THUNDER BAY – As voters across the nation prepare to cast their ballots in less than three weeks, Elections Canada is pushing to hire people to man the polls.
Thunder Bay-Superior North returning officer Bill Everitt said there will be 700 people hired in his electoral district alone, with a number of spots remaining.
“We have probably about 100 positions left to fill and we’re looking for people who will be available on Oct. 19 for the election day,” he said on Tuesday. “They must be residents in the electoral district in which they’ll be working. They must be 18 and Canadian citizens.”
Positons that must be filled include deputy returning officers, poll clerks, information officers and central poll supervisors.
While a marathon campaign of 78 days has helped reduce pressure, there is still work to do.
“We’re feeling pretty comfortable about our readiness. The last concern we have is getting that last group of people recruited and trained,” Everitt said.
“I’ve been in this position for a number of elections and I would say finding election workers has been more challenging every election. People are busy and not as many seem to be available.”
During the course of the campaign there are more than 200 polls within Thunder Bay-Superior North, including advanced polls.
Riding recruitment officer June Baker said there is also a premium on finding people who speak both of Canada’s official languages.
“We need many more people to come in,” she said. “We’re particularly looking for people who are bilingual because legislation says we should have more bilingual people so we’re trying to do that more fairly.”
She added a standby list of about 40 people is also required to provide insurance on election day in case people are unable to show up.
Information about the remaining positions, as well as applications, can be found online.
