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Council to review proposed vacancy policy at Monday meeting

THUNDER BAY -- Iain Angus will be surprised if his colleagues don't support a vacancy policy Monday night.
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Coun. Iain Angus thinks council will approve a vacancy policy Monday. (Jamie Smith, tbnewswatch.com)

THUNDER BAY -- Iain Angus will be surprised if his colleagues don't support a vacancy policy Monday night.

Administration recommends council hold a by-election if there's a vacancy within the first three years of council's term and an appointment-by-committee after that. Angus, who proposed the idea of a policy, said despite council turning down a similar idea last time, there's more support around the table this time around.

"That's a much more transparent and open process than automatically going to the runner-up who was competing in a different environment," he said.

Angus points to the at-large race, where it's incredibly difficult to win against incumbents with name recognition. He points out that even in the last election, former councillor Frank Pullia won the vacancy left when Ken Boshcofff decided to run for mayor.

A by-election would allow a whole new crop of candidates to come forward. And while the report points out that a by-election is more expensive than appointment, that's the cost of democracy.

"Democracy is not cheap," Angus said.

"I think each and every time (people) should have a chance to make the decision as to who represents them."

Of the 28 cities in Ontario surveyed for the report, only three, Oakville, Burlington and Toronto, have vacancy policies.

Since amalgamation, council has seen around 19 vacancies with those replacing them chosen by appointment.





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