When we vote for the next city council in November 2026, we could also be asked if we think the ward system should be changed – yes or no?
At this week’s regular meeting, the current council voted unanimously to go ahead with a bylaw at a future meeting, approving the referendum.
Coun. Bill Gvozdanovic noted that the last election, there were more than 29,000 registered voters. So even 50% participation would be valuable.
“The new council will get the data and they can look at the overall data ward by ward, to see what the residents are saying in each ward,” he remarked.
Ward 5 councillor Kristin Murray wanted it to include a question of whether some of the four councillors in her ward should be re-distributed to other wards.
“I guess I’m saying sort of the politically correct version of ‘does there need to be four councillors in Ward 5?’ ,” Murray explained. “If we’re going to have this conversation, we might as well have it fully, not just partially.”
City clerk Steph Palmateer explained that under provincial law, the question must be simple. If voters want changes, the public consultation process during the next term will work out details.
