Vancouver City Council motion calls for VSB byelection within 6 months

A motion before Vancouver City Council is asking the province to hold a byelection to replace the fired Vancouver School Board within six months of their Oct. 17 dismissal.

The motion also proposes giving the fired trustees the seats on city advisory committees — such as the library committee, LGBT committee and children and youth — they held before their dismissal.

"Several advisory committees have expressed confusion or concern about having an individual with no mandate from Vancouver residents act in any capacity on an advisory committee established to empower resident voices," the motion reads.

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"Residents of Vancouver deserve ... independent and democratically elected School Trustees to represent their interests in regard to education, school facilities and related matters."

The call for a byelection echoes a similar call by the B.C. School Trustees Association in late October.

Patti Bacchus, one of the fired trustees, told On The Coast host Stephen Quinn that the motion was a reaction to the provincial government's "anti-democratic" move to dismiss the VSB.

"The City of Vancouver has been very supportive of us, the mayor has been very supportive of the elected board and the right of the people of Vancouver to elect their own representatives," she said. "I think it's a way of pushing back."

Bacchus declined to say whether or not she'd run in a byelection, only acknowledging she committed to a four-year term when elected and has only served for two.

Council will hear the motion on Tuesday at 9:30 a.m.

With files from CBC Radio One's On The Coast

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