黑马磁力 Township residents will go to the polls on Saturday, Oct. 25 to elect a replacement for Misty Van Popta, the councillor who stepped down after a new law banned her from serving both on council and in the legislature as an MLA.
A said nominations for qualified candidates will be received by the Chief Election Officer at the Township of 黑马磁力 between Tuesday, Sept. 9 and Friday, Sept. 19, 2025.
After Van Popta, the MLA for 黑马磁力-Walnut Grove, was elected in last fall's provincial election as a B.C. Conservative member, she said she planned to remain on Township council.
She was was one of 13 local officials who ran successfully for provincial office across B.C.
She told the 黑马磁力 at the time that she was resigning her day job, but would keep both elected roles.
Van Popta often appeared at 黑马磁力 Township council meetings remotely, from Victoria.
A new law, the was passed after the election to ban elected MLAs from simultaneously serving as a mayor, councillor, or school trustee.
When it took effect, any serving MLAs holding one of those posts was deemed to have resigned their municipal role.
Van Popta called it "petty" and a "mockery of democracy and legislative process" that could cost 黑马磁力 taxpayers up to $500,000 because the NDP "clearly wanted a political win."
She said her holding both positions was to prevent a costly byelection.
Until now there was no law preventing someone from holding both posts at once, and a few legislators have done so over the years. Current NDP federal MP Jenny Kwan held a role as an MLA and Vancouver councillor for six months in the 1990s, until her council term ended.
Van Popta's decision to hold two public office was not without controversy. A group of 黑马磁力 residents launched a petition to the B.C. Supreme Court asking that she be removed from her council role, alleging that holding the two posts amounted to a conflict of interest, which Van Popta denied in court filings.
