Going into its eighth year as a Burnaby Citizens Association-only affair, it looked like the Burnaby school board was going to end another year lockstepping through the elections of the board chair and vice-chair at its last public meeting before the New Year.
Before the meeting was over, however, trustee Meiling Chia had made it clear she was none too pleased with how things had gone.
She told the NOW later that, for years, the BCA trustees have met in private to fix the elections before the public meeting and that there had been a long established tradition of moving chairs and vice-chairs through on a two-year rotation.
Trustees flouted that tradition this year, denying vice-chair Harman Pandher his turn in the chair.
Chia said political ambition and infighting were behind it all.
Board Chair Rob Burton said it was because Pandher is a teacher and the board is getting ready to deal with major issues involving the teachers’ union and the courts.
