Questions for a British Columbia MLA on the teachers’ strike

Jordan Sturdy
Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia

Dear Mr. Sturdy:

I have tried and tried and tried to get you to provide even a hint of your position on education. I appreciate that you have lots of mail from constituents, and understand the difficulty your office has answering that mail. Nonetheless, I would like to have some idea of where you stand.

To make the task of responding to me easier, and to help me (and other British Columbians) to understand your position, I here ask you a few “Yes/No” questions which I hope you can answer quickly.

Do you believe that it is the goal of a democratic society to ensure that all its members receive an education that enables them to become literate, personally fulfilled and publicly useful, thereby increasing the strength and contributions to the health and stability of that society?

Do you believe it is the purpose of the British Columbia school system to enable all learners to become literate, to develop their individual potential and to acquire the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to contribute to a healthy, democratic and pluralistic society and a prosperous and sustainable economy?

• Should all British Columbians have equal access to primary and secondary education?
• Are there ever any circumstances in which you can envision raising taxes to pay for public education?
• Should British Columbia subsidize private schools through taxpayer funds?
• Does the quality of teachers make a difference to the quality of education?
• Do you think that pay has any relationship to the quality of candidates for jobs?
• Do you think that working conditions affect the kinds of candidates available for jobs?
• Do you think that a career in public education is attractive to those who would make the best teachers?

I hope that you can and will answer these straightforward questions. I know that “yes/no” questions are not a substitute for substantive and thoughtful replies. I would of course be delighted to get a more thoughtful and substantive response from you. Education is clearly one of the most important issues facing the province.

My own position is that education in the province needs a serious examination, but that the positions taken by Minister Fassbinder and Premier Clark have been deeply destructive.

They have ignored court decisions, demonized teachers, and are apparently willing to wreak havoc on the schools in order to win a fight that they could and should have avoided. I think the government should leap at the chance for binding arbitration, and not hold the children of the province hostage.

In any case, I hope to hear from you about your position. I still believe that elected members of government have the duty to explain their positions to their electorate, not merely transmit the sentiments of constituents to the relevant ministers. I expect my MLA — you — to have a clearly thought out position. I expect my MLA to be willing to articulate and even defend his position.

Sincerely,

André Lambelet