Premier Christy Clark should release the cabinet documents that led a court to find that her government tried to provoke a teachers’ strike two years ago, the NDP said Monday.
Opposition Leader Adrian Dix said in a letter to Clark that she owes the public an apology and that releasing the documents would be a good first step.
He said the court ruling “details a conspiracy at the highest level of your government to provoke a strike in our schools, throwing children and their families into chaos for political gain.”
B.C. Supreme Court Justice Susan Griffin slapped the government with a $2-million penalty last week for interfering with teachers’ right to negotiate working conditions — including the size and makeup of their classrooms.
Griffin said the government twice passed unconstitutional laws against the teachers and tried to provoke a provincewide strike in a calculated move to gain political support.
The judge based her findings, in part, on cabinet documents that have been sealed while government decides whether to appeal.
Education Minister Peter Fassbender issued a statement Monday saying government continues to review the complex decision. “It is important we take the time to fully understand the implications of the decision and to carefully explore our options to address this matter,” he said.
Government will provide a more specific response “in the coming days” and remains committed to negotiating a long-term agreement with teachers, Fassbender said.
NDP education critic Rob Fleming said the province is in a “world of mess” following the decision and that Clark needs to clean the slate if she hopes to stabilize the system.
“When you’ve misled the public like this, on such a staggering scale and for so long, the best thing to do is to immediately get to a place of honesty and to own up to those mistakes,” said Fleming, the MLA for Victoria-Swan Lake.
The B.C. Teachers’ Federation has a press conference slated for this morning to discuss the court decision and the next steps in negotiations.
