This record covers Suzie Mah, ballot number 304, a sitting Vancouver School Board trustee elected with COPE in 2022 and seeking re election on October 17, 2026. Mah has the fullest public record of the six candidates in this batch, including several board votes reported by CBC and the Vancouver Sun.
1 upcoming public event were found in the sources checked on September 22, 2026. An event being scheduled does not mean this candidate will attend. Attendance is marked separately.
Checked September 22, 2026 · All event times are Vancouver local time. Recheck the organizer before travelling.
Attendance is identified for each event. Unconfirmed listings are not confirmed candidate appearances.
6 to 9 pm
Public forumAttendance unconfirmed
Great East End Town Hall, part two: school board and park board
Britannia Community Centre, Gym D, Vancouver
The listing names the two offices invited rather than individual candidates, and the COPE website lists no campaign events.
The second part of a town hall series for the 2026 Vancouver election, covering school board and park board candidates. Listed on the CityHallWatch election portal.
On dates without a confirmed appearance the public schedule is unknown; the candidate may still have activities that day. This static page changes only when its research is updated.
01 / Introduction
About Suzie Mah
Suzie Mah appears on the City of Vancouver's final 2026 candidate list for School Board, with ballot number 304. The City records the affiliation as COPE.
The official roster for the current term lists Suzie Mah as a Vancouver School Board trustee. That is a separate office from the one on this 2026 ballot entry.
The party page says Mah is a retired teacher and union organizer with more than 30 years of work, and has taught every grade from Kindergarten to Grade 12. The party page says Mah has been COPE's Vancouver School Board trustee since 2022.
The COPE school board page says Mah is a retired educator and union organiser with more than thirty years of experience, having taught from kindergarten through grade 12 and also taught adult learners outside the regular school system.
The Vancouver Sun described Mah as a retired teacher and COPE trustee in a July 2025 report on Vancouver School Board property.
Mah was elected as a Vancouver school trustee in October 2022 with 42,379 votes, or 24.71 percent, taking the fourth of the nine seats.
COPE members chose Mah as part of the party's 2026 school board slate on May 12, 2026, alongside Derrick O'Keefe, Melanie Cheng and Gwen Giesbrecht.
Daily Hive lists Mah at ballot position 304 as a COPE candidate for school trustee.
voche.me assembled this profile from the official candidate list and the campaign material linked under Sources. The campaign has not been contacted, and no candidate-supplied content appears on this page.
Published positions and selected commitments, separated by election cycle. Status labels describe the evidence reviewed, not a numerical score or a complete audit of the platform. Council approval is different from delivery.
9 commitments shown · Checked Sep 22
2026 · School fundingIn progress
Stop cuts to librarians, inclusive education teachers and food programmes
Mah put six motions to a Vancouver School Board special meeting on April 20, 2026 seeking to reverse proposed budget cuts, covering supervision aide hours, student support staffing, on call coverage for resource teachers from the first day of absence, a teacher of the visually impaired and a hospital homebound teacher, a district teacher librarian, and full designation of the City of Vancouver food grant.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
The list of six motions comes from a COPE release. COPE is Mah's own party, so this records what was proposed rather than what the board decided. No report was found showing how the board voted on each motion.
What still needs checking
Which of the six motions the board passed, and whether the positions were restored in the final budget.
In the same April 2026 statement Mah said that closing gaps in inclusive education funding means reallocating money out of administrative and managerial budgets.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
The statement is published by COPE. No dollar figure and no specific administrative line were named.
What still needs checking
How much money Mah would move and out of which budget lines.
COPE's school board page says its candidates oppose selling or leasing school land, and Mah has voted against a long term lease of school property and has focused board work on the district's leases.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
The position statement comes from the COPE website. The record of voting against the Sir Sandford Fleming lease and the focus on leases come from CBC and Vancouver Sun reports, which are independent of the party.
What still needs checking
Whether Mah would seek to change or end leases already signed.
COPE's school board page says its candidates support universal meal programmes in Vancouver schools, and Mah's April 2026 motions included full designation of the City of Vancouver food grant.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
The universal meals position is COPE's. The food grant motion is recorded on the COPE site as Mah's own. No independent report on the outcome was found. A CityHallWatch review published on September 8, 2026 recorded that COPE had released no dedicated 2026 platform and was still using its 2025 by election platform, which has no school section.
What still needs checking
What a universal meal programme would cost the district each year.
The COPE school board page says Mah secured defibrillators in Vancouver schools.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
The claim is COPE's own. What was independently confirmed is narrower: in September 2025 the Vancouver Sun quoted Mah saying the province had rejected a Vancouver School Board request for $250,000 for defibrillators plus $50,000 for maintenance, and that buying them would take money from student services. British Columbia now requires the devices in all schools.
What still needs checking
Which Vancouver School Board motion Mah brought on defibrillators, on what date, and how the board voted.
Mah proposed deferring the decision on trustee pay increases to the incoming board and voted against the increases.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
The Vancouver Sun reported on May 29, 2026 that the deferral motion was rejected and that Mah was the only trustee to vote against the new pay policy. The board approved the increases, so this position did not become policy.
What still needs checking
Whether Mah would move to reverse the increases if re elected.
Each entry below names its source. Campaign material is the candidate's own account. Nothing here is presented as a verified outcome unless the entry says so.
Proposed
Six budget motions at a Vancouver School Board special meeting
Mah brought six motions aimed at reversing proposed cuts: more supervision aide hours, restoring 3.0 full time equivalent student support staffing, on call cover for resource teachers from the first day of absence, restoring a teacher of the visually impaired and a hospital homebound teacher, restoring a district teacher librarian, and fully designating the City of Vancouver food grant.
Scope, limits and sources
The motion list comes from a COPE release, which is Mah's own party. The board's decision on each motion was not found in any independent report.
Vancouver School Board draft budget of $826 million
Trustees passed a draft budget of $826 million for 2026 to 2027 on the Monday before this report, with cuts including district teaching and support staff, settlement worker posts, three student support workers at Britannia and David Thompson secondary schools, and a district teacher librarian. The district expected 330 fewer students, about 300 of them international.
Scope, limits and sources
CBC quoted Mah calling the reductions small cuts that still harm the students who need help most, and reported Mah's concern that falling international enrolment alone did not explain them. A final budget vote was set for April 29, 2026.
The board set pay for the board elected in autumn 2026 at $54,100 for the chair, $47,800 for the vice chair and $41,600 for other trustees, up from $40,315, $39,448 and $37,215. Mah was the only trustee to vote against, and a motion to leave the decision to the incoming board was rejected.
Scope, limits and sources
Reported by Cheryl Chan for the Vancouver Sun. Mah argued the board had just passed a budget it agreed was underfunded. Vice chair Janet Fraser of the Green Party defended the increases as recognising the time the job takes.
Vote to permanently close Sir Guy Carleton Elementary School
Trustees voted 5 to 3 to permanently close Sir Guy Carleton Elementary, empty since a fire in August 2016. Mah voted against, together with Preeti Faridkot and Jennifer Reddy, and had put forward a motion to pause the process.
Scope, limits and sources
Reported by Cheryl Chan for the Vancouver Sun. Mah argued that new housing in the Joyce Collingwood area meant the school would be needed for future enrolment. Chair Victoria Jung said the vote in favour reflected valuing students in schools over empty buildings.
99 year lease of land at Sir Sandford Fleming Elementary School
The Vancouver School Board agreed a 99 year lease of 0.31 hectares at the southern end of the Sir Sandford Fleming site to Vittori Developments for $8.5 million, for a rental building with shops at ground level and priority access for school district staff. Mah and Jennifer Reddy voted against.
Scope, limits and sources
Reported by CBC. Mah called the $8.5 million a small sum against the value of the land, said the lease removes the district's flexibility for 99 years as enrolment grows, and noted that a community basketball court had stood on the site. Vice chair Joshua Zhang of ABC Vancouver supported the deal.
Read original statements and reporting, or open the publisher’s video. A summary of a speech is labelled separately from a full recording.
No reviewed entries have been added to this section yet. This is a research gap, not a finding about the candidate.
Accountability / Findings, disputes and responses
Controversies & public scrutiny
Records are labelled by type, including official findings, civil proceedings and political disputes where applicable. Each entry identifies the response found in the sources and the latest status verified for this page.
No reviewed entries have been added to this section yet. This is a research gap, not a finding about the candidate.
News coverage / Original publishers
Read the reporting
A dated reading list from independent publishers. The headings below are voche.me summaries; follow each link for the original article, context and any corrections.
Reporting
The Vancouver Sun
B.C. orders defibrillators, naloxone in schools, but cash-strapped districts say there's no money to buy them
Lori Culbert reported that British Columbia now requires defibrillators and naloxone in schools without extra funding. Mah said the money has to come out of funds that could pay for student services, and that the education ministry had turned down a Vancouver School Board request for $250,000 for the devices and $50,000 for maintenance.
Exclusive: Vancouver school board owns 223 properties worth $9.5 billion
Lori Farah reported that the Vancouver School Board owns 223 properties valued above $9.5 billion, making it the second largest property owner in the city after the City of Vancouver. Mah said the main focus of the work since 2022 had been leases and the legal side of land, and that trustees are asked to make property decisions without real estate training.
Sources checked September 22, 2026. Official records establish decisions; campaign material establishes stated positions; reporting adds investigation and context. None alone establishes every claim.
Two claims on the COPE website remain unconfirmed: that Mah secured defibrillators in schools, and that Mah pushed for free transit for teenagers. No board motion or news report matching either was found. A Vancouver Sun headline from January 27, 2025 about the board voting for life saving devices in schools appeared in a news index, but the article could not be opened, so it is not used here. The outcome of the six April 2026 budget motions was not established. COPE has published no full 2026 platform; a CityHallWatch review on September 8, 2026 noted the party was still relying on its 2025 by election platform, which has no school section. Vancouver School Board meeting minutes were not opened directly, so every vote above rests on news reporting. Official City of Vancouver election pages return an error to automated requests, so the 2022 vote totals were taken from the Wikipedia results table and the ballot number from Daily Hive.
Research status
What voche.me has checked
Evidence reviewed on September 22, 2026: Current campaign material; biographical claims require corroboration.
Campaign page read on September 22, 2026. 3 stated positions and 2 background facts recorded here, each checked against a quotation from that page.
Checks still to do: Verify Board votes, funding allocations and implementation before crediting outcomes.
The ballot name, office, ballot number and party label come from the City's final candidate list. Everything described as campaign material is the campaign's own account and has not been confirmed by an independent source.
03 / Background
Experience & community
Current term
Vancouver School Board trustee
The official roster lists Suzie Mah in this office during the term that ends with the 2026 election. Individual votes and decisions have not been reviewed for this profile.
The COPE page says Mah taught for more than thirty years across kindergarten to grade 12 and with adult learners, and worked as a union organiser. The COPE page is the only source for the length of service.
