Last Updated: Thursday - 09/30/2010

Trustees win without enduring the race

Liam McNiff

While tight races are developing in some school districts, many trustees in the Edmonton Archdiocese will take office without having to face the voters.

For instance, all eight trustees in the East Central Alberta Separate School Division, which serves the communities of Wainwright, Vermilion, Provost, Castor, Stettler and Killam, were elected by acclamation. All eight ran unopposed in their respective wards.

Board chair Jim Brady, a trustee for six years, has an explanation for that.

"We have a very successful school division, we rank very high in the province and I guess the public believes you don't change horses in the middle of the creek if you are doing well," he said Sept. 23 from his home in Vermilion.

Chris Nichols, who was acclaimed to his fourth term in the Stettler/Killam Ward, sees things in a similar fashion.

"I guess people must feel they are represented well in this jurisdiction for Catholic education," he said from Stettler. "I'm just proud to be able to represent our Stettler Catholic parents once again and I'm looking forward to the next three years."

At St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Schools, which covers Drayton Valley, Lacombe, Ponoka, Wetaskiwin, Leduc and Beaumont, most trustees were elected by acclamation. But in Leduc, three candidates are vying for two positions on the nine-member board.

Elk Island Catholic Schools is having races in Sherwood Park, where five candidates are vying for four seats on the seven-member board, and Vegreville, where two candidates are contesting one seat. The trustees in Camrose, Luisa Davidse, and Fort Saskatchewan, Gerald Mykytiuk, were acclaimed.

Evergreen Catholic, which serves the communities of Devon, Hinton, Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, and Westlock, has elections to be held in Spruce Grove and Stony Plain. Trustees were acclaimed in Devon, Westlock and Hinton.

Jim Brady

Joseph MacLellan, acclaimed in Devon, is pleased to be back on the Evergreen board for a fourth term.

"(Being acclaimed) could mean two things: that people are happy and content with the way things are or could mean that nobody cares," he said. "I think that if things were not satisfactory, there would be opposition."

In the Red Deer Catholic Regional School Division, 10 candidates are vying for seven positions. The district serves Red Deer, Rocky Mountain House, Caroline, Eckville, Sylvan Lake, Innisfail, Bowden, Olds and Didsbury.

RACE IS ON

In Red Deer, seven candidates are vying for five seats. In the Queen Elizabeth II Ward, which covers Innisfail, Bowden, Olds and Didsbury, there will be an election between two candidates. In the Highway 11 Ward - Rocky Mountain House, Caroline, Eckville and Sylvan Lake - Liam McNiff was acclaimed.

"I'm delighted to be back to be able to offer my services to the Catholic school board and to the members in Sylvan Lake and Rocky Mountain House," said McNiff, a retired teacher and father of three. He had previously served on the Red Deer board from 2001 to 2007.

"I think the people are happy to see me run again and so that's why there were no other candidates against me."

The Greater St. Albert Catholic School Board - which serves St. Albert, Morinville and Legal - will have an election in St. Albert Ward, where six candidates are battling for four seats, and in Morinville, where three candidates are contesting two seats. The trustee in the Legal Ward, Cathy Proulx, has been acclaimed.

Copyright © 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 -- Western Catholic Reporter