THUNDER BAY -- A local school board trustee's seat is now vacant after she filed her financial statements late following the latest municipal election.
Conseil scolaire de district catholique des Aurores boreals vice-chair Claudette Gleeson failed to meet the March 27 deadline for filing campaign finances Thunder Bay city clerk and election returning officer John Hannam said.
"That means that her seat is deemed under the legislation to be vacant," Hannam said.
Gleeson has filed for relief to Superior Court, something a number of trustees across the province were granted for filing late after the 2010 election.
Calls to Gleeson and the school board were not immediately returned. Hannam said an entire list of candidate campaign financial statements will head to council April 27. Around nine other municipal and school board candidates filed late but none other than Gleeson were elected Hannam said.
Filing late is one of three penalties under the Municipal Act that force an elected official to vacate a seat and become ineligible to run in any or election or be appointed to a seat until the next election.
Exceeding the spending limit and failing to turn over any surplus when filing a financial statement also result in the automatic penalty.
Board communications director Carol-Ann van Rassel said the position is vacant and will remain that way until the court has made a decision. Gleeson has been a trustee with the board since its inception in 1998.
