As if British Columbians weren’t already fielding enough phone calls from politicos seeking their votes in the Oct 14 federal election, the Nov 15 municipal elections and soon-to-be-called provincial by-elections — now the UBCM is asking the federal government to allow independent local candidates to ring in.

The special resolution is aimed at quickly fixing a minor problem with the Do Not Call List that will allow Canadians to register their names and numbers to reduce the amount of telemarketing calls they receive. The federal Do Not Call List is due to take effect next week, on September 30.

Candidates who are members of registered political parties are already exempt from the Do Not Call List. But independent candidates are not. UBCM fears that this would limit the ability of independent candidates to solicit volunteers and financial support. So the group is calling on the federal government to immediately exempt local government candidates from the Do Not Call List.

Monte Paulsen is editor of The Hook.