As you may have heard, there’s a byelection in Toronto on Monday to choose their next mayor. As you can imagine, this is a massive undertaking when you have four years to plan for it, but in the case of this byelection, the Toronto clerks office had to do it four months. But they do have help from colleagues in other municipalities, including Guelph! Several members of our local clerks office will be taking part in the election on Monday.

“They were in a unique spot to have to conduct a city-wide byelection for a mayoral position, which is something that is a significant undertaking in any municipality from a logistical standpoint. Their mandate to deliver a general election a citywide election, rivals some of the provincial elections that are delivered across this country,” said Guelph city clerk Stephen O’Brien about the scope of the job.

The clerks’ office from Guelph is one of several from the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area who’s assistance was requested by their Toronto counterparts. In all, nine staffers from Guelph will be in Toronto on Monday running a polling station in the city’s west end.

“When the call came out for us, we said ‘yes’. In the vein of collegiality, we’re here to help., we’re happy to do that,” O’Brien said, but there were considerations beyond the collegial that made the idea attractive.

“It’s good training and development for our own team. Despite how we’re always thinking about elections, and how we always have to be election ready, this is real-life actual practice at the thing that is election,” he said. “So for something that only happens every four years, unless, again, you have a by-election, it’s really good to have practical, real-life training for the team. And you know, jokingly, I think, we’re gluttons for this kind of thing. We do enjoy the work.”

And there’s a lot to enjoy with this election including an extra long ballot with 102 names on it, which is not quite double the number of people who ran for all positions in last fall’s municipal election in Guelph. Other than the size of the ballot, O’Brien expects that working a Toronto election will not be that much different from a Guelph one.

“It’s unique in the sense of the timing,” he said. “They obviously went through a general election, as we all did across Ontario in October 2022, and they’re in a unique spot to have to conduct a city-wide byelection for a mayoral position, which is something that is a significant undertaking in any municipality.”

“For us, it certainly supports, and is in line, with our team’s mandate to support local democracy, even if that doesn’t rest solely within the boundaries of the City of Guelph, and we’re happy to do that,” O’Brien added.

But there are also personal considerations. For O’Brien, the opportunity to lend a hand in the Toronto Mayoral byelection is to get back to the roots of his job and experience, staffing a polling station and interacting with the local voters.

“I don’t often get a chance to be in the voting locations in Guelph on Election Day because of the responsibilities I have throughout the day, so I’m looking forward to being in the building location again, like I did many, many, many times during many federal, provincial, and other municipal elections,” he said. “I’m looking forward to being those boots on the ground, seeing the nuts and bolts of their election processes in action and, and hopefully taking something away from that.”