Municipal council seats are automatically vacated when a council member is elected to either the Legislative Assembly of Ontario or the House of Commons.
Local Board members are not automatically disqualified.
Hamilton Centre Member of Provincial Parliament Robin Lennox must formally resign from Hamilton’s Public Health Subcommittee [Hamilton’s de facto semi-autonomous Board of Health] to enable City Council to begin filling the vacancy.
The pending vacancy was briefly discussed during the March 5 City Council.
The council can fill the vacancy from amongst the pool of past applicants or begin a new recruitment process. Dr. Lennox is a family physician who specializes in addictions medicine.
The Subcommittee meets on Monday. Lennox’s pending letter of resignation is not included in the application package.
Moving forward, City Council may wish to amend the City’s procedural bylaw to automatically vacate local board (committee) seats when members are elected to public office.