Jillian Baird

EDTE 519
Scott Priestman
Explore BCTF:

BCTF (or The British Columbia Teachers' Federation was established in 1917 and represents

43,000 public school teachers in British Columbia (Bctf.ca, 2019). All public-school teachers

belong to the BCTF and their local teachers’ association (Bctf.ca, 2019). “The provincial office of

the BCTF stands on the lands of the Coast Salish peoples, including the territories of the

xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Səl ̓i ́lwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) and Skwxwú 7mesh

(Squamish) Nations” (Bctf.ca, 2019).

Members of the BCTF elect delegates to the AGM (Annual General Meeting) and local

representatives to the RA (Representative Assembly) through locals (Bctf.ca, 2019).

 AGM (Annual General Meeting): Elected delegates set policies and further directions for

the BCTF. Delegates will also elect the Executive Committee (Bctf.ca, 2019).

 EC (Executive Committee): Overall responsibility for running the federation. Consists of

11 members, 3 of which are full time (president, first vice-president, and second vice-

president) (Bctf.ca, 2019).

 RA (Representative Assembly): Meets 3 times a year and has the responsibility of

approving a budget and electing the Judicial Council and Committee of Ombudspersons

(Bctf.ca, 2019).

 Ombudspersons: Impartial and independent, they review and investigate complaints

that the organization have not resolved (Bctf.ca, 2019).

Inquiry question: How does the BCTF interact with the BC provincial government and what sort

of issues could arise?

My inquiry question spurred from confusion about the different positions and structures

that seemingly intersect and contradict one another. For example, there is a Ministry of

Education that is run by the government but there is also the BCTF that is run by educators.

These separate organizations are both dealing with the same topic, education, so how do they

interact with one another? Well, it turns out the BCTF and the Ministry of Education interact

very differently depending on what provincial government is in power (Hyslop, 2012). It is often

the case that the governing party and the BCTF do not have aligned ideologies when it comes to

our education system, this was the case with the previous liberal government (Hyslop, 2012).

The BC Teachers’ Federation President Susan Lambert was quoted as saying “B.C. doesn’t need

a new education minister as much as it needs a new government position on public education”

(Hyslop, 2012). This particular quote was in reference to Christy Clark, the Liberal Premier of BC

(Hyslop, 2012). Lambert also stated that even though relations between the BCTF and the

Ministry of Education can differ depending on who is appointed in different positions (e.g.

Minister of Education), it is ultimately the overarching stance of the government that effects

the BCTF the most (Hyslop, 2012). One particular issue that arose between the BCTF and the BC

provincial government was a dispute regarding teacher shortages in cities like Victoria and

Quesnel (CBC, 2018). The BCTF ultimately ended up winning the case and the provincial

government was forced to restore staffing to 2002 levels (CBC, 2018).

References:

Bctf.ca. (2019). About us. [online] Available at: https://bctf.ca/AboutUs.aspx [Accessed 11 Feb.
2019].
CBC. (2018). B.C. teachers' union launches grievance due to teacher shortage | CBC News.
[online] Available at: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/b-c-teachers-union-
launches-grievance-due-to-teacher-shortage-1.4687279 [Accessed 11 Feb. 2019].
CBC. (2018). BCTF wins grievance over public school teacher shortage in B.C. | CBC News.
[online] Available at: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bctf-wins-grievance-
over-public-school-teacher-shortage-in-b-c-1.4864677 [Accessed 11 Feb. 2019].
Hyslop, K. (2012). BCTF hopeful about former teacher as Education Minister | The Hook, A Tyee
blog. [online] The Tyee. Available at:
https://thetyee.ca/Blogs/TheHook/Education/2012/09/05/BCTF-hopeful-about-former-
teacher-as-Education-Minister/ [Accessed 11 Feb. 2019].