When Shelly Cerrelli realized that her mayor might cruise to re-election with no opponent, she got herself to Vaughan city hall.
“We didn’t have candidates that were willing to rise up against the current mayor who is a Goliath in politics,” the Jamaican-Canadian entrepreneur said of Steven Del Duca, a former Ontario Liberal leader and cabinet minister elected to lead Vaughan in 2022.
“There’s a lack of accountability and transparency with the current leaders — an arrogance — and, after 20 years in business, I can prioritize solutions and let people’s voices be heard,” said Cerrelli, who launched her mayoral bid Aug. 21, two hours before registrations for municipal candidates closed across Ontario.
She was not alone. New figures from the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) and the Toronto Star reveal that fears of a continued slide in the number of civic candidates were extinguished by a rush of wannabe councillors, mayors and deputy mayors, many of them first-timers jumping into the democratic process.
The surprise surge in local candidates
Amid global concerns that the democratic process is under attack, a surprise rise in municipal candidates across Ontario — with one Toronto ward race leading the pack in last-minute additions — is being welcomed with cautious relief.
“There are definitely some encouraging signs for local democracy this year,” said Lindsay Jones, executive director of AMO, which warned in late July, three months after registrations opened, that “a growing number of council seats across Ontario continue to have few — or in some cases no — registered candidates.”
Ontario’s 444 municipalities ended up with a total 6,663 candidates. That’s up six per cent from four years ago, when both candidate and voter participation dropped, and also above the 2018 election total.
The number of unopposed candidates across Ontario dropped significantly this election to 400, from 548 acclamations in 2022. Just over two-thirds of this election’s hopefuls are first-timers. Female candidates now represent 32 per cent of the total, up slightly from 31 per cent in the last election and 27 per cent in 2018.
Jones noted the overall candidate bump is small and not reason to relax efforts to strengthen local democracy.
A Star analysis of Ontario’s most populous municipalities, for the Vote Compass initiative that will let voters in 50 communities compare their views to those of local candidates, showed cause for concern until just before the final week of registrations. Then about 500 people — almost one-quarter of the final total — threw their hats into the ring, according to municipal candidate webpages that could include some earlier registrations belatedly posted online.
Toronto had the most late sign-ups with 65, but on a percentage basis Quinte West in southeast Ontario took the prize with almost half its 30 candidates registering in the final days possible.
David Thomson, who works in the dairy industry, added his name to those of Zack Card and Shelley Stedall seeking the open mayor’s chair after longtime Quinte West leader Jim Harrison announced his retirement.
“I’m the type of person that thinks first, then acts intentionally. The last day to register fit my approach,” Thomson said in an email, adding that he’s promising to use strong-mayor powers to ensure annual property tax freezes.
Vaughan saw the highest percentage of late candidate registrations in the GTA, but the Toronto-Danforth council race jumped from two candidates to 18 almost overnight, when longtime councillor Paula Fletcher announced her shock retirement two days after registering for re-election.
Maria Voutsinas said she registered after Fletcher was out, and not before, because incumbent candidates have a well-established advantage thanks to name recognition, and contacts and knowledge gained while in office.
Now, “there is a more level playing field for the candidates,” said the former executive director of the National Ethnic Press and Media Council of Canada, whose Toronto-Danforth rivals include a sitting councillor and a former councillor.
What’s driving people to run for office now?
Ontario’s previous drop in council candidates was attributed to such factors as Premier Doug Ford’s government usurping powers previously wielded by local councils — such as ministerial zoning orders that bypass local planning rules and changes to local conservation authorities — thereby reducing the appeal of running for council.
So what has changed?
“I don’t think you can attribute it to any single factor,” said AMO’s Jones of the candidate increase.
“It points to the fact that people see the value in participating in the process,” she said, noting that loss of local power might actually be spurring participation.
“Anecdotally, some candidates are coming forward precisely because they feel like local voices are getting shut out of some of those issues and decisions that are really important to them. I think that that’s a positive sign.”
Experts have also cited a rise in harassment of public officials, both online and in person, as a candidate dissuader.
Jones said such abuse remains a concern cited by many local officials as a hazard of the job.
Back in Vaughan, Cerrelli said she considered those factors but decided to run for mayor anyway.
“I was told by many people ‘Why are you doing this, you’re not going to win,’ and they listed challenges like I wasn’t born in Canada.
“I am a Jamaican immigrant and the challenges don’t scare me — for me that’s a typical Monday morning.”
With files from Nathan Pilla
