Nearly half of school trustees in Manitoba won seats by default in advance of upcoming election

Even though province-wide school board elections won't happen untilWednesday, nearly half of all school trustee seats across Manitoba's 37 school divisions have already been won.

Of the 287 seats up for grabs in the province, 132 were uncontested so the single candidate that registered has won by acclamation.

In six school divisions, a review of the final candidates list shows,the entire slate of candidates ran unopposed. That's a slight improvement over the 2014 elections where nine divisions had entirely acclaimed boards. For the Portage la Prairie School Division, this will mark the second consecutive yearnoelection washeld.

School divisions with entirely acclaimed school boards
(2018 school board elections)

• Garden Valley.
• Park West.
• Portage la Prairie.
• Turtle River.
• Western.
• Whiteshell.

2018 results not unusual

But the acclamation rates for 2018 aren't unusual.

In the 2014 school board elections, 44 per cent of candidates were acclaimed with another four per cent being appointed because too few candidates registered to fill all the positions.

Similarly, in 2010, 45 per cent of seats were uncontested, with another four per cent also being appointed.

The Manitoba School Boards Association says many factors explain why we see so many default victories.

"The realities of political elections in smaller communities, especially with important rural contexts such as Manitoba, means that candidates for trustee may often be known and recognized within smaller local communities and shall remain uncontested if the community takes the perspective that such a candidate ought to hold the office sought," says executive director Josh Watt.

Watt says he would be more concerned about these results if the boards were composed of the same candidates over and over.

"We have seen a relatively stable turnover rate of trustees, with new trustees comprising over a third of elected candidates. For us this reflects one of the true markers of democratic health, as it demonstrates sufficient stability along with new change at the school board table," he said.

Women candidates outnumber men

In sharp contrast to the slate of municipal elections where just under 20 per cent of candidates are women, in school trustee elections, that number rises to over 55 per cent this year.

In the 2014 elections, 144 men won seats, while women took 143, essentially 50-50.

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Watt says this phenomenon is deep-rooted in the fact that traditionally mothers were more actively involved in the education system and many retired teachers also often women have gravitated toward school division politics after retirement.

"That certainly does help to account for why school trustees have a much higher rate of women represented than any other level of government," he says.

Amalgamation on the horizon?

In 2001, the former New Democratic Party reduced the number of school divisions in Manitoba from 54 to the 37 that we have today.

Currently, the Progressive Conservative government's public pre-budget survey seeks input on, among other things, whether Manitobans support further reducing thenumber of school divisions.

While the Manitoba School Boards Association is expecting changes to the education system in the new year after a report is concluded in the spring, he says reducing the number of school division does nothing to help kids.

"What we have in this province, we feel ought to be protected. When it comes to eliminating school boards and removing democratic rights of citizens, the irony is, not only is that bad for democracy but there's absolutely no savings to be had," he says.

The education minister's office declined to comment on this story, citing a desire to not "prejudge the outcome of the review / public consultations."