New proposed rules for school trustees, municipal councillors seeking provincial seat

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This article was published 13/03/2023 (957 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

School trustees and municipal councillors seeking to run in the upcoming provincial election could be forced to take an unpaid leave of absence, if proposed legislation passes.

On Monday, Justice Minister Kelvin Goertzen introduced Bill 28 (Local Government Statutes Amendment Act).

The proposed legislation would require municipal councillors, community councillors and school trustees to take a leave of absence from their job if they are nominated to run for a seat in the Manitoba legislature.

It would also repeal a section of the Elections Act which prohibited a municipal council member from being nominated for election in the legislative assembly.

A provincial general election is scheduled for Oct. 3.

Goertzen said the government was prompted to draft the bill after identifying inconsistencies in existing legislation.

School trustees who are nominated to run for provincial office are permitted to carry on in their role while campaigning. However, municipal councillors must resign if they are nominated to run for provincial office.

“It turns out we’re the only legislature in Canada that had that requirement for resignations,” Goertzen said. “We wanted to both make it consistent in Manitoba law between municipal councillors and school trustees and also make it consistent with national law.”

Goertzen said he’s not aware of any PC nominees who might be affected by the proposed legislation.

Nominees would have to take a leave of absence once their papers are filed with Elections Manitoba.

The bill would also address real and perceived conflicts of interest for candidates who hold public office while campaigning to become a member of the legislature, Goertzen said. The bill could also reduce costs associated with holding a byelection if a municipal councillor is not successful in their campaign, he added.

NDP Leader Wab Kinew said governments must make it possible for more people to run for public office, adding a focus of his party is to see more women elected.

“Running for school trustee is often a good stepping stone for somebody to enter the political arena and then be able to pursue other offices, whether that’s provincial or otherwise,” Kinew said Monday.

The NDP leader said he is concerned a requirement to take a leave of absence could be a barrier to school trustees seeking other offices. “That’s what our team is going to be looking at as we consider this bill.”

danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca