Returning officer Dunn-for

Cliff Dunn just wants to know what happened.

Dunn, of North Bay, had been the returning officer in Nipissing for the past two federal elections, and MP Bob Wood had submitted his name again to handle the job for the new Nipissing-Timiskaming riding.

But Dunn recently found out his duties will be handled by Roland Forget, of New Liskeard, who was appointed returning officer by the Privy Council of Canada, through an order-in-council.

“After Bob put my name in I thought it would be automatic, but I didn’t hear anything from Elections Canada for quite a long time, “ Dunn said.

“And when I finally got a hold of them they told me I would be the returning officer if the redistribution of the ridings didn’t take place and Roland would be the returning officer if it did take place.”

Passing the redistribution bill in time for an anticipated spring election will be the first order of business when parliament resumes next month, Wood said.

Hit it lucky
Forget, who had been the returning officer in the Timiskaming-Cochrane riding, said he “hasn’t got a clue” why he was appointed.

“I didn’t ask any questions. I guess I hit it lucky—or unlucky,” Forget said.

Timiskaming-Cochran MP Ben Serre may have submitted Forget’s name, although Forget said he wasn’t completely sure.

Serre could not be reached for comment.

While upset about the situation at first, Dunn said he’s more bugged about being shut out of the information loop.

“Nobody really told me what was going on and I tried to find out, and when I finally did it was too late,” Dunn said.

“This will be a big job, though, and I don’t know how Roland will run it from New Liskeard when North Bay is the population centre of the riding,” Dunn said.

Forget said he had more area to cover in Timiskaming-Cochrane than he will in Nipissing-Timiskaming.

“So this won’t be as hard.”

Most unprofessional thing
Officials from Elections Canada and the Privy Council could not be reached for comment.

Wood, though, had plenty of comments.

“I’m really p----ed off about this and it’s the most unprofessional thing I’ve ever seen,” Wood said.

“I’m the member and I didn’t even know about this until Cliff called me, and I still haven’t gotten any answers.”

Liberal house leader Don Boudria, whose office is responsible for appointing returning officers, had asked him during the North Bay caucus meeting if he had been happy with Dunn’s work as returning officer, Wood said.

“I told him he was doing a great job and that I would be submitting Cliff’s name again, and I thought that would be the end of it.”

When Wood found out Dunn had been passed over he was so furious he tracked Boudria down in France and gave him an earful over the phone.

“He said he didn’t know anything about it either and told me he or his assistant would get back in touch,” Wood said.

As soon as Paul Martin took over as Prime Minister, though, Boudria was turfed from cabinet.

“And neither he nor his assistant,” Wood said, “got back to me.”

Very classy gentleman
Wood can only speculate what happened, in the absence of any real answers.

“Maybe it’s because the dynamics of the riding have changed and there will be more bilingual constituents,” Wood said.

“But Cliff always had a bilingual deputy, so that was never a problem.”

In the meantime Wood said he’s “appalled” by the treatment Dunn received.

“Here is a very classy gentleman who hasn’t, to my knowledge, raised a fuss about it,” Wood said.

“And to treat somebody like that is just beyond me. Whomever is responsible needs to really bone up on their communication skills.”
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PHOTO Cliff Dunn just wants to know why he was passed over for the job of returning officer of the new
Nipissing-Timiskaming riding.