More than three decades after Calgary abandoned their system of two city councillors per ward, Edmonton is finally going to follow suit.

The change to one elected councillor per ward isn’t a done deal yet: city council must give second and third reading on July 22 to a bylaw creating 12 wards instead of six. But the voting lines on council were clear when the bylaw passed first reading in April by a healthy 8-4 margin. It appears pretty certain that when Edmontonians go to the polls on Oct. 18, 2010, they’ll be voting in 12 wards.

Changing our ward system makes sense for numerous reasons:
• Wards will be smaller. Right now all six wards have a population ranging from 119,000 to 131,000. That makes each Edmonton ward larger than any Alberta city other than Calgary and Edmonton — bigger than Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, or Red Deer.
• Smaller wards will make the cost of campaigning for city council easier and cheaper. More people may run for office.
• With one councillor per ward, voters will have an easier time figuring out who their city councillor is.
• If voters understand their ward and councillor better, maybe they’ll be more inclined to vote. Voter turnout in the last civic election stood at a dismal 27 per cent.
• City councillors’ jobs will be simpler and clearer as well. Right now there’s no division of labour between the two councillors elected to a ward. A community league with a problem is likely to lobby both councillors in their ward, not just one. And if the two councillors in a ward don’t get along — of course, that never happens — things get awkward.

Coun. Amarjeet Sohi voted against changing to 12 wards when the bylaw got first reading in April, arguing that the current system is “more reflective of the diversity out there in the wards.” A two-person ward can have two councillors of different political views, he says, adding that the current system gives people in a ward a choice of two councillors to approach with their issue. “If one councillor is not being responsive,” he notes, “they have the choice of approaching the other one.”
In fact, many petitioners contact both ward councillors. Sohi acknowledges that can produce duplication of effort, but adds that his office and that of Ward 6 ward-mate Dave Thiele co-ordinate their efforts to avoid duplication.

Sohi predicts that if Edmonton switches to a one-ward-per-councillor system, election campaigns will get nastier. Right now, he says, candidates have to be civil to each other because their opponent may become their ward-mate on Election Day.

Coun. Ron Hayter of Ward 2, another opponent of change, thinks the two-councillor ward system produces “a healthy spirit of competition” between the two ward politicians that produces extra effort. He also thinks councillors in the six-ward system have a broader perspective “rather than 12 individual councillors battling for their piece of turf.”

Edmonton city councillors have felt little public pressure to reform the ward system. A public hearing in February on changing the ward system drew very few speakers.

“There doesn’t seem to be an incredible amount of public interest,” acknowledges Steve Thompson, Edmonton’s deputy city clerk. He’s in charge of elections and has been shepherding the bylaw through council. That lack of interest may explain why Edmonton is one of the last cities in North America to change to a one-councillor-per-ward system. Calgary made the switch in 1976.

However, political self-interest has been an equally important reason for Edmonton’s inertia. Changing the ward system could endanger the careers of some sitting city councillors, and that’s always been enough to defeat change to a 12-ward model. This time, it appears change is going to happen.

The four councillors who voted against the bylaw to create 12 wards were Sohi, Hayter, Tony Caterina of Ward 3, and Jane Batty of Ward 4. Linda Sloan of Ward 1 was absent for the vote. What do the opposing councillors have in common? They tend to be less strong in their wards than their ward partner. Hayter got fewer votes last election than Kim Krushell; Caterina got fewer than Ed Gibbons; Sohi fewer than Dave Thiele. The exception is Batty, who got more votes in the last election in the inner city Ward 4 than newcomer Ben Henderson. However, Henderson polled more strongly in the southern half of the ward, the part south of the North Saskatchewan River. Batty won only one poll south of the river, the Windsor Park area by the University of Alberta. If Batty wants the new south-of-river Ward 8, she’ll have a fight on her hands.

Coun. Tony Caterina is in a similar situation. His northeast Ward 3 is going to be split in two, along the Yellowhead Trail. Ward-mate Ed Gibbons will probably choose to run in the new northerly Ward 4. Unfortunately for Caterina, that’s his prime territory as well. The southern part of Ward 3, which would become Ward 7, has left-leaning areas like Highlands, which gave more votes last time to lefty Harvey Voogd than to either of the frontrunners. The business-oriented Caterina isn’t their cup of tea.

In short, some interesting political manoeuvring is shaping up if and when the 12-ward system
is approved.

Some councillors will be able to amicably sort out the new ward system. In the southwest Ward 5, for instance, things look pretty comfy for the sitting councillors. Don Iveson has his base in the northern part of the ward, while Brian Anderson’s is in the southern part. Iveson can run in the new Ward 10, Anderson in 9.

For Sohi, things aren’t that easy. His ward partner, Dave Thiele, did well across the big southeast ward, but will probably choose to run in the southerly Ward 12 covering Mill Woods. That leaves Sohi with the northern half of the existing ward, the proposed Ward 11. Sohi didn’t win one poll in that part of the ward in 2007, and it excludes his South Asian power base.

Sohi says he doesn’t expect to go head-to-head with Thiele in 2010. “I’m pretty sure that we can work out an arrangement [to avoid such a contest],” he says.

Sloan would be in a similar situation. She trailed Leibovici in pretty well every poll in Ward 1 last time; going head to head with Leibovici for the new, smaller Ward 1 will be difficult. That leaves Sloan with the proposed new Ward 5, the suburbs on the western edge of the city.

So, civic politics are going to get pretty interesting in the year leading to the next election. With the creation of new wards, and the possibility of 72-year-old Hayter retiring altogether, there will be unprecedented opportunities for new candidates.

Steve Thompson says if the city switches to 12 wards, the local Catholic school board may have to adjust as well. Right now, the Catholic board elects trustees on a six-ward system identical to the city wards.

Changing to a 12-ward system wouldn’t cost the city much, says Thompson. Election ballots and voting machines will have to be changed, but the number of councillors won’t change. Nor will the number of polling stations. It’s simply that when voters go to the polls, they’ll vote for one city councillor, not two.

Susan Ruttan is a local freelance writer. She retired from the Edmonton Journal a year ago, after a 37-year career in newspapers. Her last Journal beat was City Hall.