---
title: "Surrey's Chief Election Officer asks province to appoint 7th trustee and avoid $840K byelection"
description: "Surrey's Chief Election Officer has written to the provincial minister asking for Gary Tymoschuk to be declared elected as a school trustee, avoiding an $840,000 byelection that would come out of Surrey Schools' budget."
canonical_url: "https://voche.me/bc/surrey-2026/news/surrey-trustee-byelection-ceo-minister-november-2026"
last_updated: "2026-11-11T19:17:44.479Z"
---

Surrey's Chief Election Officer has written to the provincial minister asking for [Gary Tymoschuk](/bc/surrey-2026/candidates/gary-tymoschuk), who finished seventh in the October school trustee race, to be declared elected, the Peace Arch News reported. The alternative is an $840,000 byelection funded entirely from Surrey Schools' budget.

Chief Election Officer Gib van Ert sent the letter on November 4, setting a November 18 deadline for the minister to respond. [Garry Thind](/bc/surrey-2026/candidates/garry-thind-surrey-2026), who won a trustee seat on October 17 and then won a Conservative MLA seat on October 24, is scheduled to be sworn in as an MLA on November 19. That swearing-in would trigger his removal from the trustee seat.

## What the law says

Van Ert cited section 167 of the Local Government Act as the authority for the minister to act. The Peace Arch News reported that the section gives the minister the power "to make any order you consider appropriate" in special circumstances. Van Ert's position is that this provision allows the minister to declare Tymoschuk elected without a vote.

## What happens next

If the minister acts before November 18, Tymoschuk would take the trustee seat and no byelection would be needed. If the minister does not respond, the seat becomes vacant on November 19 when Thind is sworn in as an MLA, and Surrey Schools would have to organize and pay for a byelection.

The minister had not responded publicly as of the Peace Arch News report on November 10.

Thind is not the first elected official whose departure from a local seat has triggered this question. The situation arose because provincial and local elections were held one week apart in October 2026. The Local Government Act does not automatically declare the next-place finisher elected when a seat opens, which is why van Ert's letter asks the minister to use a specific provision.

Residents can follow news about the Surrey Board of Education at [/bc/surrey-2026/news](/bc/surrey-2026/news).

## Sitemap

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