The Calgary Catholic School District and the City of Calgary will be holding a byelection to fill a vacancy on the board of trustees after a former school trustee died in July.
Calgary residents will be able to vote for two CCSD school trustees to represent Wards 4, 7, 11 and 12 on January 31, 2025. The date was picked after CCSD administration consulted with Elections Calgary, which is responsible for administering general elections and byelections for the catholic school district. District schools will be used as polling stations, according to a memorandum.
CCSD board of trustees chair Shannon Cook said the district is required to hold a byelection if there are two vacancies on the board under Alberta’s Education Act, even though the next municipal election is scheduled for October 2025.
Pamela Rath, former CCSD trustee for Wards 4 and 7, submitted her resignation in December 2022 after she was censured for violating the board’s code of conduct three months prior. She was removed from the Alberta School Boards Association and St. Mary’s Community Advocacy Council shortly after being censured, but no public documents outlined what led to the censure. In a Facebook post, Rath said she resigned due to “personal and family matters.”
Trustees Linda Wellman, Mary Martin, Lory Iovinelli and Myra D’Souza have been serving wards 4 and 7 since Rath resigned. At the time, the board decided not to have a by-election due to “significant costs,” which was allowed under Section 81 of the Education Act.
However, that changed after former trustee Cathie Williams died in July. Williams was a trustee for Wards 11 and 12 and had been a trustee for more than 20 years.
Cook said the board opted for two byelections to ensure full representation in all four wards, even though only one position must legally be filled.
“We’re excited about the byelection, seeing new faces at the table,” Cook told LiveWire Calgary after a board meeting on Wednesday.
“We’re struggling a bit with the Bill 20 requirements, and where we sit with the Bill 20 requirements based on the timing of this election. So we’re working through that process but encourage people to go to the City of Calgary website to get the information that they need.”
The nomination period will start on Thursday and will be closed at 12 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 3, 2025. Eligible candidates must:
- Be a Canadian citizen
- Be 18 years of older as of January 31, 2025
- Reside within the CCSD jurisdiction
- Share the Catholic faith
- Meet the requirements set out by law or impending laws
More information about the nomination process and eligibility can be found on the Elections Calgary website.
