GUELPH POLITICAST #120 - Clerk O'Brien on Election Rules

The news is full of election stories, and politicos everywhere are eagerly counting down to the beginning of the campaign. That's the provincial story, of course, but there's more than one election this year. We're going to focus on the municipal one for this week's podcast, and if you're thinking about running, or thinking about supporting someone that's running, this one's for you.

As you're undoubtedly aware, and if you visit this website then you should be aware, municipal politics are very different from those at the provincial and federal levels. We've got no political parties in municipal politics, which means there are no party operatives that specialize in campaigning. That means there a lot of candidates who are going to be their own campaign managers too.

What to do? Well, you can always arm yourself with knowledge! In the Politicast tradition of breaking down barriers between you and City Hall, this week's episode is dedicated to everything you need to know about the election but were afraid to ask: What do you have have to do to file? Where do you get those forms? Why do you have to fill them out? How have the rules changed since the last election?

This week, we get all that insight and more from City Clerk Stephen O'Brien. Three-quarters of the time, O'Brien is pre-occupied with the smooth and efficient running of council, but at this time he must put on the proverbial hat of returning officer for the City of Guelph. He's also the man with the answers about what the rules are, who makes the rules, what you should know, what you should *really* know, and how best you can run a campaign within the legal bounds authorized by the rules in the Municipal Elections Act.

Actual election victory though is entirely up to you...

So let's talk about the rules of the election game on this week's Guelph Politicast!

If you're interested in learning more about running for office in this fall's municipal election, but you want a more personal touch, you can go to the second of two information sessions at City Hall on Thursday April 19 at 2 pm. Otherwise, you might want to check out the City's election website by clicking here.

The theme music for the Guelph Politicast is from the KPM Klassics collection by Syd Dale.

The host for the Guelph Politicast is Podbean. Find more episodes of the Politicast here.

Remember that the Politicast Podbean channel is also the host for podcast versions of Open Sources Guelph. The previous Thursday's episode of Open Sources will be posted on Mondays.