Voters in a number of eastern Ontario communities won’t need to cast ballots in upcoming municipal elections — including in some mayoral races — because only one candidate took the plunge.
Of the 20 most populous municipalities outside the capital in CBC Ottawa’s coverage area, 11 find themselves in this boat, according to a review of their final election rosters.
CBC Ottawa has not done a top-to-bottom review of the more than 100 municipalities it covers. The Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) says it’s still crunching the numbers for the whole province, after finding four years ago that 548 council positions were acclaimed, up from 477 in the 2018 elections.
But the early data suggests the acclamation trend is not going away this election.
“I don’t take away anything from the people who’ve been acclaimed. They’ve stepped up,” Riley Brockington, the recently acclaimed president of AMO, said Friday after the 2 p.m. deadline for candidates to file had passed.
“But I do think when positions are challenged, it just adds an extra dynamic that we need. That’s part of our democracy where we engage in the issues even more,” added Brockington, who was also acclaimed to serve a fourth term as councillor for Ottawa’s River ward.
WATCH | Inside the acclamation wave:
Of the 20 largest communities outside Ottawa, candidates will be uncontested in 11
Of the 20 most populated municipalities outside Ottawa, more than half feature races in which only one candidate registered to run in the upcoming municipal elections, including some mayoral races. The CBC’s Guy Quenneville reports.’You really have to love it’
In the Municipality of North Grenville, Russell Township, and the Township of South Glengarry, the lone mayoral candidates have been acclaimed, too.
In the case of North Grenville and Russell, the incumbent mayor is retaining the position, while in South Glengarry the current deputy mayor is moving into the big chair.
The previous mayor of Russell Township stepped down in 2024, citing a toxic online culture and personal attacks among his reasons for leaving.
Mike Tarnowski, who took on the mayor’s role after serving as a councillor, and who was the only person to run for mayor this year, said the negative posts aren’t as bad “if you don’t engage too directly with them.”
Mayor Nancy Peckford of North Grenville, who was also the only person to run for mayor in her community this year (after handily beating one opponent for the top job in 2022), said she’s encountered more support than vitriol.
“When someone makes a comment that’s maybe a little bit offside or goes too far, the number of residents that step in and [are] a voice of reason on my behalf … is truly impressive and it happens time and time again,” she said.
Nancy Peckford, the mayor of the Municipality of North Grenville, was also the only candidate to run for the top job in her community in this year’s election. (Municipality of North Grenville)
Peckford said the intensifying level of commitment and engagement a council job requires might account for the lower participation this year. Six candidates are vying for the council’s other four seats, down from nine in 2022.
“The difficulty in regards to some of the decisions we have to make — I don’t think there’s necessarily a lot of people in North Greenville that were highly motivated or willing to step up because of the conditions of the work,” she said.
“It’s not to say it’s not a great privilege to serve, but there are serious opportunity costs to doing these jobs when it comes to quality of life, among other things. So I think you really have to love it to do it. I’m one of those people who does love it.”
Tarnowski is pictured with the other current members of his township council. (Russell Township)
In Russell Township, five people are running for the council’s four non-mayor seats — two fewer candidates than in 2022.
As candidates told CBC during the 2022 municipal election season, financial considerations are probably holding others back.
“I would consider [being mayor] a full-time position, but the working conditions are not ideal. I mean, you’ve got job security for four years and your pay is mediocre at best,” said Tarnowski, who took on the mayor’s role after retiring as an Algonquin College administrator.
“[For] a young person in the middle of their career, it’s not a great risk/reward kind of situation to dump your career and take a chance to be mayor.”
1 municipality, 5 acclamations
In six of the 20 communities CBC looked at — all of which have populations over 10,000 — the mayoral candidate, along with at least one other council candidate, has been acclaimed.
That’s what’s happened in The Nation, Carleton Place, the Township of South Stormont, Loyalist Township, Napanee, and Mississippi Mills.
Incumbent Mayor Jim Hegadorn in Loyalist Township said factors like the rise of incivility mean “it’s getting tougher to be an elected official these days.”
“Any time there are acclamations and a general decline in the number of candidates seeking election, it raises concern about the overall health of local democracy,” he added via email.
Mississippi Mills is a unique case. Not only has incumbent Mayor Christa Lowry been acclaimed, so has the deputy mayor plus two fellow current councillors and one newcomer.
Clarence-Rockland has one ward where a sole candidate has been acclaimed, whereas Kingston, the largest city in the region outside of Ottawa, has two such districts.
Voters head to the polls in all Ontario municipalities on Oct. 26.