Saint-Cyr among candidates in Ward 1 byelection

ST. Boniface

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This article was published 29/05/2024 (827 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

LRSD school trustee candidate Sandra Saint-Cyr has a lengthy background in the education system, which she believes lends itself well to being a trustee.

The Louis Riel School Division Ward 1 trustee byelection is scheduled to take place on June 6. The position has been vacant since last November, following the resignation of former school trustee Francine Champagne after a controversial time in the role.

Saint-Cyr began her career as a teacher in 1985 in a rural Indigenous community in northern Manitoba. She then spent time in Scandinavia, teaching abroad while her husband played hockey there. Upon returning to Winnipeg, Saint-Cyr was hired at a school in what was then known as St. Vital School Division and remained in the division, even after it became LRSD, for 25 years.

LRSD has given her “hands-on tools, experiences, and connections that I will never forget, and that have become my personal resources,” Saint-Cyr said.

“I guess I would say that I’m a wife and mother first, so family is at the heart of what I am most passionate about,” she said. “My experiences as a teacher have profoundly impacted me. It’s been a privilege.”

Saint-Cyr now teaches part-time, taking on short-term and substitute roles at schools around the city.

If elected, Saint-Cyr hopes to be a “voice at the board table” for parents within the division: “I want to be informed by parents on a regular basis and to carry their voices into the planning and direction that we take as a school division.”

The board must be willing to harbour differences, Saint-Cyr explained, in order to find common ground.

“There seems to be a disconnect between the parents and the board and I want to help to bridge that divide,” she said. “I care deeply about the children and working closely with parents is the most effective way to support children and their learning needs,” she said.

“I have taught in LRSD for 25 years of my almost 40-year career and it’s always been about kids and families and it always will be.”

Other byelection candidates include Marcel Boille, Jacqueline Cassel-Cramer, Bob Lawrie, and Ian Walker.