Municipal elections in Richmond Hill, Ontario are held every four years, concurrent with other

municipal elections in Ontario Municipal elections in Ontario, a province of Canada, are held every four years. Municipalities in Ontario held an election on 25 October 2010. Prior to 2006, elections were held every three years. Elections *2022 *2018 *2014 *2010 *2006 *2003 * ...

. Historically, elections were held more often. Elected positions include mayor, regional and local councillor and ward councillors (for six different wards) on the Richmond Hill City Council, as well as trustees for the

York Region District School Board The York Region District School Board (YRDSB) is the English-language public school board for the Regional Municipality of York in Ontario, Canada. The York Region District School Board is the province's third-largest school board after Toronto' ...

, the

York Catholic District School Board The York Catholic District School Board (YCDSB, known as English-language Separate District School Board No. 42 prior to 1999) is the English-language public-separate school district authority for the Regional Municipality of York in Ontario, Canad ...

and for a Conseillere for the Conseil Scholare de District de Centre SudOuest.

1873 election

The first election in Richmond Hill was held January 6, 1873, just after its incorporation as a village. The campaign focused on the need to build a new high school as the one built in the 1850s was becoming crowded. The vote tallies were (elected candidates bolded):

1985 election

Concurrent with the 1985 election, two

plebiscite A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

s were held, one relating to the ward system and one relating to

Nuclear-free zone A nuclear-free zone is an area in which nuclear weapons (see nuclear-weapon-free zone) and nuclear power plants are banned. The specific ramifications of these depend on the locale in question. Nuclear-free zones usually neither address nor prohi ...

s. Voters rejected the new ward system 5057 to 5460 and endorsed the nuclear-free zone declaration 7073 to 3272. Low

voter turnout In political science, voter turnout is the participation rate (often defined as those who cast a ballot) of a given election. This can be the percentage of registered voters, eligible voters, or all voting-age people. According to Stanford Unive ...

was credited to the poor weather and the lack of a mayoral race.

1988 election

The election was held November 14, 1988. Issues in the election included the rapid building of

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

s in Richmond Hill which many felt had outpaced the growth of corresponding services. The relationship between the town councillors and developers had also been the subject of controversy.

1991 election

One of the main issue of the 1991 election was plans to scrap the building of a large

civic centre A civic center or civic centre is a prominent land area within a community that is constructed to be its focal point or center. It usually contains one or more dominant public buildings, which may also include a government building. Recently, the ...

in the downtown area, and instead lease office space in Beaver Creek Industrial Park for that purpose, and build a single purpose

library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

downtown instead of integrating it into a multi-purpose facility.

2003 election

The 2003 election was held on November 12, 2003.

2006 election

The election debates centred on

urban sprawl Urban sprawl (also known as suburban sprawl or urban encroachment) is defined as "the spreading of urban developments (such as houses and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city." Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted growt ...

, especially with regards to the

Oak Ridges Moraine The Oak Ridges Moraine is an ecologically important geological landform in the Mixedwood Plains of south-central Ontario, Canada. The moraine covers a geographic area of between Caledon and Rice Lake, near Peterborough. One of the most signif ...

, waste management and

urban renewal Urban renewal (also called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address urban decay in cities. Urban renewal involves the clearing out of blighte ...

in the downtown area of Richmond Hill.

2010 election

The 2010 election was held on October 25, 2010. This was the first election in Richmond Hill where the ballots were tabulated electronically instead of manually. Issues in the election included regional transit planning (e.g. VIVA rapidways, Line 1 Yonge extension), the future of the

David Dunlap Observatory The David Dunlap Observatory (DDO) is an astronomical observatory site in Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada. Established in 1935, it was owned and operated by the University of Toronto until 2008. It was then acquired by the city of Richmond Hill, ...

, and debt in York Region.

2014 election

The 2014 election was held on October 27, 2014.

2018 election

The 2018 election was held on October 22, 2018.

2022 mayoral by-election

The 2022 mayoral by-election was held on January 18-24, 2022. City council passed By-Law 133-21 on October 13, 2021 authorizing the use of internet voting to accommodate voters for the

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

Reasons for the by-election

Then incumbent mayor Dave Barrow went on indefinite medical leave on February 24, 2021, leaving city council with 8 voting members. According to local media reports, this left city council frequently gridlocked, as there was no leader in council and council votes would often end in a tie. City council meetings were characterized as "dysfunctional", where members would divulge into squabbling and name-calling. Barrow returned to preside over a special council meeting on September 8, 2021 regarding the future of the governance of council given the inefficiencies during his absence. Four councillors left the meeting in protest before it was adjourned. On September 15, 2021, Barrow retired as mayor. On September 29, 2021, city council agreed to hold a by-election to fill the mayor's vacant seat instead of appointing a mayor.

Candidates

*Godwin Chan, incumbent city councillor (Ward 6) *Joe DiPaola, acting mayor and incumbent city councillor *Susan Korman, CEO, Furry Friends Company *Carmine Perrelli, deputy mayor and regional councillor *Ruida Tian, Founder/CEO, Smair Inc. *Rona Wang, President & CEO at GoBest Immigration Services * David West, incumbent city councillor (Ward 4) *Juni Yeung, music teacher, author, cultural historian, and interpreter *Michael Zambakkides, Vice president, Z3 Controls

Results

Voter turnout for this election was 32.10%.

2022 election

The 2022 election will be held on October 24, 2022.

References

{{Richmond Hill, Ontario Municipal elections in Ontario by city Politics of Richmond Hill, Ontario