Town and Regional Councillors voted with a heavy heart that the late Max Khan's seat for town councillor of Ward 6 is vacant. Mr. Khan had held the seat since 2006 until he passed from a sudden illness at Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital on March 29, 2015. Mr. Khan was also the nominated Federal Candidate for North Oakville/Burlington riding.
As is the custom, a seat in council is declared vacant and then it is decided by council if the seat will be filled by an appointment or by a by-election. Since, the seat was declared vacant with three and a half years still remaining until the next municipal election, a by-law was passed that announced that a by-election would be held to fill the seat on July 13, 2015.
At this time, there are three potential candidates for the Ward:
- Percy Dastur who works in the financial services industry.
- Natalia Lishchyna who is a married mother of 2, chiropractor, and is often seen at various events around town.
- Linda Nazareth, who ran in the last election for Ward 5 as a town councillor and is an author and economist.
The process for becoming a candidate in this by-election is as follows and is reference from the Town of Oakville's website for the 2014 Municipal Candidacy Information Package:
Nominations for the 2015 Ward 6 By-Election may be filed in the Town of Oakville Clerk’s department, 1225 Trafalgar Road during normal office hours (8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.). A last date for filing a nomination will be provided by the town's clerk. An individual must be qualified as a candidate at the time of filing the nomination.
A nomination paper filed must be accompanied by the prescribed filing fee, in the form of cash, debit, certified cheque, or money order, payable to the Town of Oakville in the amount of $100.00. This fee is returned to the candidate provided that he/she is elected, or obtains more than 2% of the votes cast in the election for that office, or if he/she withdraws their nomination paper on or before 2 p.m. on the last day prior to withdrawing a nomination.
A nomination paper must include the candidate’s name and should be typed or printed as it is to appear on the ballot, surname preceding given (first) name. No reference to a candidate’s occupation, degree, title, honour, or decoration shall appear on the ballot, but a nickname or any other name by which the candidate is commonly known may be used. Candidates will be required to show proof of identity, in the form of a driver’s licence or other form of government issued picture identification. The candidate’s full qualifying address within the municipality must also be shown on the identification.
The nomination paper must be signed in front of the Town Clerk or designate, unless submitted by an agent. When a nomination paper is submitted by an agent, the candidate must have signed the declaration of qualification, contained on the nomination paper, in front of a duly authorized Commissioner for taking affidavits. The additional Town of Oakville Declaration of Qualification form must be signed by the candidate in front of the Town Clerk or designate prior to nomination day. Photocopies, faxes, or e-mailed versions of a signature are not acceptable.
The prescribed nomination paper and required Declaration of Qualification form are available from the Town of Oakville Clerk’s department, or on the Town of Oakville website at www.oakville.ca.
More information can also be found on the Municipal Elections Act.
The Boundaries for Ward 6 are:
Ward 6 is bounded on the north by the northern boundary of the Town, south by the QEW, west by Trafalgar Road, and east by the eastern boundary of the Town which is Winston Churchill. It has a wide variety of issues from residential growth slated for the north end of the ward to the Oakville's largest business park. This is a complex ward with complex issues.
Each candidate will be profiled in OakvilleNews.Org as soon as they can be scheduled.