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Manitoba’s NDP government is advising East St. Paul to disclose the identity of its election candidates — something the Winnipeg-area municipality has no plans to do until the final weeks of this year’s campaign.
Voters in the Rural Municipality of East St. Paul, located northeast of Winnipeg, go to the polls on Oct. 28. Candidates for mayor have been eligible to register their campaigns since May 1, while registration for council candidates began June 30.
Unlike the City of Winnipeg and most other municipalities, East St. Paul has not published the names of its mayoral and council candidates so far in this campaign.
Community activists say the secrecy raises public safety concerns, reduces transparency and may lead to less competition on election day.
Chief administrative officer Suzanne Ward said the municipality won’t publish candidate names until late September, after the nomination period has closed.
“There is no legislative requirement to post candidates’ names on a municipal website,” Ward said Wednesday via email.
“Once nomination papers have been received, accepted by the senior election official and signed off, they become available for public review in accordance with the legislation.”
The earliest that could happen is Sept. 23, the deadline for nominated candidates to withdraw from the campaign.
East St. Paul also has an “election candidate disclosure” procedure, effective since Nov. 1, 2022, requiring the municipality not to disclose whether any individual has registered as a candidate until the close of nominations.
Ward said this week this policy is unused and that she was not even aware it existed until recently.
Nonetheless, it is unclear whether East St. Paul even discloses the identity of registered candidates to members of the public who visit the municipal office in person in Birds Hill.
When CBC News visited the office Wednesday, a municipal employee referred the query to senior election official Heidi Speers, who in turn said via text she could not respond until Friday.
Glen Simard, Manitoba’s Minister of Municipal and Northern Relations, said his government advises all municipalities, including East St. Paul, to disclose the identity of registered candidates as soon as possible.
In a statement, Simard said while provincial legislation doesn’t require candidate registrations to be made public before nominations, the NDP government believes more transparency helps build public confidence in the electoral process.
“We strongly encourage municipalities to make candidate registration information available as soon as it is received,” Simard said Wednesday in a statement.
“Our advice has consistently been that providing this information early is a best practice that supports openness, fairness and public trust.”
Glen Simard, Manitoba’s Municipal Relations Minister, said his governments advises municipalities to disclose the identity of election candidates. (Rudy Gauer/CBC)Community activists decry secrecy
Brian Wachko, a self-disclosed council candidate for East St. Paul’s Ward 2, said the municipal decision to keep candidate identities secret has a number harmful consequences, including reduced public safety.
“If somebody comes to my door and saying that they’re a potential candidate, I should have the ability to contact the elections office and say, ‘Is this person legitimate?’ They’re asking for my signature, asking for personal information. They may be asking for a donation,” Wachko said Wednesday in an interview at his home in East St. Paul.
“There should be some kind of verification process with this.”
Wachko also said voters ought to know the identity of candidates because once they register, they have access to voter lists.
He also said secrecy may dissuade some prospective candidates from running at all.
“It’s been very unclear if the incumbents are stepping forward and running again. It’s unclear if there’s other new candidates that want to run and have have registered,” he said.
Craig Hodkinson, a Wachko political ally, also said the secrecy could result in more candidates getting acclaimed.
“You could think that everything is going to be contested and then find out somebody gets in by acclamation and there’d be no way for you to know one way or another,” said Hodkinson, who does not live in Ward 2 and thus can not vote for Wachko.
“I think everybody wants every ward to be contested.”
No comment from existing council
None of the five elected members of East St. Paul’s council offered any opinion about the municipality’s candidate disclosure policy.
Mayor Carla Devlin did not respond to requests for comment. Neither did Couns. Brian Imhoff and Brian Duval.
Couns. Charles Posthumus and Orest Horechko declined to comment on the policy. Both, however, confirmed they are running in the upcoming election.
Posthumus, who was first elected Ward 4 councillor in 2006, said via text message he intends to run once more. Horechko, who has represented Ward 2 since 2014, said he is running for mayor.