Dartmouth, District 6 byelection to be held on Jan. 23

Back in October, we all got our vote on as made our way to the polls and ushered in a number of new politicians going to Ottawa. But when the people of Dartmouth elected Darren Fisher to be their federal representative, they ended up guaranteeing a bit more democracy-in-action for some of its citizens not far down the road.

“As a member of parliament, you cannot serve as a councillor and a member of parliament,” says Lori McKinnon, the election coordinator for HRM. “Once Councillor Fisher issued his resignation, we had to conduct an election to fill a vacancy.”

January 23 is election day for citizens of District 6 (Harbourview-Burnside-Dartmouth East), who will be asked to select a new local representative to serve the community until the general municipal election this October. And they’ll have a few new faces to choose from.

The candidates include Tony Mancini, Matt Spurway, Don Smeltzer, and Paul D.F. Boyd III, and we spoke with each of the candidates about what they hope to bring to the office if elected.

Mancini has worked in the community for years, on boards and committees and with youth programs, but this is the first time he’s running for office, now that his business is settled and his children are grown.

“A lot of people get involved in politics because they don’t like what they see — I actually like what I see! I like the direction the city’s going in,” says Mancini. “Is it perfect? No, but I want to be part of that.”

One of Mancini’s biggest goals is to help make his district, and all of HRM, a more welcoming place for refugees and other newcomers to Canada. And he hopes that we can achieve this in small, powerful ways, like by being good neighbours, and offering to share our culture with others.

“I’m first generation Canadian — my mom and dad came to this country, like thousands of other immigrants, after the war,” says Mancini, who talks about his family’s immigration experience in a letter you can read in this issue of the paper. “There’s so much we can do, and it doesn’t have to cost money. Money’s great, but it’s just about time and caring.”

Inclusivity is also a big priority of Spurway, and he’s also interested in areas of affordability, improving public spaces, and creating a more open process of government in council.

“I love Dartmouth, and I love this community,” says Spurway, who worked with Robert Chisholm in Dartmouth for four and a half years as a community outreach assistant. “If you really love something, and you know it really well, then you’re going to know where the challenges and issues are, and you need to be willing to call those out and get to work on them…the city and city council can communicate better with residents. They can involve them more in these decisions and discussions, before those decisions get made.”

Government transparency is also a big issue for Smeltzer, who has served as an Alderman for Dartmouth City Council from 1994-1996, and has a lot of experience guiding other policy-makers as an administrative trainer for municipal governments.

“I’m also very, very passionate about open government, about transparency, about accountability. Those are things that don’t get talked about an awful lot,” says Smeltzer, who believes his familiarity with municipal government makes him an ideal candidate for the limited term, who says most councillors new to politics need a few months to a year to get adjusted.

“We don’t have that amount of time for the individual who’s elected in this election, if they’re going to make any kind of an impact,” says Smeltzer. “I think you have to hit the ground running, and I’m in a position to do that.”

Our last candidate, Boyd, is no stranger to government, either — he’s been working on municipal election campaigns since he was eight, and has run for the office of city councillor four times before. He hasn’t been elected to office so far, but he hopes to change that this time around.

“I’ve done more background work, I’ve sat on the sidelines, I’ve worked on other campaigns for people in the recent federal election,” says Boyd. “I’ve been living here a long time – it’s time that I started giving back.”

Boyd is interested in restoring community identity to District 6 and the other smaller communities of HRM, which he worries are being homogenized under the “Halifax” banner.

“We’re getting communities that are losing their identities,” says Boyd. “We’ve lost the history and everything of Dartmouth, and I’d like to protect that.”

Whoever you end up deciding to vote for, HRM is going to give you ample opportunities to do so. Last winter, the city held a citizen engagement session, and one of the big messages they received from that outreach was people wanted more choice in how and when they get to vote.

“They want options, and they want opportunity. That’s why we decided to broaden the opportunities for the electors,” says McKinnon, who says that, in addition to telephone and Internet eVoting for the advance polls, this special election will be the first to offer paper ballot voting early as well.

With the added flexibility of voting options this election, McKinnon and the candidates hope that the citizens of District 6 will have very few excuses not to come out and flex their democratic muscles.

“I think it’s important for people to come out and be able to select a representative that they feel would best represent them,” says McKinnon. “We hopefully set up enough opportunities for electors to vote, and we hope that they can take advantage the number of opportunities.”

To find out more, or if you have questions or concerns, visit www.halifax.ca/election.