Will other councillors follow his lead?
Winnipeg Free Press
Friday May 14 2004
By Patti Edgar
MAYORAL candidate Garth Steek quit his council seat yesterday, an unexpected move that could force other councillors competing for the top job at city hall to resign so Winnipeggers will only have to vote in one civic election this summer.
Steek's resignation means a contest for a new River Heights councillor will run at the same time as the mayor's race.
Unless he drops out of the campaign, he can't keep a bid for his old job as councillor as a backup plan.
If the two other councillors expected to run for mayor, acting mayor Dan Vandal and Transcona's Russ Wyatt, don't quit by the end of Monday, the election for their ward seats would likely be in July instead of on the June 22 mayoral ballot.
Late yesterday afternoon in the city hall foyer, Steek told reporters he was quitting mostly to save the city the cost of holding a separate byelection.
"I think it underscores my commitment to the campaign for the mayor's office," he said. "The fact remains that I think it's the appropriate thing to do, I think it's the fair thing to do."
"It allows other people who are interested in running in River Heights and Linden Woods to come forward and gives them ample opportunity to put forward a strong candidacy."
The sudden move left his executive assistant Angie Rivalin-Clark shaken. She will stay on to help ward members until election day.
Vandal praised Steek's work as a councillor, but said Winnipeggers wouldn't learn about his own intentions until tomorrow morning.
Wyatt also refused to say what he planned to do, but commended Steek's move. "I think he did the honourable thing, if that gives you any indication."
Steek ran for mayor in 2002, but pulled out before election day. The mayor's office became open this week when Mayor Glen Murray resigned to run as a Liberal in the upcoming federal election.
On Tuesday, Premier Gary Doer suggested city councillors who run for mayor quit their jobs by the end of this week to avoid three elections within three weeks in Winnipeg -- a federal, mayoral and council election.
Richard Kachur, the city's returning officer, said yesterday he has looked into the rules further, and councillors actually have until the end of the work day Monday to quit.
He estimates it costs about $75,000 to hold one ward byelection.
If all the councillors running for the mayor's seat quit by Monday, that money could be saved, along with the headache of trying to hold a second vote in July when many Winnipeggers are on vacation and schools, common voting sites, are closed for the summer.
Also running in the June 22 mayoral election is former councillor Al Golden, police constable Tom Diack, bar owner John Scoles and city water technician Nelson (Morrison).
Natalie Pollock, who unsuccessfully threw herself into the mayor's race in 1995 and 1992, has also registered.
The former host of a local television talk show wants to draw attention to the fact that city hall doesn't perform same-sex marriages and smokers can no longer light up in restaurants and workplaces.
"Those are basic personal freedom issues," she said. On Wednesday, Intergovernmental Affairs Minister MaryAnn Mihychuk said the current mess at city hall will undoubtedly be discussed by a local election working group that's looking at harmonizing election rules in four different pieces of provincial legislation.
Mihychuk noted there are election provisions in the Public Schools Act, the Municipal Act, the Winnipeg Charter and the Local Elections Act, but there is little harmony in the rules and descriptions of electing school trustees, councilors, reeves and mayors.
"This is not good law making," said Mihychuk. "The timing is right because we need to prepare for the 2006 local elections. I'm sure what's happening today at the city of Winnipeg will have an effect on the amendments we look at."
-- with files from Dan Lett