The Greater Sudbury municipal election, 2000 was held in the city of

Greater Sudbury Sudbury, officially the City of Greater Sudbury is the largest city in Northern Ontario by population, with a population of 166,004 at the 2021 Canadian Census. By land area, it is the largest in Ontario and the List of the largest cities and to ...

, Ontario, Canada on November 13, 2000. All municipal elections in the province of Ontario are held on the same date. The election chose the mayor and city councillors who would sit on the new Greater Sudbury City Council from 2000 to 2003, as well as trustees for the four school boards ( Rainbow District School Board,

Sudbury Catholic District School Board Sudbury Catholic District School Board (SCDSB, known as English-language Separate District School Board No. 32 prior to 1999) is a school board in north-central Ontario, Canada. The board is the school district administrator for English language R ...

, Conseil scolaire de district du Grand Nord de l'Ontario and Conseil scolaire de district catholique du Nouvel-Ontario) that serve the city.

Issues

The city of Greater Sudbury, in its current form, did not yet exist on the election date, but was legislated to come into effect on January 1, 2001. On the election date, the former government structure of the Regional Municipality of Sudbury and its seven constituent municipalities was still in place. The election, however, was held to choose the ''new'' city council. The municipal amalgamation was controversial and unpopular, especially in the suburban municipalities. Virtually all of the municipal councils had only nominal authority over their own affairs throughout the year, as much of their power was transferred to the appointed transition board — consisting of Jim Ashcroft, Ron MacDonald, George Lund, Jim Griffin,

Maurice Lamoureux Maurice Lamoureux (6 October 1933 – 5 July 2022) was politician in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. He was an alderman for several years, and served as mayor of Sudbury from 1981 to 1982. Lamoureux was an office supervisor at Falconbridge Ltd. in p ...

, Gaetan Doucet and Terry Lee — which was overseeing the amalgamation."Transition selections good ones". ''

Sudbury Star ''The Sudbury Star'' is a Canadian daily regional newspaper published in Sudbury, Ontario. It is owned by the media company, Postmedia. It is the largest daily paper in Northeastern Ontario by circulation. History The ''Sudbury Star'' began as ...

'', January 30, 2000. For example, Valley East's city council attempted in June to reduce its property taxes due to a budget surplus, but was overruled by the board as the council had lost its authority to adjust taxes during the transition period. The transition board also had sole authority over issues such as staffing decisions, user fees for municipal services, the possible closure of some

public library A public library is a library that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil service, civil servants. There are ...

branches, the structure and status of Greater Sudbury Utilities, and the new city's organizational structure, budget and tax assessment rates for 2001. Its operations throughout the year were frequently criticized as secretive and undemocratic,"Union rips transition board". ''

'', April 18, 2000. with some critics, including the

Canadian Union of Public Employees The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE; french: Syndicat canadien de la fonction publique, links=no; french: SCFP, link=, label=none) is a Canadian trade union serving the public sector – although it has in recent years organized work ...

, alleging that the board was preparing a sweeping privatization plan."Union calls for public meeting: Transition board, CUPE at odds over plans for new city". ''

'', August 19, 2000. Lamoureux, a former mayor of the pre-amalgamation city of Sudbury, also faced some controversy when he resigned from the transition board to register as a candidate for city council. By election day, the transition board claimed that it had identified $13.8 million in savings as a result of the amalgamation process."Transition board finds $13.8-M in savings". ''

'', November 11, 2000.

Election and inauguration

With many incumbent councillors from all of the old municipalities running for a vastly reduced number of seats on the new amalgamated city council, many respected longtime councillors went down to defeat."Lots of upsets in ward races: De la Riva, Ilnitski among 8 incumbents who lost last night"]. ''

'', November 14, 2000. Losses included longtime Sudbury councillors Ricardo de la Riva and Jim Ilnitski, Walden, Ontario, Walden mayor Dick Johnstone, and Nickel Centre councillor Russ Thompson. The new council was nominally sworn in on December 9, 2000, at the same time as in other Ontario municipalities;"Council set to take reins of City of Greater Sudbury". ''

'', December 9, 2000. however, this was purely ceremonial and the council was unable to conduct any city business until the transition board's political authority was transferred back to them on January 1, 2001.

Mayoral race

The winner of the mayoral race was Jim Gordon, the long-serving mayor of the former city of Sudbury. Gordon did not face serious opposition, and secured over 80 per cent of the vote.

Council races

Ward 1

Two to be elected.

Ward 2

Two to be elected.

Ward 3

Two to be elected.

Ward 4

Two to be elected.

Ward 5

Two to be elected.

Ward 6

Two to be elected.

School trustees

References

External links

City of Greater Sudbury Municipal Election site
{{Greater Sudbury Elections Greater Sudbury municipal election

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...