By Nick Fonda
Local Journalism Initiative
After beating out five other candidates and garnering 50.7 per cent of the vote, Kevin Stoddard is the new town councillor for Richmond’s District 5.
Voter turnout, as is generally the case in municipal elections, was low. Of the 455 eligible voters in the district, only 136 cast their ballots, a turnout rate of 29.89 per cent.
In a few ways, this byelection was rather unusual.
Although it also happened in neighbouring Melbourne Township, it’s unusual to have several candidates contesting a seat in a municipal byelection. Often, candidates are elected by acclamation. As CBC reported, several towns of under 2,000 in population will likely take advantage of recent provincial legislation which, starting after 2025, will permit them to function with four councillors rather than six, which is now the norm.
It was also a byelection in which one issue was very fresh in the minds of the electorate: water. A broken water pump caused tap water in a significant number of households in Richmond to run brown for several weeks earlier in the summer.
Compared to the election campaign being waged south of the border, campaign spending in the District 5 byelection was very modest. Unlike in the neighbouring republic, where billions of dollars are being spent on election ads, Quebec law imposes limits on the sums spent on municipal elections. For the election of a municipal councillor in towns of over 5,000, the maximum base amount for election expenses is $1,890. This amount is increased by $0.30 per person entered on the electoral list of the district in which that person is a candidate.
Ironically, but understandably, there are no spending limits in towns of under 5,000, and the District 5 candidates—had they been backed by someone like Elon Musk—could have spent like drunken sailors, or presidential candidates.
