Questions left behind

The sudden resignation of P.E.I.’s chief electoral officer (CEO) poses a number of unanswered and potentially serious questions. The deafening silence from all sides in the legislature only adds to the mystery and intrigue.

Gary McLeod’s resignation was effective immediately and we were left with a vague intention “to move on to new pursuits.” That tidbit came from Speaker Buck Watts, not from Mr. McLeod, who has disappeared from view. It suggests the new pursuits are unknown because he wasn’t planning to resign.

Speaker Watts, the head of the powerful legislative management committee, made the terse announcement. There was the standard thank you for service to P.E.I. and best wishes in his future endeavours. It was a chilly goodbye.

The Speaker was much warmer in his welcome for acting CEO Marian Johnston, who comes over from the legislative clerk’s office, saying she is “an excellent choice for this role and will do a fantastic job.”

Mr. McLeod, who was appointed in January 2013, was not approaching the end of his term. He was just back from observing the British Columbia election. He appeared before the electoral boundaries commission at a public session in mid-April. His most recent annual report to the P.E.I. legislature was tabled in early May.

These are not the actions of a man planning to resign but of an official preparing himself for a busy next two years.

If the provincial auditor general, privacy commissioner or ethics commissioner suddenly resigned, there would be a hue and cry. Yet we hear no such concerns about Mr. McLeod. Strange.

Mr. McLeod was anxious to bring in reforms. He made 38 recommendations for changes to the P.E.I. Elections Act following the 2015 vote, including banning the coin toss. Nothing has been done to implement those recommendations. Perhaps Mr. McLeod was growing frustrated with the inaction on his report.

There were no succession protocols to replace Mr. McLeod and a permanent CEO can’t be appointed until the fall sitting of the legislature. The new CEO will be thrust into a difficult position. There are elections in all municipalities in November 2018. Elections P.E.I. conducts the vote in our four largest municipalities and assists government with elections in the others.

The 2019 provincial election follows close behind, accompanied by a referendum on electoral reform. There is also a new electoral map in play with major boundary changes and new polling stations.

It will be an extremely busy period — even for a seasoned CEO like Mr. McLeod. Besides the 2015 election, which saw the voter turnout surge to 85.9 per cent, last fall he was in charge of a provincial byelection in Summerside while simultaneously readying the province for the under-funded plebiscite on electoral reform.

If there was any interference surrounding his departure, Islanders need to know. If Mr. McLeod felt that his position was being undermined, we need to know. Were there concerns — electoral or otherwise — involving Mr. McLeod? We need to hear them.

Islanders deserve to have answers.