Council Vacancy Appointment Procedure

“Act” means the Municipal Elections Act, 1996, S.O., 1996, c.32, Sched. as amended.

“Candidate” means an individual seeking to be appointed to fill a vacancy in the office of Councillor, having met the eligibility requirements and who has completed the requisite documentation as required by this procedure.

“Chair” means the Member of Council presiding at the Council meeting to appoint an individual to fill a Council vacancy.

“Clerk” means the municipal clerk appointed by Council of The Corporation of the Town of Collingwood.

“Council” means the Council of The Corporation of the Town of Collingwood.

“Eligible Elector” has the same meaning as subsection 17(2) of the Act, namely a person:

• who is a resident of the Town of Collingwood, or an owner or tenant of land in Collingwood or the spouse of such an owner or tenant;
• who is a Canadian Citizen;
• who is at least 18 years old; and,
• who is not prohibited from voting under any other Act or from holding municipal office.

“Lot” means a method of determination by placing the names of the Candidates on equal size pieces of paper and placed in a container with one Candidate name being drawn by the Town Clerk.

“Procedural By-law” means By-law No. 2021-090, as amended.

“Town” means The Corporation of the Town of Collingwood.

1. Any individual filling the vacancy must be an Eligible Elector.
2. Any employee of the Town who seeks appointment to Council must be an Eligible Elector. The employee is required to give written notice, prior to submitting any documentation required by the procedure, of his or her intention to take unpaid leave, in accordance with the Act. If the employee is appointed to office, he or she will be deemed to have resigned from their position with the Town immediately before making the declaration of office.

1. The Town will post a Council Vacancy notice on the municipal website, social media and in the local newspaper. The notice will outline the requirements to be considered for an appointment and the application process.
2. Any individual wishing to be considered for appointment to fill the Council vacancy will complete and sign the Council Appointment Consent of Nominee Form and a Council Vacancy Declaration of Qualifications Form prescribed by the Clerk. Applications for the vacant seat may be filed with the Clerk within the time period determined by the Clerk and provided in the required notice. Candidates shall submit the forms to the Clerk (or Deputy Clerk) in-person or electronically/online by the deadline established by the Clerk, with such deadline providing a minimum of 10 business days for the submission of applications.
3. Any individual wishing to be considered for appointment to fill the Council vacancy will be required to provide identification to prove his or her identity and qualifying address to the satisfaction of the Clerk.
4. Candidates may submit a personal statement of interest and qualification with their application, for consideration of Council, maximum 2 pages. 
5. It is the Candidate’s sole responsibility to meet any deadline, complete a bone fide application or otherwise comply with any requirement of this procedure.
6. The Clerk will create a list of all eligible Candidates that have complied with the application process. All applications shall be considered public documents and will be made available for public viewing upon request at the Town Hall, 97 Hurontario Street, Collingwood, Ontario with a list of the names of the candidates posted to the municipal website.
7. A Candidate who wishes to withdraw his/her application may do so in person and in writing to the Clerk. The deadline for any withdrawal shall be up to noon of the date of the special Council meeting called to fill the vacancy.

1. A vote to fill a vacancy on Council by appointment will occur at an open Council meeting. The meeting shall be a special Council meeting called for that purpose. All qualified candidates who have submitted an application for the vacant seat will be notified by the Clerk of the date and time of the special meeting of Council, at which time they may address Council. Candidates are required to notify the Clerk no later than 24 hours before the start of the special meeting of Council of their intention to address Council at the meeting.
2. Notwithstanding the requirements of the Procedural By-law, the agenda for the meeting shall be set by the Clerk to allow for the orderly proceedings of selecting a Candidate.
3. At the meeting, the following will take place:
   1. The Chair will make a short statement of the purpose of the meeting and the general order of proceedings to be followed.
   2. Each of the Candidates will be afforded the opportunity to address Council for a period of not more than five (5) minutes. The order of speaking will be by candidate surname in alphabetical order, similar to that of an election ballot.
   3. Upon hearing all the submissions of the Candidates, Council will proceed to vote as follows:
      1. Candidate names will be called and/or displayed in alphabetical order, by the Clerk or designate.
      2. The Clerk will call the vote for each candidate in order of surname by alphabetical order.
      3. Members of Council will vote for one Candidate only.
      4. Each Member shall confirm their vote by raising their hand or using their voting cards at the call of each vote.
      5. After the vote for each of the Candidate’s has been completed, the Clerk will tabulate the results and call out the results.
   4. The following procedure shall be used for counting the votes:
      1. The Candidate who receives the votes of more than one-half of the number of members of Council present and voting shall fill the vacancy.
      2. If the Candidate receiving the greatest number of votes does not receive more than one-half the votes of all voting members of Council, the Candidate or Candidates who received the fewest number of votes will be excluded from further consideration. The name of a Candidate or Candidates excluded shall be removed from the list of Candidates being called and/or displayed. 
      3. The vote will be taken again by the Clerk and, if necessary, more than once, excluding in each successive vote the Candidate or Candidates who receive the fewest number of votes. This process will be repeated until the Candidate receiving the greatest number of votes has also received more than one-half of the votes of the voting members of Council.
      4. Where the votes cast are equal for all the Candidates and if:
         1. There are three or more Candidates remaining, the Clerk will by Lot select one such Candidate to be excluded from the subsequent votes;
         2. If only two (2) Candidates remain, the tie will be broken by selecting a Candidate by Lot to fill the vacancy, as conducted by the Clerk.
   5. Upon conclusion of voting, the Clerk will declare the Candidate receiving the votes of more than one-half of the number of the voting members of Council or the Candidate selected through section (d)(iv)b.
   6. The appointment of the Candidate will be made by by-law. A by-law confirming the appointment will be enacted by Council.
   7. The Clerk will administer the Declaration of Office required by subsection 232(1) of the Municipal Act, 2001, at the meeting where the by-law is enacted by Council, or as directed by Council.
   8. Where a situation occurs that is not otherwise accounted for in these procedures, the Clerk may recommend an alternate process and/or Council determine an alternate procedure, which Council may adopt with a 2/3rd majority vote.