A byelection is set for Oct. 30 to fill four vacant positions on the Mountain View School Division board of trustees.
The polling will seek to identify two trustees in Ward 1, which covers the Municipality of Roblin.
One trustee is to be elected in Ward 2, which encompasses the Municipality of Ethelbert, Gilbert Plains Municipality, Grandview Municipality and a portion of the RM of Mountain.
Finally one trustee will be identified in Ward 4 to represent the city of Dauphin.
The Ward 2 seat became vacant this past March when trustee Charlene Gulak resigned from the board to pursue a professional opportunity.
The other seats at the board table became vacant when trustees Scott McCallum, Floyd Martens and Liefa Misko stepped away from the board in early June after superindent/CEO Stephen Jaddock was fired without cause during a special board meeting, May 31.
For the three, the firing was the last straw in a series of events they considered “dark and repressive,” highlighted by a presentation on residential schools by trustee Paul Coffey, which was widely condemned as racist and prompted Manitoba Education Minister Nello Altomare to launch a governance review of the division.
Altomare eventually appointed a three-person oversight panel comprised of Manitoba Métis Federation vice-president Frances Chartrand, Brandon School Division trustee Jim Murray and Manitoba Teachers’ Society staff officer Andrea Zaroda, to assist in navigating board and staff turnover, strengthening governance practices, and community relations and to “ensure that MVSD progresses on key priorities, such as diversity, inclusion and reconciliation.”
Candidate packages for the byelection can be picked up at the Mountain View School Division office, beginning today.
All nominations need to be made in writing and be signed by at least 25 voters, or not less than one per cent of voters in the ward, whichever is less. In all cases, nomination papers need to be signed by at least two voters.
Each nomination must also be accompanied by the candidate’s declaration of qualification.
Nominations may be filed in person at the Mountain View School Division office, Sept. 18, 19, 20, 23 and 24, between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. The papers may also be filed by fax or by a candidate’s official agent.
For more information contact senior election official Kirk Dawson at 204-621-7165 or the MVSD office by phone at 204-638-3001 or by fax at 204-638-7250.
