One of the most important aspects of Bill 22 goes well beyond the B.C. Public Sector Employees Association and the B.C. Teachers’ Federation, and even education in general.
Bill 22 makes the courts irrelevant.
After a 10-year legal battle, the B.C. Supreme Court declared sections of Bills 27 and 28 to be unconstitutional. Bill 22 repeals Bill 27 and 28 to meet the ruling of the court, but then simultaneously retroactively re-enacts the same provisions, backdated 10 years.
If this stands, then the courts can no longer effectively support the constitution because if the court rules something to be unconstitutional, the government just has to repeatedly perform its repeal/re-enact trick to render any decision of the court against it moot.
Instead of fulfilling the role of providing checks and balances to the legislature, the courts merely become the enforcement arm of the legislature. This is nothing short of a naked power grab of unprecedented proportions.
Norman Ruffell, Surrey
Teachers truly care
My heart goes out to the teachers of B.C. They are in a no-win situation.
The so-called “negotiations” they entered into back in the fall were rigged from the beginning. How dare the government call them “negotiations” when they weren’t allowed to bargain wages and benefits, but were told from the beginning to take zero. What other employees would be willing to spend a year bargaining for nothing?
I feel the teachers of B.C. truly care for our children. They want to improve the learning conditions in their classes by increasing the amount of time they can spend with each child by controlling class sizes and the number of special needs children they enrol.
As I understand it, the danger of Bill 22 is that it removes all limits on the number of special needs children in a class and it removes the limit of enrolled students in all classes except for primary classes. How is this improving education? It’s fine if the classes were taught lecture-style, but we want individualized instruction for our children.
It’s time to take a stand with the teachers. Support your child’s teacher... support your child.
Pearl Wong, Surrey
Teachers trying to better the lives of children
There has been a lot of reporting over the past months, some of it in favour of the teachers’ union and some in favour of the government. Front and centre in most reports are financial costs to various options proposed by both sides.
As a taxpayer I am cognizant of the level of taxation and the potential effect these options will have on my bottom line. What astonishes me however, is the level of disrespect for the average, everyday teacher who in the majority of situations, demonstrates compassion, nurturing, and the knowledge, skills and abilities to provide a sound education to your children and that of your neighbour’s children.
As a former teacher and current parent of two children in the school system, I have nothing but praise for the work that I witness being done, by not only my children’s teachers but by the rest of the staff at their school.
There appears to be a belief that teachers are “in it for the money,” and while financial considerations are important, it’s more than that. These dedicated providers actually care about your children. They spend more time with your children, in some cases, than you do. They develop a bond with them which lasts a lifetime and they will think about your children well after they have left their classroom, hoping that life has been kind to them.
How do I know this? Because I still do... and it’s been over a decade since I was last a teacher.
This labour dispute is contentious and will likely remain adversarial, but let’s not forget that the people we trust with our children are just that, people who are trying to better the lives of the children in their care.
Rashpal Lovelace