Conservatives push back on new B.C. law banning MLAs from holding local office

Global News

2 days ago

The BC Conservatives are pushing back on new legislation that bars sitting MLAs from simultaneously holding another elected office.
The NDP's Eligibility to Hold Public Office Act passed last week with the support of the BC Greens, and will force BC Conservative MLAs Misty Van Popta and Korky Neufeld to resign, respectively, from positions as a Township of Langley city councillor and Abbotsford school trustee.
Van Popta told Global News she felt the NDP had targeted her with the legislation.
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'It's not something (my constituents) wanted. I heard loud and clear at the doors when I campaigned openly that I would temporarily hold both positions to not trigger a byelection, that I was willing to work extra hard for them to save taxpayer money,' she said.
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'I was playing within the rules, I was playing within what was allowed and what was done for decades before me, this is not a new concept, an MLA holding a local position.'
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The bill was authored by Esquimalt-Colwood NDP MLA and former Sooke city councillor Darlene Ratchford.
Ratchford, who resigned her municipal role upon election to the legislature, said she was surprised to learn quitting the local job wasn't mandatory.
'British Columbians expect their MLAs to show up and participate and that was the intention of this bill. I was actually quite surprised when I was elected as an MLA I just assumed you had to step down from local government,' she said.
Ratchord said her bill was to ensure that MLAs were giving '110 per cent' at the legislature, and to close a 'loophole' that allowed them to collect two paycheques.
She added the new law brings B.C. in line with other provinces like Ontario, Quebec and Manitoba in banning dual mandates.
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'Thirteen of us (municipal officeholders) were elected during the provincial election as MLAs and 11 stepped down and did the right thing,' she said.
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But Neufeld said by forcing the resignations, the province is now requiring Abbotsford and Langley to hold byelections with just over a year before the next municipal election.
They're estimated to cost $300,000 for the school board post and $500,000 for the township councillor.
'Let the local municipalities, the local school boards where people are elected to define whether a person should resign and trigger a by-election, ' he said.
'It's overreach in my opinion for the province to mandate this, and now our school board is going to have to fork out $300,000. Well you tell me where $300,000 would stretch in a classroom.'
No dates have been announced for the Abbotsford and Township of Langley byelections.
British Columbians will next go to the polls for their municipal elections in the fall of 2026.