No candidates on track to be acclaimed in Toronto's municipal election as nominations close

No Toronto candidates are on track to be acclaimed in this fall's municipal election.

Earlier this month, the City of Toronto race was looking particularly slim with seven of the city's 25 wards having only one candidate. However, as of Friday morning, there were no longer any candidates on track to being acclaimed. The ward with the smallest number of candidates at that time was Scarborough-Rouge Park, with only two candidates registered.

Still, the number of candidates is "definitely down," Michal Hay, executive director of the non-profit democracy advocacy organization Progress Toronto, told CBC's Metro Morning.

"We've got about half as many candidates registered as in the last election."

Friday was the last day that nominations could be submitted in Ontario for candidates hoping to run in this fall's municipal elections.

The hard deadline was 2 p.m. Nominations for school board trustee candidates had the same cutoff date and time.

Toronto Mayor John Tory, who is seeking re-election, congratulated all those who put their names forward.

In a statement on Friday, Tory said he looks forward to discussing his vision for the city with its residents over the coming weeks.

In 2018, the number of acclaimed candidates who faced no competition grew to 120 compared with 103 during the previous municipal campaign in 2014.

There are lots of reasons why people may be feeling less engaged with the political system, Hay said, but ultimately she believes it's the responsibility of organizations like her own, as well as the candidates themselves, "to create a sense of hope."

"Toronto is definitely stuck," she said.

"I don't think anybody would deny that we're a city in decline at the moment and that we definitely need to make some radical changes in our city."

Hay added: "We need candidates and organizations to convince people that participating in this election can make the best change."

Seher Shafiq, a local advocate for community engagement for newcomers, told Metro Morning that the pandemic may be playing a role in how many people choose to run for office.

"Community engagement precedes formal political engagement," Shafiq said. "We're emerging out of two years of the pandemic really tearing apart how we all interface with society and community. It could be that people are feeling less connected to their community."

She said reminding people why community matters and helping demystify how governments operate could go a long way to getting people engaged.

"A lot of people feel they are disempowered," Shafiq said. 

Voters across Ontario are set to cast ballots in municipal council and school board elections on Oct. 24.