The Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo is asking the province for an exemption from changes to municipal election rules, as it prepares for a byelection.
The byelection will be held on Nov. 4 in Ward 4, filling the seat that was left vacant after councillor Jane Stroud died in August.
Ward 4 is mostly rural, and encompasses Anzac, Conklin, Gregoire Lake Estates and Janvier.
The new municipal election rules are a part of the provincial government’s legislation to overhaul some aspects of municipal governance, known as Bill 20.
Bill 20 amends two pieces of legislation: the Local Authorities Election Act and the Municipal Governments Act.
Wood Buffalo’s council voted unanimously on Sept. 10 to hold the byelection on Nov. 4.
When the municipality planned for a byelection in Ward 4, it did not consider the effects of Bill 20 coming into force, said Jade Brown, the municipality’s chief legislative officer, on Tuesday.
“It’s recommended that council request an exemption for the purposes of the byelection to ensure that there is no confusion to voters and candidates in the governing election systems,” she said.
Special ballots one of the reasons for exemption
One of the reasons for this exemption, Brown said, is that Bill 20 changes the rules around the use of special ballots.
Currently, a voter can request a special ballot only for a specific reason, such as incapacity or absence from the municipality.
Under the new set of rules, voters will be able to request special ballots for any reason.
“So there’ll be many more reasons why you could request that if this comes into force on October 31st,” Brown said.
“It really gives us no time to be able to adjust our process in advance of the November 4th date,” she said.
“I’m not sure of any other municipality in the province that is currently in a byelection mode,” she added.
At Tuesday’s meeting, the council voted unanimously to direct Mayor Sandy Bowman to write a letter to the Minister of Municipal Affairs Ric McIver to ask for an exemption of the Local Authorities Election Act.
Bowman said he’d been in contact with McIver and his office, and said they were inclined to grant an exemption.
“They have committed to signing a ministerial order by the end of the week and get it to us,” he said.
“We have communicated with them what was going on,” he said.
“They understand the situation.”
In a statement to CBC, McIver’s press secretary Heather Jenkins said they’ve heard from RMWB about the upcoming byelection.
“We are currently looking into this and will provide direction to support a successful byelection for the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo,” she said.