‘Resign to run’ law is badly needed
Ontario Conservative Leader Patrick Brown was all smiles last Saturday as he congratulated the latest candidate to be officially nominated to run for the Tories in the June 7 provincial election.
Brown told the huge crowd at the Logos Fellowship Hall in North York that Denzil Minnan-Wong is “an excellent addition” to his team, adding the acclaimed candidate is a “champion for lower taxes, responsible spending and accountable government.”
What Brown failed to mention is that the taxpayers of Toronto will be paying Minnan-Wong’s $112,000a-year salary as he campaigns for the Don Valley East seat in the Ontario Legislature.
That’s because Minnan-Wong is a full-time Toronto city councillor, a job he’s held since 1998. He’s also one of Mayor John Tory’s four deputy mayors.
Toronto taxpayers are also on the hook for the salaries of two other city councillors, Shelley Carroll and Chin Lee, while they run as Liberal candidates in the ridings of Don Valley North and Scarborough North respectively.
But why do taxpayers have to pay the salaries of Minnan-Wong, Carroll, Lee and other elected politicians who clearly don’t want their jobs any longer and are openly seeking work elsewhere?
It’s a serious question that taxpayers not just in Toronto, but across Ontario and in most parts of Canada should be asking as they watch local councillors and school board trustees keep their well-paying elected jobs at the same time as they campaign for seats at Queen’s Park or other provincial legislatures or on Parliament Hill.
Under current laws, there’s nothing stopping any politician from keeping their municipal or school board seats while they run for another office. They can keep their existing seats until they are elected to the provincial legislature or House of Commons.
For their part, civic politicians running for higher office deny they are using their current posts as mere “stepping stones.” Many argue they can do their daily job while also running for another job and that they have important work still to do on city council or a school board.
True, some municipal politicians in the past have foregone their local salaries or taken unpaid leaves of absence while they ran as candidates in provincial or federal elections.
But if they lose, they immediately return to their old elected job — the one they clearly had considered beneath their abilities and ambitions and no longer worthy of their time — as if nothing has happened.
At the same, though, provincial and federal politicians must resign their seats if they want to run for another elected position.
It’s time that similar rules applied to all municipal councillors and school board trustees across Canada.
Such rules are known as “resign to run” laws. They apply to federal MPs and provincial MPPs and are in use in five U.S. states, including Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii and Texas, as well as cities such as Dallas, Philadelphia and Phoenix.
There are strong arguments why it’s a bad idea to allow elected local officials to run for another office without first quitting their current office.
First, sitting politicians have a huge advantage over other contenders when it comes to name recognition and visibility, two of the biggest pluses for a candidate in local ridings.
Second, campaigns are time-consuming, which means elected politicians are robbing their current constituents of their full attention and time while they run for another office.
Third, it suggests a city councillor or school board trustee may actually have divided loyalties, especially in cases where they run in areas they don’t currently represent. This is especially noticeable in the case of school board trustees, who often run in different communities.
Fourth, such self-serving actions by politicians to cling to their elected job while seeking another position merely fuels public cynicism of politicians.
One of the worst examples of this occurred when Toronto deputy mayor Doug Holyday refused to resign while he ran as a Tory in the 2013 provincial election. Yet in 2004 Holyday championed a city motion urging councillors not to run for higher office while still in office. “The public expects that they, once elected, honour that trust and complete their term,” the motion read. Couldn’t have said it better myself. If Minnan-Wong, Carroll and Lee and others want to seek higher office, then fine. Having qualified, experienced politicians — of any party affiliation — is good for any government.
But they should quit their current posts first. And if they won’t, then “resign to run” laws should be adopted to force them to do just that.