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Langley City dragged to Supreme Court over byelection

A last-place candidate is appealing the election to the Supreme Court of Canada.
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A case over a Langley City byelection two years ago has been taken to the Supreme Court of Canada.

Langley City officials are waiting to see if the court will hear Serena Oh’s case, which attempts to overturn the byelection of Feb. 27, 2016.

Oh claimed in B.C. Supreme Court last year that the results of the Feb. 27 vote were “manipulated” and that she had received twice as many votes as the actual winner, Councillor Nathan Pachal.

Pachal received 740 votes in the byelection. Oh received 57, the lowest total among nine candidates.

Lawyers for Langley City aruged that Oh had not put forward any solid evidence of her claims.

The B.C. Supreme Court dismissed Oh’s petition, calling her evidence “entirely deficient.”

The B.C. Court of Appeals also dismissed the case when Oh attempted to raise it again.

Now Langley City has had to file docuements as Oh takes her appeal to the top court in the country.

The City has filed an application for leave to appeal, said administrator Francis Cheung.

“We’re saying that her complaint has no validity,” Cheung said.

As the issue is still before the courts, Cheung could not say how much the case has cost the City.

The City and Oh are now waiting to hear whether or not the Supreme Court will consider the case. It’s uncertain when the court will decide.

Oh previously ran for mayor of Langley Township in 2014. She has worked as a real estate agent.

This is not Oh’s first attempt at taking matters to high courts.

Oh has previously attempted to take the City of Burnaby to the Supreme Court in 2011 and 2012. That case began with a bylaw complaint that a house Oh owned had an illegal suite with unauthorized cooking facilities.

In 2012, she was declared a vexatious litigant, and was ordered not to start any legal proceedings in the Supreme or Provincial Courts of B.C. without the permission of the court.

A vexatious litigant is someone who starts multiple legal proceedings, which have little legal merit, and are seen as abusing the court process.



Matthew Claxton

About the Author: Matthew Claxton

Raised in Langley, as a journalist today I focus on local politics, crime and homelessness.
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