MONTREAL -- Quebecers will go to the polls in November to elect school board commissioners for the English sector.
The nomination process closed Sunday evening, with the majority of candidates going unopposed.
Former English Montreal School Board vice-chair Joe Ortona has been named board chair, by acclamation.
Similarly, nine of the board’s 10 commissioners have been elected without having to face a challenger.
There will be an election for the Westmount-Sud-Ouest commissioner’s seat.
The EMSB, which remains under trusteeship until Nov. 6, was labelled “dysfunctional” in a blistering government report, last year.
“I would say give us a chance and see what we can accomplish, and I think we can accomplish great things,” Ortona told CTV News.
“We will no longer have the hours and hours of in-fighting and meetings that go on from 4 p.m. to 1 a.m. That’s not going to happen anymore. We’re going to have constructive debates, constructive ideas. There won’t be any more filibustering. There won’t be any more in-fighting,” he added.
At the Lester B. Pearson School Board, elections will be held to select a new chair; Judy Kelley and Chris Eustance are running.
There will also be elections for three of the 12 districts, with nine commissioners being elected by acclamation.
Voters will only decide the chair position of the Sir Wilfred Laurier School Board; Noémia Onofre De Lima and Paolo Galati are running. All nine commissioners have been elected unopposed.
“QESBA is pleased and acknowledges the commitment of the English-speaking community to our institutions,” said Dan Lamoureaux, Quebec English School Boards Association president, in a statement.
“Candidates rallied over six days all with strict health requirements to gather nomination signatures to be able to run in these elections.”
Early voting begins Oct. 25, with election day on Nov. 1.
