Mayor Cecil Clarke urged to step down if he runs for PC leadership

Cape Breton Regional Municipality Mayor Cecil Clarke is widely expected to declare his bid for the provincial Tory leadership Saturday, but two groups are calling for him to resign as mayor if he enters the race.

Clarke has scheduled an announcement Saturday afternoon at the North Sydney Fire Hall.

A Facebook invitation on Progressive Conservative MLA Alfie MacLeod's page says "hundreds of Tories from across the province" will be there to hear Clarke's "big news."

But in advance of the announcement, a group of women who call themselves Cape Breton Voices is urging Clarke to step down as mayor if he pursues the leadership. A date hasn't been announced yet for the leadership convention.

"That's an incredibly long time to have your attention split between running a major municipality and campaigning for the leadership of a partisan political party," said group member Erika Shea, who worked on the campaign of Rankin MacSween when he ran against Clarke in the 2016 mayoralty election.

So far, Tim Houston and John Lohr have announced they will run for the PC Party's top job. 

Shea said municipal politicians are expected to be non-partisan and it would be virtually impossible for the mayor to set aside party politics in one role, while seeking the PC leadership.

"This just seems to muddy all of those waters, way too much, to feel like it's an ethical path forward," she said.

Meanwhile, another group is planning a rally outside Clarke's event in North Sydney, according to a poster on the Facebook page of The Greater Northside.

"Do you think our elected Mayor should focus his attention on the CBRM and not campaigning for another elected position?" says the document, which adds that CBRM deserves a full-time mayor and residents should let their concerns be known.

Clarke has not indicated whether he intends to stay on as mayor if he seeks the leadership. But as mayor, he has indicated that he has a considerable amount of vacation time owed to him by the municipality.

In December, when he announced he was considering a bid for the leadership, he told CBC News he was using his personal vacation time to visit communities across the province.

Shea said she's concerned there's no legislation requiring a mayor to step down while seeking the leadership.

"If the same situation were to happen in New Brunswick, the mayor would have to resign," she said.

Shea said she'd like to see the province do the same for the Municipal Government Act.

Nova Scotia's Municipal Election Act specifies that if a vacancy occurs on a council because of a death, resignation, disqualification or forfeiture, a special election will be called to fill the vacancy.