Over the last two weeks, parents, teachers, students and residents of New Westminster were shocked to learn that Trustee Dee Beattie had broken their trust. Beattie admitted to setting up a fake Twitter account which she used to bully and harass a number of individuals over the period of several years.
NWP Trustee Danielle Connelly, through the School Board, and Councillors Daniel Fontaine and Paul Minhas have all called upon Trustee Beattie to do the right thing and resign.
As a result of calls for Beattie’s resignation, the NWP Board of Directors passed an urgent resolution earlier today which formally established a new By-Election Readiness Committee. The committee plans to identify and recommend up to two candidates the Board will approve to run in the upcoming by-election(s). It is our expectation the by-election(s) will take place later this year.
The Board has chosen to identify up to two candidates as there may be a need for a second by-election pending the results of the special prosecutor’s investigation into the actions of former School Board Chair Trustee Gurveen Dhaliwal. Trustee Dhaliwal recently stepped down from her role as Chair after it was revealed a special prosecutor had been appointed to determine if she violated the Local Government Act.
As a result of calls for Beattie’s resignation, the NWP Board of Directors passed an urgent resolution earlier today which formally established a new By-Election Readiness Committee.
Over the coming weeks, the NWP Board of Directors will continue to keep the public informed regarding progress being made with our school board candidate nomination process.