LTA President's Bulletin -2013-05-16-15

LTA President's Bulletin -2013-05-16-15

Worrisome legacy

Peace Arch News - Letter to the Editor
Niovi Patsicakis
May 17, 2013

Re: Change not victory, May 9 letters.

I differ with the opinions expressed by letter-writer Gwyn  Morgan and believe the headline should read, “The NDP is the best answer for B.C.’s future.”

(Editor’s note: Posted online as a column, the headline reads, “Liberals are best answer for B.C.’s future.”)

Morgan’s stale fear argument that 20-year-old economic woes apply to today’s NDP is disrespectful and dismissive of all candidates who were not there and have the courage to run today. Touting the “look at all the great things the Liberals have done for the economy” is becoming ridiculous. B.C.’s deficit has tripled, and that party’s pet projects have been wasteful and detrimental to education and job training – the very cornerstones for economic growth.

To view the rest of the Letter to the Editor, click here.

B.C. school district says it won’t buy carbon offsets, but will use the money locally instead

Vancouver Sun
Janet Steffenhagen
May 18, 2013

A small B.C. school district says it’s planning not to buy carbon offsets through a provincial Crown corporation this year but to use that money instead to reduce greenhouse gas emissions locally.

Frank Lento, chairman of the Southeast Kootenay board of education, said the district is displeased with the Pacific Carbon Trust (PCT), which has been widely criticized for taking money from schools, hospitals and universities and funnelling it to private companies, including energy-producer Encana Corporation.

To view the rest of the article, click here.

The Riddle: New Anti-homophobia message from the UN Human Rights office

May 17, 2013 - International Day Against Homophobia

United Nations Human Rights: Born Free and Equal

B.C. teachers return to bargaining table with Liberal government

CBC News - BC
May 17, 2013

B.C. teachers and the province return to the bargaining table in just over a week to attempt to hammer out a new contract.

The two parties took a break during the provincial election campaign, and the B.C. Teachers’ Federation fully expected to resume negotiations with an NDP government.

But instead, they'll return to talks with their old employer following the Liberals' surprise win in the provincial election earlier this week.

To view the rest of the article, click here.

Closure of six schools announced in Cowichan Valley

Vancouver Sun blog - The BC Education Report 
Janet Steffenhagen
May 16, 2013

The only B.C. school district without an elected board – Cowichan Valley – will close six schools this year to save money.

The decision was announced at a Wednesday night meeting by superintendent Joe Rhodes and the district’s official trustee, Mike McKay, who was given the job July 1 after former education minister George Abbott fired the elected board for refusing to balance the 2013-14 budget. McKay is Surrey’s superintendent.

To view the rest of the blog post, click here. 

Don't mourn, organize: lessons from the BC election

Staffroom Confidential blog
Tara Ehrcke
GVTA
May 16, 2013

Based on the past twelve years, another four under the BC Liberals does not bode well for public education. But that all depends.

There is no question that the BC Liberal record has been dismal. Underfunding, privatization, larger classes, fewer services, contract stripping, school business companies, standardized tests, the list goes on.

But there are more factors at play than simply who governs. There is also the response and political pressure by the governed. An equally big problem of the last two decades has been the failure of citizens to speak up and act up to protect social services.

To view the rest of the blog posting, click here.

Polak was involved in lengthy and expensive court case

Langley Times - Letter to the Editor
Larri Woodrow
May 15, 2013

Editor: Re: The resignation of Todd Hauptman, Mary Polak’s campaign manager.

Hauptman was a teen and possibly politically out of touch when Polak chaired the Surrey School Board.

An issue arose, beginning in 1997, and ran to at least 2002. She was chair when the board voted 4 to 2 to censor its teachers.

Surrey teachers quite properly attempted to introduce the two-dad, two-mom family concept to their elementary students. It was to be accomplished in storybook form, about two-mom and two-dad families.

To view the rest of the Letter to the Editor, click here.

Bill 85 - The Saskatchewan Employment Act - Saskatchewan government passes restrictive and undemocratic labour law changes

Bill27-85 - The Saskatchewan Employment Act

Bill 85, the Saskatchewan Employment Act is a sweeping re-write of Saskatchewan’s labour laws, including the Trade Union Act, the Labour Standards Act, the Occupational Health and Safety Act, the Health Labour Relations Reorganization Act and the Construction Industry Labour Relations Act. In total, 33 pieces of legislation were repealed and/or amended.

Among the changes, the legislation:

• dramatically increases the number of employees who cannot join a union by declaring their job duties 'confidential'
• imposes a separate bargaining unit for supervisors
• encourages ‘carve-out’ raids that will allow for the break up existing unions into small fragments
• allows for decertification attempts anytime after the first 24 months of a certification order
• imposes increased restrictions on the bargaining process, such as a 14-day cooling off period before strike or lockout can occur and 48-hour strike notice must be provided
• allows an employer to identify any of its offers — including its first — as a ‘final offer’, and force a union vote on it and
• weakens workers' rights to reasonable work hours, overtime pay, meal breaks and weekends off.

To view the rest of the information on this law, click here.

Did you vote?

The campaigning is over. Only one more thing to do. 

BC NDP Leader Adrian Dix's 24 hour Leader Tour - Stop in Langley at 2:00am to visit candidate Andrew Mercier

A Poverty Reduction Plan for BC

The Tyee.ca 
Ted Bruce, Trish Garner, Seth Kline
May 13, 2013

We've heard a lot about government spending recently. The Liberals released their "spend-o-meter" charting the supposed overspending of NDP promises, and the NDP's response has been to assert their careful spending. What neither of them are saying is that government spending has the potential to be an investment for British Columbians. It can rebuild the social supports that British Columbians need, improve economic productivity and save money in the long-term.

To view the rest of the article, click here. 

Readers take issue with politicians' records

Vancouver Sun - Letter to the Editor
Gilbert Smith
May 13, 2013

Peace River Liberal candidate and incumbent MLA Pat Pimm believes the presence of special needs students in classrooms is pushing parents to enrol their children in private schools or to home-school them.

He makes the laughable statement that the B.C. Liberals have done more than any other government in the province's history to support special needs kids. Time for a history lesson. In 2002 then education minister Christy Clark described herself as "delighted" and "proud" to strip teachers' contracts of class size and composition agreements, saving her government more than $3 billion over the course of 10 years.

To view the rest of the letter to the Editor, click here.

Libs created class woes

Vancouver Province - Letter to the Editor
Colleen Peterson
May 12, 2013

Peace River North Liberal candidate Pat Pimm says special-needs students in the classroom are "causing grief" and that is why "some students are moving to other areas in the private sector."

I am so disgusted with, of all people, a Liberal candidate placing the blame on children with disabilities for the issues in our classrooms. This from a government that created the problem through 12 years of underfunding education and support for disabled students and, in effect, all students.

To view the rest of the Letter to the Editor, click here.