HALIFAX—When Andrew Younger announced in 2009 he would keep his Halifax council seat while running for provincial office, only one constituent complained.

“And in the end, that person put a sign on their lawn for me,” he said in an interview.

Younger, who would go on to become a Liberal cabinet minister, is one of at least 10 Halifax regional councillors who have successfully campaigned to move up the ranks and down the street to Province House since amalgamation in 1996.

It’s happened every two or three years without much fuss — but now the chief electoral officer of Elections Nova Scotia is calling for change. In a report released Wednesday, Richard Temporale recommended politicians be forced to take a leave of absence during campaigns for other levels of government.

The recommendation stems from an accusation against Steve Craig, a Halifax councillor running in this month’s byelection in Sackville-Cobequid for the Progressive Conservatives.

The Nova Scotia New Democratic Party alleged that he used discretionary dollars granted to him as a councillor to buy provincial votes with a funding announcement earlier this month. They also believed the funding — a $20,000 cheque to a community group — constituted election advertising.

Temporale cleared Craig of wrongdoing but says new rules are needed “so that it’s clear to the public what role a candidate is acting in when they’re campaigning.”

Potential abuse and confusion aren’t the only issues. There’s also the cost of a byelection if a councillor wins — about $170,000 in Halifax — not to mention the uncomfortable perception that they’re being paid to do a job they’re no longer committed to or focused on.

“Obviously if you’re running provincially or federally and you’re holding onto your office municipally, and you’re going to collect your paycheque, you should expect some pretty testy questions during all-candidate meetings and at the doorstep,” said Myer Siemiatycki, a professor of politics at Ryerson University in Toronto.

In an interview, Craig said he’s voluntarily donating his council pay to local charities during the campaign and is making sure he doesn’t miss a single meeting. He added that he’s trying to take more of a hands-off approach than usual with the campaign to ensure he can focus on the city, with a larger team behind him.

“They know that my No. 1 priority is … well, it’s to get elected,” he said. “However, I’m not walking away from my oaths.”

Though it recommends councillors take a leave of absence, Elections Nova Scotia has no position on whether they should be paid during the campaign.

“That goes beyond our scope and our mandate,” said spokesperson Naomi Shelton.

Sheila Fougere, a former Halifax councillor, voluntarily suspended her pay when she ran for federal office for the Liberals in 2004 while continuing to fulfil her council duties.

“I didn’t think I should be on the public purse while running for another level of government,” said Fougere, who lost that election but won back her council seat in a landslide less than six months later.

Darren Fisher took over on council from Younger when he went provincial in 2009. Unlike most, Fisher took an unpaid leave of absence when he himself ran for the Liberals in the federal Dartmouth-Cole Harbour riding in 2015.

Siemiatycki is unaware of legislation in any Canadian jurisdiction requiring councillors to relinquish their council seat to run provincially. Ultimately, it’s up to the electorate to decide whether councillors’ behaviour is appropriate, but he argued the trend creates “instability” in municipal governments across the country as councillors dip out of city hall.

In Sackville-Cobequid, Craig said, the only instability is a lack of provincial representation. The seat has been vacant since NDP MLA Dave Wilson stepped down in the fall.

“I’ve heard people say that you should resign, and that’s not the legislation here,” Craig said. “I don’t have to do that and I’m not doing that because I could not imagine having people in Lower Sackville being not represented provincially and not represented municipally.”

Now that he’s on the campaign trail, he argued, constituents are getting twice the representation.

“You’ve got your municipal representative on your door step and, ‘Oh, by the way, I’m interested in the provincial.’ You don’t get any closer to the people than that,” Craig said.

As someone who’s walked Craig’s path and knocked on those doors before, Younger said it’s that proximity to the people that can make former councillors more effective politicians.

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“It’s very helpful to have been in a role where you are personally dealing with the issues, and not with a screen of staff between you and constituents, because it makes you a much more hands-on provincial or federal representative,” Younger said.

The byelection is scheduled for June 18. Nominations closed this week with five candidates on the ballot: Craig for the PCs, Lara Fawthrop for the NDP, Michel Hindlet for the Liberals, Anthony Edmonds for the Green Party and David Boyd for the Atlantica Party.

The provincial government said last week it’s reviewing the recommendation to amend the Elections Act to require councillors to take a leave of absence, and Halifax Councillor Shawn Cleary is asking for a staff report on implementing the municipal recommendations at this Tuesday’s council meeting.

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