FORT FRANCES — The Town of Fort Frances’ newest councillor will gain their seat by appointment, with the very structure of council itself potentially looking different in the near future.
At this week's meeting of town council, the Town of Fort Frances officially declared the position formerly held by Mandi Olson as vacant. Olson announced her resignation just over a week ago, marking the second such move in this council’s term.
As the seat was declared vacant, the town was then immediately faced with deciding how it would go about filling that vacancy for the remainder of council’s four-year term, which will come to an end with municipal elections in 2026.
As part of a report prepared for council, municipal clerk Gabrielle Lecuyer laid out the potential options for councillors, noting that they could choose to appoint a former candidate from the 2022 election, appoint a councillor through an open call process, directly nominate someone to potentially fill the seat, or go ahead with a by-election to determine the newest councillor.
Her report also noted, in response to several resignations and lower turnout of municipal candidates, that council may wish to review its composition in order to “ensure it reflects the needs and diversity of the community,” which would not result in immediate changes but instead lay the groundwork for future adjustments.
While the decision was ultimately up to council, the report did recommend that council choose to hold a by-election, which was listed as Option 4, as well as to begin the process of reviewing council composition, which was listed as Option 5.
Lecuyer noted the by-election was recommended to ensure transparency and democratic representation.
“A by-election ensures that the public has an active role in selecting their representative, promoting transparency and reinforcing the democratic process,” Lecuyer wrote in the report.
“Repeated appointments may give the perception of a closed process, undermining the community’s trust in governance. By holding a by-election, Council demonstrates its commitment to inclusivity, encouraging competitive elections that reflect the diverse voices of the community.
"While a by-election incurs costs, this approach reaffirms the town’s dedication to fair representation.”
At Monday night’s meeting, Lecuyer reiterated that, in spite of the costs of a by-election, she felt it was important to make that recommendation in her report, but she also expressed some frustration with the reality of facing another council vacancy in so short a time.
“[A by-election] will ensure community has voice in determining who will represent them at this table,” she said.
“However, I do want to highlight that we are quite discouraged with the necessity of having to make this recommendation of planning an election, especially given the overlap of meeting schedules happening and public hearings that are happening, budget deliberations, we’ve got holiday season. It’s a very, very busy time, not to mention the expenses that are associated with the by-election.
"So the situation creates some significant challenges when we were bringing forward our recommendations for staff, and I know it will pose some some issues for council operations as well. So I just wanted to make a note of that. Nonetheless, if council does wish to proceed with the by-election, we are dedicated, as always, at the clerk’s office of facilitating the election, and we will uphold that process and integrity and fairness as best we always have, and be transparent.”
The majority of councillors, however, balked at the costs of holding a by-election, as well as the timeframe of the said by-election, which could see the council seat empty for a period of months, though even the appointment process will take some time.
Coun. Steven Maki said he would vote for the appointment process over a by-election, as he did when council was tasked with filling former councillor David Kircher’s seat following his resignation this May.
“The timeline would be relatively quick in comparison to the by-election, where if we decided to do that, we wouldn’t be swearing anybody in for three-and-a-half months,” Maki said.
“And certainly the cost factor of by-election of $45,000 in today’s day and age, and our financial position, to be spending that when there’s quality alternative options, I think we should have an open call.”
Lecuyer addressed the timelines of the application process, noting that the position would likely be advertised in local media and social media for two to three weeks, similar to the town’s advertising policy for other job openings and that it could be expected to be completed faster than a by-election, though likely not until the new year.
Coun. John McTaggart added his voice in expressing concerns with the timeline and cost of a by-election, particularly in light of rising costs around other budgetary items the town must consider, such as policing. Fort Frances mayor Andrew Hallikas, who was attending the meeting virtually in light of a medical leave of absence, also expressed his support for the appointment process, citing previous examples of council pursuing that option.
“There is precedent for going. . . the call and appointment route,” Hallikas said.
“We did that several councils ago when councillor Tibbs passed away, and we called for folks to apply, and councillor [Doug] Kitowski was appointed. So I’m in agreement with councillor McTaggart and councillor Maki.”
Councillor Wendy Brunetta noted her preference for the appointment process, echoing earlier comments regarding the town’s limited budget and how much of a strain a by-election could put on it, while councillor Kaleb Firth said he was hopeful that through the appointment process the town would continue to see applicants who represented diverse and under-represented parts of the population on council.
“I know we can’t really control who’s going to apply, but what councillor Olson represented in our community as somebody on the younger side of things, young family, connected to the Indigenous community,” he said.
“There’s a lot of things that councillor Olson did provide to our group, and I’m hoping that when we have our open call, that people will consider joining our team as an inclusive team and a place that we can get to work and be productive.”
Deputy mayor Mike Behan was the sole dissenting voice to the appointment process, expressing his support for a by-election in spite of the cost as he echoed the clerk’s words about the concerns for a lack of transparency otherwise.
“I was leaning towards option four, simply because I really want to make sure that we’re open and transparent,” Behan said.
“And the last thing we need, I think, as council, is that, ‘oh sure, they picked the only person they liked, the person they agreed with, and the person who’s going to maybe raise problems or cause problems, they ignored that person.
"And I think let the people decide who they want to be in our council, and that’s why I’m leaning towards option four. But if I read the room correctly, it looks like option 2 [appointment] is the preferred one.”
Council also included the report’s Option 5 as suggested, meaning that it can begin the process of examining its composition. Lecuyer brought the option forward in light of low candidate trends across municipal elections, as well as repeated vacancies at the council table, and council.
McTaggart noted that the City of Thunder Bay is currently engaged in the same exercise. Coun. Brunetta said she would be curious to see what the council sizes of other municipalities of the same rough population are, as the current Town of Fort Frances council composition was approved at a time when the population of the town was higher than it is now.
The Ontario Municipal Act, 2001 establishes the minimum size for the council of a local municipality in the province as five members, “one of whom shall be head of council.”
Council approved the motion to pursue the appointment process to fill the vacant council seat, as well as to begin the process of looking into council composition 5-1, with Behan remaining the only dissenting voice.
Fort Frances Times / Local Journalism Initiative
