Oct. 29 proposed Catholic byelection date
Catholic voters in Saskatoon will likely be called to the polls for a school board byelection in October.
Long-serving board member Fred Wesolowski resigned last month from the Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools board, prompting administrators to recommend a byelection to fill his seat.
“This is all new territory for us. We haven’t had a byelection in Saskatoon for decades,” GSCS superintendent of administrative services Joel Lloyd said.
The Catholic school board voted earlier this week in favour of an Oct. 29 election date, which must also be approved by city council.
The 10-member school board consists of seven city representatives, elected in a pool, and a member each for Biggar, Humboldt, and rural areas surrounding Saskatoon.
Unless the school board decides otherwise, legislation says a municipal clerk will be the returning officer.
Saskatoon city clerk Joanne Sproule said the board hasn’t formally asked her to take on the role yet.
Because Catholic school board trustees represent the city as a whole — not one ward, like public board trustees — the school division will likely run polling stations across the city.
Sproule said the division can probably keep election costs down by setting up polling stations in Catholic schools and churches.
The school division must cover the cost, but Lloyd doesn’t yet have an estimate of the expenses.
Saskatoon hasn’t seen a school board byelection since 1999, and that was a public school board byelection, the city clerk, Sproule said.
When asked about the potential public engagement in a school board byelection, Lloyd said the school division will send messages to schools, churches, and run advertisements to attract both candidates and voters.
About a third of the city’s residents are Catholic and would be eligible to vote.
Wesolowski, who spent 26 years on the school board, resigned his seat last month due to rule changes for members of the National Parole Board, on which he also serves.
The next civic election is in 2016.