Government response to court ruling on teachers’ collective bargaining
A. Dix: In order to continue our era of good feeling in the House, yesterday I asked a question of the Minister of Finance, and today I’m going to move on to the Minister of Education. The Minister of Health may want to wait for Tuesday. I’ll give him a little preview. I’ll ask him if he now agrees with the Premier’s policy on health spending.
But we know where the Minister of Education stands on that, so I’ll ask him a straightforward Education question. He knows that the B.C. Supreme Court ruled against the government and found the government’s decision to not allow teachers to negotiate improved classroom conditions for students to be illegal. I want to ask the minister if he’s planning to appeal that decision.
Mr. Speaker: Minister of Education. [Applause.]
An. Hon. Member: That’s the last applause you’re going to get.
Hon. G. Abbott: Yes.
Interjections.
Mr. Speaker: Members.
Hon. G. Abbott: I am certain that I’ll be able to weather this storm of appreciation from both sides of the House. The recent ruling of the B.C. Supreme Court is, of course, appealable. That is an important decision which government will have to make — whether to appeal or not.
I can advise the Leader of the Opposition that the consideration of whether to appeal is ongoing. Legal analysis is ongoing, and government will make its decision shortly. I believe the appeal period reaches its end mid-May, so the member will be hearing, I’m sure, relatively shortly about the government’s decision with respect to that.
Mr. Speaker: The Leader of the Opposition has a supplemental.
A. Dix: Well, I’m puzzled, hon. Speaker, because…
Interjections.
Mr. Speaker: Members.
A. Dix: …the Premier of British Columbia said when the court decision came out that she would respect the decision. She said she’d respect the decision and change the law. So I wanted to ask the minister whether his new role is to tell us what the Premier meant to say or whether he thinks that considering an appeal is respecting the decision of the B.C. Supreme Court?
Hon. G. Abbott: It’s pretty clear that the Leader of the Opposition is a better politician than he is a lawyer. Clearly, the fact that the Premier respects a decision does not make it non-appealable. It is important….
Interjections.
Mr. Speaker: Continue.
Hon. G. Abbott: Now, I know, Mr. Speaker, that the Leader of the Opposition is a master of revisionist history. If their….
Interjections.
Mr. Speaker: Members.
Hon. G. Abbott: However, I think I might be able to cite quite a number of cases from that period of time between 1991 and 2001 where a former NDP government respected a number of decisions of courts in this province but also elected to appeal those decisions. The distinction is not that subtle, and I hope the member can understand that.
Mr. Speaker: The Leader of the Opposition has a further supplemental.
A. Dix: You know, hon. Speaker, the Premier was explicit. She said she’d respect the decision. She said she’d come back here and change the law. That’s what she said. She didn’t say she was considering an appeal. That’s the Minister of Education. That’s what he’s saying now. That’s not what she said.
I just want to remind…. It’s a little bit of come back here and change the law. That’s what she said. She didn’t say she was considering an appeal. That’s the Minister of Education; that’s what he’s saying now. That’s not what she said.
I just want to remind…. So it’s a little bit of he said, she said here, but I would say this. This is important. The court ruled that the evidence that the government relied on in the hearing before me to support its assertion that class-size limits were causing hardships to students and parents was anecdotal hearsay. What is needed in B.C. at a time when 12,000 classrooms are outside the composition limits, at a time that 4,000 classrooms are outside the class-size limits is action. Why doesn’t the government accept the court decision and negotiate class size and composition with the BCTF?
Hon. G. Abbott: So now I think I’m starting to understand the nature of the question. This is actually about the Leader of the Opposition returning some favours to the B.C. Teachers Federation early on. We know….
Interjections.
Mr. Speaker: Take your seat, Minister.
Continue, Minister.
Hon. G. Abbott: We know that the Leader of the Opposition has always relied very heavily on the public sector unions to support his campaigns, and so I appreciate that he will raise this important issue. It may well be…. I’ve reviewed the words of the Premier very carefully on this point. There is nothing in her words that indicate that this is not an appealable issue nor that we would not give appropriate consideration to that. The member is thinly disguising a supposed question in order to get where he wants to be, which is openly shilling for the B.C. Teachers Federation.
School district funding and court ruling on teachers’ bargaining
R. Austin: Actually, I think what we would like on this side of the House is to put our children’s education first and foremost. That’s what we consider to be putting families first. It’s been six years since this government last made a substantial investment in new schools for Surrey.
Now after years of increased enrolment, the school district is making students in schools, like Earl Marriott, attend in shifts because of a lack of classroom space. Recently, the B.C. Supreme Court ruling has struck down provisions restricting teachers from negotiating calendars and timetables, and the Surrey school district may be hit with increased costs because of this government’s failure to invest in Surrey schools.
Given the fact that this Supreme Court judgment will take effect before the end of the next school year, is the government ready to help districts like Surrey comply with this ruling?
Hon. G. Abbott: I appreciate the member raising this important question. I had the opportunity recently to meet with the Surrey board of education. It was a very good and constructive meeting. They do have challenges with respect to growing school population, and I’m delighted to say that this government, since 2001, has invested $230 million. So $230 million, ten new schools, and 3,000 new student spaces in Surrey school districts since 2001.
We’ll continue to make those investments. I am sure…. I am dead certain that all of the members from Surrey will show up in June when we celebrate the opening of the Adams Road Elementary School in Surrey. They’ll all be there.
Mr. Speaker: The member has a supplemental.
R. Austin: School districts all over B.C. are currently in the final stage of planning their budgets for the next school year, and several districts are planning increased class sizes in order to balance their books after years of cuts from this government.
Given the fact that the Supreme Court judgment on class size and composition will take effect before the end of the next school year, will the government act immediately to budget for the implications of this judgment, or do they plan on leaving school districts to pick up the tab for their mismanagement yet again?
Hon. G. Abbott: I thank the member for his submission. I heard a similar submission just two days ago when I met with the B.C. Teachers Federation in one of my continuing meetings with the federation, and I appreciate the member reiterating the theme again.
But the important thing is this. We have never — never once, in ten years as this government — reduced education funding in the province of British Columbia — never once. Overall, we have seen the budget for education in this province grow from $4.1 billion in 2001, when these folks left office, to, today, $5.8 billion in education funding. That equates, on a per-student basis, that we’ve moved from $6,262 per student back in 2001 to $8,357 today.
Interjections.
Mr. Speaker: Members.
(House Blues, Thursday, April 28, 2011, Oral Questions
Full transcript and video available at http://www.leg.bc.ca/hansard/8-8.htm
More questions follow related to Surrey overcrowding and portables)
