Thursday will mark opening day for candidates to file nominations for the 2014 municipal election.
Nominations for all seven wards, the five at-large positions, mayor and the school boards will open at 8:30 a.m. at the city clerk’s office at city hall, and close on Sept. 12 at 2 p.m.
To be eligible to run in for city council in an Ontario municipality, a potential candidate must be 18 or older on the day the nomination is filed.
A candidate must also be eligible to vote in the municipality, cannot be a municipal employee not on an unpaid leave of absence, a judge of any court, an MP, MPP or a senator or an inmate serving a sentence in a penal or correctional institution.
Ward candidates do not have to live in the ward they choose to run in, but should they choose a ward in which they don’t live, they would not be able to vote for themselves, according to documents provided by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing. They must, however, be a resident of the ward they're running in on nomination day.
To qualify to run in a school board election a candidate must live within the jurisdiction of the board and be eligible to vote in a school board election, aged 18 or older when nomination papers are filed.
School board employees can only run if they take an unpaid leave of absence and must resign their position if they are elected.
The fee to file a nomination to run for the head of council – in Thunder Bay’s case, for mayor – is $200. It’s $100 for all other positions. This fee must be paid when the nomination is handed in. Fees are refundable if one’s candidacy is withdrawn, if you are elected or if you receive more than two per cent of the votes cast for the office.
Withdrawals must be made in writing no later than the close of nominations.
The muncipal election is scheduled for Oct. 27.
A complete list of municipal election regulations can be found here.
