SYDNEY MINES, N.S. — In a year already marked by a global pandemic, societal lockdowns, widespread social unrest and the worst mass murder spree in Canadian history, it’s been easy to overlook Nova Scotia’s upcoming municipal elections.
But the vote that has long been scheduled for Oct. 17 is going ahead.
Municipal Affairs Minister Chuck Porter confirmed as much in a late-May letter to the Nova Scotia Federation of Municipalities. In the document, Porter urged municipalities to prepare for the fall elections and to do so with the consideration of public health protocols.
And, according to Sydney Mines Coun. Clarence Prince, one of the NSFM’s two Cape Breton Regional Municipality representatives, nothing has changed since despite the lobbying of the provincewide federation.
“We took a survey and close to 70 per cent of the members indicated they would like to see the election delayed, not for a long time, maybe for just six months or a year at the most,” said Prince, who noted that municipal elections in both Saskatchewan and New Brunswick have been postponed.
“We sent a lot of letters to the province and questioned why after cancelling every possible event for the rest of the year that it would want to go ahead with the election in hopes that everything would go fine.”
Meanwhile, it’s still unclear whether Nova Scotians will be casting their votes electronically or by going to the polls in person. While that decision may be delayed until it's determined whether enough social restrictions will be lifted to allow for a fall election, municipalities are still expected to be prepared for the elections.
In the CBRM, council has already given staff the go-ahead to sign an agreement with a firm called Intelivote Systems Inc. to provide electronic (telephone and internet) voting services. Electronic voting will be employed in the advance polls. And, amendments have already been made to the municipality’s alternative voting bylaw.
But council has yet to decide whether it will endorse the alternative electronic system on election day. The issue was to have been addressed at last week’s council meeting but was bumped from the agenda in favour of the municipality’s revised operating budget.
CBRM Coun. George MacDonald, who also represents the municipality in the NSFM, said he and his colleagues have had lots of feedback from residents opposed to a totally electronic vote.
“Lots of people are still wary about that — many seniors, for example, still want to get out and go vote,” said MacDonald, who has declared he will not seek re-election to council.
“There’s a big group, especially in Cape Breton who are seniors, some of whom have no computer or no smartphone, who would feel more secure if they are allowed to go vote the old-fashioned way.
“It’s still a mess, it’s still very confusing and I guess the bottom line is that right now we don’t know the rules.”
The matter is scheduled to appear on the agenda of the July 14 council meeting.
