Chad Collins leaves Ward 5 vacancy with Hamilton East-Stoney Creek election victory

With Chad Collins heading to Ottawa, he leaves an open council seat in Hamilton's Ward 5.

In coming days, his colleagues will have to decide how to temporarily fill the void before contenders vie for votes in the October 2022 municipal election.

City clerk Andrea Holland expects to present options to city councillors after she receives an official resignation letter from the Liberal MP-elect for Hamilton East-Stoney Creek in the near future."

His shoes can be filled through a byelection or appointment - a choice that's up to council, Holland notes.

If council wants a byelection, a bylaw must be passed within 60 days of declaring the seat vacant. The nomination deadline must be set within 60 days and then a vote held within another 45 days. If they opt for an appointment, someone must be selected within 60 days.

Coun. Maureen Wilson says this is a job for people to decide," noting Collins made his debut at city hall via a byelection in 1995.

It's not just an administrative position. It's an elected position. That's my predisposition," the Ward 1 councillor said Tuesday.

Not everyone agrees.

Coun. Jason Farr said he would lean towards" an appointment given the short duration" between now and the Oct. 24, 2022, municipal contest.

After a $600-million federal election, there may not be appetite for 60 cents here in Hamilton," the Ward 2 councillor said.

Spending time and money on a byelection would be a little bit irresponsible" ahead of the citywide contest, Coun. Sam Merulla said.

Coun. Lloyd Ferguson said he was undecided, and Coun. Arlene VanderBeek likewise, noting she wants to weigh the pros and cons" of selection options.

After Ward 3 representative Bernie Morelli died in January 2014, council tapped former mayor Bob Morrow to fill the void that February until the October election.

Donna Skelly won the Ward 7 seat in a March 2016 byelection after Scott Duvall took the Mountain for the federal NDP in October 2015.

Then, in August 2018, after Skelly won a provincial seat for the Progressive Conservatives in Flamborough-Glanbrook, council appointed former alderman Terry Anderson to carry the ward until that October's municipal election.

Teviah Moro is a Hamilton-based reporter at The Spectator. Reach him via email: tmoro@thespec.com