Hamilton’s Ward 8, which encompasses the West/Central Mountain, looks set for a municipal by-election since their Councillor John-Paul Danko was just elected as a Member of Parliament (MP) for the Liberal Party in Hamilton West – Ancaster – Dundas.
The ward runs north-south from the Niagara Escarpment to the hydro corridor just south of Rymal Road and east-west from Upper Wellington Street to Garth Street.
The area is home to Mohawk College and St. Joseph’s Hospital’s West 5th Campus. As of 2021, the riding had a population of 36,130 residents.
Although Danko was elected as an MP according to the unofficial results published by Elections Canada, Council still has to wait until his municipal seat is officially vacated before choosing how to proceed.
While the ward looks set for a potential by-election, given that the next municipal election is about 18 months away, Hamilton Councillors could also decide to appoint someone to serve as the area’s representative without a resident vote.
After Danko’s seat is vacated, Council will have 60 days to either appoint a replacement or call a by-election.
From there, a nomination period of 30 to 60 days would be set, with election day coming 45 days after nominations close.
The most recent example of a Council seat being vacated in this manner was in September 2021 when Chad Collins, who then represented Ward 5 (Hamilton East – Stoney Creek), was elected as an MP.
With only 13 months remaining until the next municipal election at the time, Council opted to appoint Collins’ replacement and accepted nominations from the public.
In the end, Council narrowed the options down to two candidates, former Councillor Russ Powers and former Mayor Larry Di Ianni, ultimately selecting Powers on an 8 to 6 vote.
Before that, the last instance was in June 2018 when Donna Skelly, who was Councillor for Ward 7 (Central Mountain), was elected as a Member of Provincial Parliament less than five months before the 2018 municipal election.
In that case, Council once again opted for appointment, choosing former municipal politician Terry Anderson to serve in the interim.
While Hamilton Council may call a by-election this time since the next municipal election is still well over a year away, some Councillors may be hesitant given that by-elections come with a cost.
In terms of a potential appointment process, Councillors could choose the candidate who came second to Danko in the 2022 municipal election (in this case, Sonia Brown).
Council could also ask for an open call for applications and have each candidate present to Council before voting to appoint a replacement.
As another option, Council could appoint an individual without any application process.
If a by-election is called, the city could make online voting an option for residents.
The city allowed residents to use online voting in the recent Ward 4 public school board trustee by-election but has never used it to fill a Council seat.
In the recent by-election, only 473 people voted, with 213 of those (45 per cent) casting their vote online.
It remains to be seen what process Council will use to fill the empty seat and whether or not online voting will be an option if a by-election is called.
Based in Hamilton, he reaches hundreds of thousands of people monthly on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. He has been published in The Hamilton Spectator, Stoney Creek News, and Bay Observer. He has also been a segment host with Cable 14 Hamilton. In 2017, he received the Chancellor Full Tuition Scholarship from the University of Ottawa (BA, 2022). He has also received the Governor General’s Academic Medal. He formerly worked in a non-partisan role on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
