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Mono council skuttles ballot referendum question

February 5, 2026   ·   0 Comments

By JAMES MATTHEWS

At least one Mono resident has urged town council not to be so quick to dismiss a request for a referendum on the system of municipal government.

Mono resident Bob McCrea asked in a letter to council Jan. 13 if a non-binding referendum question on the 2026 municipal election ballot could be used to gauge support for adopting a ward electoral system for the 2030 election.

It would basically be a continuation of an investigation that began during the last town council term, with the establishment of a volunteer group tasked with looking into the issue.

Council at the last meeting expressed contentment with the current system in which all councillors are elected by all participating voters as opposed to ballots being separated by municipal geography.

In effect, it was agreed that each resident has greater representation through the current means of municipal government.

McCrea returned and asked his question in person during council’s Jan. 27 meeting: Will council support the basic democratic principle of asking Mono residents what they want by including a non-binding question on the 2026 municipal election ballot?

Voters will be asked if they support a change to a ward electoral system for the 2030 municipal election.

“That would be real democracy in action,” McCrae said.

Councillor Melinda Davie asked whether the electoral reform task force, years ago, sought residents’ opinions on the issue or studied the facts. McCrae was a task force member in 2020.

“It was a long time ago,” he said.

The task force gatherings were public meetings, but McCrae said he doesn’t think many residents took part. He does remember a change to a ward system was approved by vote.

“By far the majority opinion, including all the rural people I’ve talked to, supports a ward system,” McCrae said. “So it’s not just something that Bob McCrae thinks is a good idea.”

He acknowledged that the recalled results of an informal vote many years ago are akin to hearsay. And that’s why he feels a referendum question on October’s municipal ballot is needed.

“Then we’ll know,” McCrae said.

Mayor John Creelman made a motion to have the issue explored more closely, especially given a recommendation was made by the past group that a ward system be established.

Creelman’s motion asked that Mono electors be given an opportunity to express their views on the topic by way of a non-binding referendum question on the next election ballot.

The question will be worded generally, allowing a future council some flexibility to decide whether to implement a ward system and, if so, set appropriate boundaries.

He said the referendum is not about a councillor’s personal views on a ward system. It would be about simply getting a possible direction on how the issue might be approached by the next council.

“It would not be a decision to create a ward system by this council but, rather, putting the issue into the hands of the future council,” he said.

Councillor Elaine Capes said she’s concerned about a low voter turnout. Specifically, the town could have a minority of residents decide something that would affect the majority.

Twenty-five per cent of Mono’s eligible voters cast ballots in the 2022 municipal contest. And that was with online and telephone voting available to make the election process easier for residents.

A little more participated in the 2018 municipal election when 33 per cent of eligible voters marked ballots. That turnout was blamed on the many candidates who were returned to council by acclamation that year.

“It’s non-binding,” Creelman said about the referendum and added that provincial legislation dictates the requirement for such a question to be binding.

“It’s an impossible threshold,” he said. “It’s up in the 60 per cent range.”

Fred Simpson, the town’s clerk, said there’s no such circumstance as a “mandatory not-binding” question. If the election turnout meets the thresholds set by legislation, it’s binding, he said. At least 50 per cent of registered voters must cast ballots.

“As council is aware, we haven’t had that kind of turnout in recent memory,” Simpson said.

“My thought is the next council will take that into consideration,” Creelman said.

“We have never in the past done a referendum question on the ballot and, I’m sorry, but I don’t see why we would change that practice now,” Capes said.

The motion was defeated.

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