Electoral rules laid out for candidates

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This article was published 18/07/2022 (1161 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

With registration open for city councillors and mayoral candidates in this fall’s municipal election, Brandon’s senior election official laid out some of the rules and practices involved with the process during Monday’s council meeting.

Until recently, Heather Ewasiuk served as city clerk, but has now retired from those duties while remaining as senior election official.

The assembled councillors and guests were shown a video recorded by Mayor Rick Chrest for the Association of Manitoba Municipalities.

The series of 12 videos includes testimonials and advice from people in municipal politics about what it’s like to serve in their roles and what kind of people would best thrive in the positions.

Ewasiuk said one of the goals in this election is to promote female candidates, and she played a video featuring former Town of Rossburn mayor Shirley Kalyniuk about the importance of women in politics and the opportunities she has seen from her involvement.

“There’s been a lot of research done on why there are barriers to women running for office,” Ewasiuk said.

A recent Association of Manitoba Municipalities study, she said, showed that some of those barriers include a lack of time to pursue their political goals, the perception that politics is an old boys’ club and misogyny that women in politics face.

To promote women running in Brandon, Ewasiuk said there will be an effort to provide them with resources and connect them with women who have held office in Brandon like Coun. Jan Chaboyer (Green Acres) and former councillor Lonnie Patterson.

To run as a candidate, residents must drop off registration form to Ewasiuk before the beginning of September.

Candidates must register before raising funds or campaigning and must create a separate bank account dedicated to a campaign.

Even if a candidate is acclaimed — appointed to an uncontested position — Ewasiuk said they must still register and still provide a campaign finance report.

Additionally, candidates who enter must sign an agreement with the city regarding the proper placement of election signs.

This year, mayoral candidates have a campaign expense limit of $19,100 and councillors a limit of $4,800.

School trustees do not have to register as per provincial law.

While Ewasiuk said she will not have regular office hours during July, she will in August, and interested candidates can still arrange things by contacting the city’s legislative services office.

The website is still being updated with information, but residents can visit brandonvotes.ca for a list of rules for both electors and candidates.

After Ewasiuk’s presentation, Coun. Shawn Berry (Linden Lanes) reminded those in attendance that there is no requirement that residents run for council in the ward they live in. Berry recalled that the last time there was healthy voter turnout was when there was a plebiscite on whether to bring a casino to town.

Coun. Bruce Luebke (South Centre), acting as deputy mayor with Chrest on vacation, asked Ewasiuk if work is being done to improve voter turnout. She said there have been joint meetings between the city and the Brandon School Division to see what can be done on that front.

As he advocated in an interview with the Sun earlier this summer, Coun. Kris Desjarlais (Rosser) suggested thinking outside of the box to attract voters, like holding a lottery in which a winning voter would have their property taxes for the year returned.

Those ideas are being considered, Ewasiuk said, but the issue with a lottery like that is that not every voter owns property.

“What might be an incentive for you might not be an incentive for me,” she said.

To qualify to run in Brandon’s municipal election this year, a resident must be at least 18 years old, a Canadian citizen and have been a resident or property owner in the city for at least six months before election day.

Election day is Oct. 26.

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