---
title: "Thind, elected MLA and trustee, wants runner-up declared trustee to avoid $840K byelection"
description: "Garry Thind, who was elected both a Surrey school trustee and a BC Conservative MLA in October, says he supports having the next-highest vote-getter declared a trustee to avoid an $840,000 byelection when he is sworn in as MLA on November 19."
canonical_url: "https://voche.me/bc/surrey-2026/news/thind-trustee-byelection-mla-surrey-2026"
last_updated: "2026-11-07T04:22:10.179Z"
---

Garry Thind, elected as a Surrey school trustee on October 17 and as a BC Conservative MLA on October 24, says he wants the runner-up trustee candidate declared elected to fill the vacancy his MLA swearing-in will create, the Surrey Now-Leader reported on November 6.

[Garry Thind](/bc/surrey-2026/candidates/garry-thind-surrey-2026) cannot hold both offices under BC election law. When he is sworn in as MLA on November 19, he will be disqualified from the trustee seat, leaving one of Surrey's six trustee positions vacant.

## What Thind wants

Thind supports a court application under the Local Government Act to have Gary Tymoschuk declared elected to the trustee seat. Tymoschuk, a 12-year incumbent, ran with the same Surrey First Education slate as Thind and placed 6th in a race for 5 seats, with the next-highest vote count after the five elected trustees.

If a court granted the application, Tymoschuk would take the seat without a byelection. "Surrey students should not lose $840,000 that could be going into classrooms to a byelection," Thind told the Surrey Now-Leader.

## No application filed yet

As of November 5, Surrey's chief election officer confirmed no court application had been filed, the Surrey Now-Leader reported. The outcome depends on whether one is filed and how a judge rules.

Not everyone agrees with that approach. Anne Whitmore, who placed 9th in the trustee race, told the Surrey Now-Leader she supports holding a byelection.

## The board sworn in without the seat filled

Six trustees took office at the inaugural board meeting on November 4: Terry Allen, Laurie Larsen, Bob Holmes, Shawn Wilson, Michelle Ceniza and Laura Lattanzio. Thind's trustee seat remains unresolved while the question of a court application is decided.

The Surrey Board of Education holds its next regular meeting on December 9, 2026 at 7 p.m. at the District Education Centre. Residents can follow developments on the board's website.

## Sitemap

See the full [sitemap](/bc/surrey-2026/sitemap.md) for all pages.