• Sections 256 and 258 of the Municipal Act, 2001 state:

“(256)  Every person is qualified to be elected or to hold office as a member of a council of a local municipality,

(a)       who is entitled to be an elector in the local municipality under section 17 of the Municipal Elections Act, 1996; and

(b)       who is not disqualified by this or any other Act from holding such office."

• Is there a requirement for Ward Councillors to reside within the Ward that they represent?  - The Municipal Elections Act, 1996 does not require a Candidate for the Office of Ward Councillor to reside within the Ward he or she represents
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QUALIFICATIONS OF ELECTORS

• Municipal Elections Act, 1996 Section 17 (2) and (3) state:

"(17)    (2)       A person is entitled to be an elector at an election held in a local municipality if he or she, 

•        resides in the local municipality or is the owner or tenant of land there, or the spouse of such owner or tenant;
•        is a Canadian citizen;
•         is at least 18 years old; and
•        is not prohibited from voting under subsection (3) or otherwise by law.

                        The following are prohibited from voting:

•          A person who is serving a sentence of imprisonment in a penal or correctional institution.
•          A corporation.
•          A person acting as executor or trustee or in any other representative capacity, except as a voting proxy in accordance with section 44 [see “Proxy Voting”].
•          A person who was convicted of the corrupt practice described in subsection 90 (3) [see “Offences and Corrupt Practices], if voting day in the current election is less than five years after voting day in the election in respect of which he or she was convicted.”

•           Please note: The owner of a business that is a corporation does not have the right to vote [see 17 (3) 2, above].

•           Students who are attending school in one municipality but have their permanent residence in another municipality, have the ability to vote in both municipalities.

•           Section 2 (2.1) of the Municipal Elections Act, 1996 is NEW

            2 (2.1) Despite paragraph 1 of subsection (2), a person may have residences in two local municipalities at the same time if,
(a)       the person lives in one of the local municipalities in order to attend an educational institution, but not with the intension of changing his or her permanent lodging place; and
                        (b)       the person’s permanent lodging place is in the other local municipality.”

• .

DISQUALIFICATION OF MEMBER OF COUNCIL

“(258)  (1)       The following are not eligible to be elected a member of a council or to hold office as a member of a council:

1.         Except in accordance with section 30 of the Municipal Elections Act, 1996, an employee of the municipality or a person who is not an employee of the municipality but who is the clerk or treasurer of the municipality or who holds any administrative position of the municipality.

[An employee must be on a leave of absence prior to filing his or her Nomination Paper.  He or she must provide the Clerk with the original documentation showing that he or she has taken a leave of absence and the effective date of the leave.]

2.         A judge of any court.

3.         A member of the Assembly as provided in the Legislative Assembly Act or of the Senate or House of Commons of Canada.

[A member of the Provincial Legislature, the Federal House of Commons or Senate must resign for his or her office by the close of nominations at 2:00 p.m. Friday, September 10th, 2006.  Proof of resignation must be provided to the Clerk by 2:00 p.m. on Friday, September 10th, 2006, or the Clerk will refuse to certify the nominations.]

4.         Except in accordance with Part III of the Public Service Act, a crown employee as defined in that Act.”

•           A Candidate who has failed to file the necessary financial statements in the last municipal election or by-election is also disqualified as being a Candidate.

•           A member of Council must maintain his or her qualifications throughout the entire term of office or else his or her seat will become vacant.

•           Please note that a person who is an undischarged bankrupt or insolvent within the meaning of any Bankruptcy or Insolvency Act in force in Ontario is NO LONGER disqualified from being a member of Council.  This restriction was repealed in 1996.

258     “(2)      A member of council of a municipality is disqualified from holding office if, at any time during the term of office of that member, he or she,

•        ceases to be a Canadian citizen;
•        is not a resident, the owner or tenant of land or the spouse of an owner or tenant of land in the municipality, in the case of a member of council of a local municipality, or in a lower-tier municipality within the upper-tier municipality, in the case of a member of council of an upper-tier municipality; or
•         would be prohibited under this or any other Act from voting."