'Everything is up for discussion' on St. John's electoral reform, says mayor

A review commissioned by St. John's city council on the Citizens' Assembly for Stronger Elections NLfinal report has been released, but any potential electoral reform is still a ways away.

A panel of four expertswho reviewed the electoral reformreportwas struck in July and includes former St. John's councillor Marie Ryan, former MP Ross Reid and political scientists Amanda Bittner and Stephen Tomblin.

St. John's mayorDanny Breen spoke about some of the difficulties the panel had in conducting the review.

The report "was sent to us and we wanted to make sure that we dealt with it," Breen said.

"We got some expert advice, and I think the advice we've gotten there is that we really need to articulate what the issues are and what it is that you need to fix before you go about making changes."

The review was made available online on Dec. 19 and in its opening pages the authors write that the lack of background information and context in the original report made definitive policy recommendations difficult.

The panel opted to provide general pros and cons on the various electoral reform recommendations, which involved topics ranging from campaign finance rules to voter access.

I'm never closed-minded on anything that comes forward.-Danny Breen

Mayor Breen said he generally agrees with the findings of the review and is personally open to any discussion that might improve the electoral process.

"Everything is open for discussion and it's one of those things you want to talk about," Breen said.

"I'm never closed-minded on anything that comes forward."

One of the areas examined in the review is transparency in regards to campaign finances.Breen agrees the potential for problems exists within the current framework.

"The area where we probably do need to make changes is in the reporting," Breen said.

"Right now you have to report the money you raised but you don't have to report your expenditures."

CASE NL's report suggested many changes, such as those to the electoral process itself, that could not be made by the council alone. Those changeswould have to be made at a legislative level.

CASE NL put forward ranked ballots as an improvement to the current first-past-the-post system, and even though Breen personally likes the idea of ranked ballots, it's beyond his purview.

"The Municipal Elections Act is a provincial act, so that decision would have to be made for us by the province," Breen said.

"But I think a ranked ballot is a good way of deciding elections."

Issues of enfranchisement

Breen said he would like to see a mechanism in place for students to be able to participate in municipal elections, which are currently held in September.

In order to be eligible to vote you must have permanent residency for 30 days prior to the election. With most post-secondary semesters commencing in September, many students do not meet this requirement.

However, Breen saidmoving the election date is not as simple as it might seem.

"When you look at our budgeting, we work on a January-effective date for our budget, so it's tight enough now," Breen said.

"To go any deeper would really make budgeting a bit of a challenge."

The review also looked at CASE NL's suggestion to enfranchise permanent residents in the municipal elections. At present only Canadian citizens can vote in any election at any level of government.

The review says that in pursuing this, St. John's could potentially lead the country in the effort to afford voting rights to permanent residents. The authors acknowledge this would come with legal and constitutional challenges that would have to be dealt with before adoption.

Breen saidthe provincial government received the CASE NL report at the same time as the city.

Both the original CASE NL report and the expert panel review are available online. Council will vote in January about approaching the provincial government in pursuit of some of the suggested changes.

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