Fall provincial vote could spell trouble for municipal elections, warns Goobie

By Craig Westcott

Holyrood Mayor Gary Goobie is among the growing number of people wondering, and worrying, whether this year’s provincial election will butt into the same campaign period as the one for the more than 270 municipalities also holding elections this fall.
Goobie addressed the issue at last week’s public council meeting.
The problem for Goobie, and others who are wondering about the possible conflict, is that towns and cities across Newfoundland and Labrador are scheduled to hold their local elections on October 2, and the Province must hold a provincial election by October 14, though it can be called anytime between now and then. Newly minted Premier John Hogan has been noncommittal on when he intends to drop the writ but has hinted it will come later in the year.
“Who knows when it’s going to happen, said Holyrood councillor Bruce King. “So anyway, we’re going to encourage people to get out and vote and encourage people to run for public office, it’s a great bit of fun.”
That comment got Goobie thinking about the possibility of voter fatigue.
“I hope the provincial election is not going to conflict with the municipal election,” said the mayor. “Especially after Canadians just going through this federal election and a (federal Liberal) leadership, and then a provincial (Liberal Party) leadership… It seems like we’re on the same trajectory for the timing of this… Unless something changes, mostly likely you’re going to see a provincial election the same time as the municipal election coming up and I’ve got some troubles with that.”
Aside from the possibility of the provincial and municipal elections having conflicting campaign periods, Goobie said, it may be time for Municipalities Newfoundland and Labrador (MNL) to look at moving the date of local elections anyway, which are held every four years.
“September is not a good month (for campaigning) for municipal elections,” said the mayor. “It’s obvious that the Province is struggling right now in trying to encourage younger people in the community to come forward and seek election for municipal office. These are young people with young families. So here we are going into a municipal election in September and it’s back to school time, a time when it takes a good month to two months to get their children settled in. The child could be settling into a new school. Obviously, they will be going to a different grade, with different friends… There’s a lot of things happening here.”
On top of that, said Goobie, the new councils elected in the fall will have to start immediately on preparing the next year’s budget.
“Now if you’ve got three or four new councillors around the table, they don’t even know where the offices are at that point,” he said. “And they’re expected within weeks to sit down and get their heels wet on how committees work, having to do a gamut, now, of courses through MNL on code of conduct and the list goes on and on. There was one course we had to do one day when it was a full day and we were doing it on Zoom… There’s a lot of responsibility and expectations placed upon new councillors… I think it would make more sense to have a municipal election say in April or May when there’s no time constraints, the budget is already done, and you have time to breathe and navigate around how municipal council works.”
After the last election four years ago, Goobie reminded his colleagues, they not only had to put together a budget by Christmas but also get their heads around contract negotiations with Town staff.
“It’s a lot,” he allowed. “There’s a lot to consider here and timing is everything… And for anybody out campaigning, it’s hurricane season. It’s the worst time for weather out campaigning. Multiple times I’ve had to go out 3 o’clock in the morning and haul down signs because the wind was blowing. It’s not ideal conditions to expect people to open up their doors in a rainstorm to have a chat with you. So, there’s whole list of reasons why some consideration (should be given) at some point… to determine whether September is really the best month for municipal elections, or whether it should be moved to early in the spring when the weather breaks and everybody has the time to breathe and take the time to get through it all.”