Regional councillor resigns seat to run in yet-to-be-called Ontario election

Rob Deutschmann has resigned as a Region of Waterloo councillor.

Deutschmann resigned Wednesday morning when it was also announced he will be the Liberal candidate in Cambridge for a yet-to-be-called Ontario election. There is speculation Premier Doug Ford will call an election next week.

Deutschmann told CBC News that at regional council, he's seen an increasing number of provincial programs being downloaded onto the municipality and it made him want to run. He said municipalities want a new deal to help them financially, similar to what the province signed with Ottawa and Toronto.

"Our local MPPs have listened but haven't really shown us any action and I think we need more politicians at Queens Park that have solid municipal experience to truly understand that relationship," he said in an interview.

Deutschmann isn't the only regional councillor who plans to run provincially. Coun. Colleen James, the Liberal candidate for Kitchener Centre, has said she will take a leave of absence from council during the campaign.

Under the Municipal Act, there are no provisions that require a sitting member of council to take a leave of absence to run for a provincial or federal election. Councillors are permitted to take a three-month leave of absence for any reason.

When asked why he chose to resign, rather than take a leave of absence, Deutschmann said, "I just felt that the right decision for me was to resign from council and compete for this seat."

Waterloo Region District School Board trustee Carla Johnson is also set to run in the next provincial election. She is a candidate for the Greens in Cambridge.

As for Deutschmann's now vacant seat, regional council will need to declare it vacant at their next meeting, scheduled of Jan. 29. Then councillors have 60 days to decide whether to hold a byelection or, like Kitchener city councillors in January 2024, council can appoint a person to fill the seat. In the Kitchener case, Coun. Stephanie Stretch was appointed after Aislinn Clancy won the Kitchener Centre byelection in November 2023.

Election call as early as next week: sources

Two sources close to the government confirmed to CBC News that the premier could call an election as early as next week.

Ford has repeatedly said he believes he needs a new mandate from Ontarians to respond to the potential economic impact of possible tariffs U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to impose.

Under the Ontario Election Act, the writ for an election must be dated on a Wednesday and voters would go to the polls the fifth Thursday after the date of the writ, meaning if called next week, the election would be Feb. 27.

On Wednesday, when asked about a possible election call, Ford told reporters to "stay tuned."

"We need a mandate from the people, we need a mandate to possibly spend billions of dollars to protect people's jobs, to protect businesses, and to protect communities, and there's only one group of people, I mean, one group that is gonna give me the mandate and that's the people. That's democracy," Ford said. 

Local races

The parties have been adding candidates in recent weeks, although several have yet to be named in the local ridings.

As of Jan. 22, the candidates known to be running in local ridings are below. The candidates are listed in alphabetical order by last name.

Cambridge:

• Liberal — Rob Deutschmann.
• Green Party — Carla Johnson.
• NDP — Marjorie Knight.
• Progressive Conservatives — Brian Riddell (incumbent).

Kitchener Centre:

• Green Party — Aislinn Clancy (incumbent).
• Liberal — Colleen James.

Kitchener-Conestoga:

• Progressive Conservatives — Mike Harris Jr. (incumbent).
• Green Party — Brayden Wagenaar.

Kitchener South-Hespeler:

• Progressive Conservatives — Jess Dixon (incumbent).
• NDP — Jeff Donkersgoed

Waterloo:

• Green Party — Shefaza Esmail.
• NDP — Catherine Fife (incumbent).
• Liberal — Clayton Moore.

Guelph:

• Green Party — Mike Schreiner (incumbent)

Wellington-Halton Hills:

• Green — Bronwynne Wilton.

Of note, long-time MPP Ted Arnott has said he will not seek re-election. Arnott, 61, has been an MPP since 1990 and is currently Speaker at Queen's Park.

Perth-Wellington:

• Liberal — Ashley Fox.
• Green — Ian Morton.
• Progressive Conservative — Matthew Rae (incumbent).