electronic balloting system from the City of Regina for the 2014 councillor byelection, and it proved to be very efficient, as the results were tabulated in just a few minutes. Pilloud noted there isn’t a risk of tampering with results.
The electronic balloting was also praised by people working at polling stations.
“It is very helpful, because the people we employ for election day will only be there for maybe 12 or 13 hours, and not 16, 17 or even 22 hours when you employ a manual count,” said Pilloud.
The votes might not be released as quickly this time as they were in the 2014 byelection, since the civic election will have two polling stations instead of the one used in 2014, and there should be more voters for a civic election. Pilloud is still hopeful it will be a relatively smooth process.
Most of the municipalities in the province now employ some form of an electronic tabulating system.
Conflict of interest legislation took up a lot of time at the convention. It has been a significant issue for municipalities since last year, when the reeve of the Rural Municipality of Sherwood was turfed over conflict allegations.
Pilloud noted that when changes to the Elections Act or the Cities Act are made, the city clerks usually have a year to discuss them. But the new laws were formulated very quickly.
“Normally, we get input into what is being brought into the legislature, and we didn’t get that option this time,” said Pilloud. “They gave us a rundown … but they didn’t actually give us any ability to discuss what it was that they were sending.”
Estevan city council passed a new conflict of interest bylaw in January.
Provincial ombudsman Mary McFadyen explained the potential repercussions if a complaint is filed with her office.
The ombudsman urged city clerks to ensure they are ready for the new legislation.
“They gave us the chain of command on if there is a complaint put forward, for how it should be handled and how their office is going to handle anything that happens,” said Pilloud.
Pilloud noted the information proved to be very helpful.
McFadyen also made a presentation for Estevan city council and the city’s management team.
