North Perth council could be facing a “lame duck” status in the next couple weeks if the nominations for the upcoming election stay as they are.
CAO Kriss Snell explained that a municipal council enters “lame duck” if they are approaching an election and at least 75 per cent of the sitting council aren’t returning.
“Once we can’t guarantee that 75 per cent of the existing council is coming back to form a new council, there are certain restrictions placed on the old council,” Snell said.
With 10 members of council in North Perth, that would mean there would need to be eight returning members to avoid “lame duck”. Prior to the actual election day, “lame duck” can be determined by the number of councillors nominated, as there only needs to be a chance of their return in the new council.
“As long as they are signed up, it doesn’t matter how many people are running against them,” he said.
In North Perth, eight of the 10 members of council have filed their nomination for the 2010 election. However, as Ed Hollinger and Julie Behrns are running against each other for the position of mayor, only one of those is guaranteed to return, meaning the most members that could return is seven.  
If the nominations don’t see a change before the deadline on Sept 10, North Perth could be under “lame duck” status effective Sept. 11. Snell said there are a number of restrictions placed on a “lame duck” council under the Ontario Municipal Act. A “lame duck” council cannot appoint or remove any officer of the municipality, hire or dismiss any municipal employee, sell or dispose of any municipal property valued over $50,000 or make any expenditures over $50,000. Snell said the limits on spending don’t include any items already approved in the 2010 budget, only items that are unexpected.
“It really does restrict council on spending for special projects,” he said. “I don’t see it having a huge impact on the outgoing council.”
Snell noted that the Ontario Municipal Act does allow council to delegate some of the responsibilities to staff if they are necessary. This is the third municipal election since the new “lame duck” provisions came into effect Jan. 1, 2003.