Two mayors, six city councillors, four school board trustees and one local area director have all won a government upgrade to the legislature in Victoria, meaning byelections are expected in those communities — but not all.
Misty Van Popta, a councillor with the Township of Langley, says she will handle both roles for the remainder of her two-year local government stint.
She told CBC News byelections are costly for municipalities and often have low voter turnout.
“As there’s not a lot of crossover between votes at a municipal level vs provincial level, I feel it’s important to honour the position I was elected for in 2022,” she wrote in an email to CBC News.
LISTEN | CBC News speaks with MLA-elect Misty Van Popta:
Elections B.C. said there are no rules in B.C.’s Election Act prohibiting politicians from being elected in two places at once, such as a school board trustee or local councillor and as an MLA.
The Election Act does not require them to resign if they are also elected as an MLA.
“Other legislation or local bylaws may apply, but those are outside of our mandate,” wrote Andrew Watson, senior director of communications for Elections B.C., in an email to CBC News.
The B.C. Legislature in Victoria is framed by trees on Wednesday, May 8, 2024. (Chad Hipolito/The Canadian Press)
In 1995, NDP MLA Denis Streifel brought a private members bill called the Dual Elected Office Prohibition Act, which would have required elected local politicians to resign upon being elected as an MLA. It did not pass.
Current MP Jenny Kwan is one example of a politician who held two elected positions at once. She did it for the last six months of her term as a Vancouver city councillor in 1996 when she was elected as an MLA.
“Instead of triggering a byelection, I elected to serve out my term,” she said in a statement, which also described the challenge of juggling both roles.
Kwan attended to council business until she needed to be in Victoria in late June of 1996 for the legislative sitting.
“Thereafter, I sought and received leave to be absent from council meetings,” she said. “To ensure there was no double dipping, I also did not accept my council salary upon being elected provincially.”
NDP MP Jenny Kwan appears with NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa in 2023. For six months in 1996, she was both a Vancouver city councillor and a B.C. MLA. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press)
As of April of this year, the annual basic compensation each B.C. MLA receives is $119,532.72
Allan Neilson, who is a local government consultant, said it can be tough for local governments to lose elected officials halfway through a term. He said those who choose to stay on need to find a delicate balance in matters such as a municipality applying to the province for grants.
“So I would want to be careful where those matters overlap and would want to probably err on the side of caution and recuse myself from council discussions … that had to do with intergovernmental relationships and appeals to Victoria.”
Decisions to be made
Not all of the local politicians elected to the B.C. legislature in this last election have publicly announced their plans.
They include Sooke Coun. Dana Lajeunesse, narrowly elected to Juan de Fuca-Malahat for the NDP, and Peace River Regional District Electoral Area Director Jordan Kealy, elected to Peace River North for the Conservatives.
School board trustees elected as MLAs but yet to confirm their plans are:
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Korky Neufeld, elected to Abbotsford West (Conservative).
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Heather Maahs, elected to Chilliwack North (Conservative).
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Lynne Block, elected to West Vancouver-Capilano (Conservative).
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Jennifer Blatherwick, elected to Coquitlam-Maillardville (NDP).
Let the byelections roll
Mayor Ward Stamer of Barriere has resigned as mayor.
He leaves local government after 17 years and said in a statement he’s “excited to embark on this new journey” as MLA for Kamloops-North Thompson with the Conservatives.
Fruitvale Mayor Steve Morissette says he will do the same on Nov. 5 after chairing his last council meeting the day before.
“I am trying to tie up loose ends in Fruitvale,” he said in an email to CBC News. Morisette was elected as the MLA for Kootenay-Monashee for the NDP.
North Cowichan Coun. Debra Toporowski has resigned, as has Penticton Coun. Amelia Boultbee and Esquilmalt Coun. Darlene Rotchford, elected to Esquimalt-Colwood for the NDP.
Vancouver’s Christine Boyle has asked for unpaid leave from council and said she will resign in December to give staff more time to run a byelection.
Most local governments have bylaws that require the appointment of a chief elections officer relatively quickly after resignations are received.
Once appointed, the chief elections officer then has 80 days to have a byelection, so communities where they are taking place shouldn’t expect that to happen before the new year.