March 28, 2024

BC’s Education Minister clarifies mediator Charles Jago’s access to, and role in, Bill 22.

BC’s Education Minister says the government appointed mediator in the teachers contract dispute did indeed get a sneek peek at Bill 22 but not in the way the BCTF is suggesting.

 In a statement Education Minister George Abbott says he did meet with Charles Jago before tabling Bill 22.

 Abbott adds it was after identifying Jago as a candidate for the role of mediator and he wanted to see if he was interested.

 He says in the meeting a small section of Bill 22 dealing only with the mediators role, was shown to Jago, who suggested some wording changes.

 Abbott says the changes were made but Jago had no other role or access to any part of the legislation.

 The clarification comes as the teachers union looks to have the Labour Relations Board remove Jago for being biased.

 The LRB won’t say when they will issue a ruling.

 The full statement is below..

 Minister Abbott’s statement – Dr. Jago – April 10, 2012
 
 “In early February, senior government staff were preparing Bill 22.  At that time, I asked my Deputy to identify potential candidates for mediator.  I felt it was important to have a suitable candidate in mind should the parties fail to reach agreement.
 
 “My staff considered a number of candidates for this role and Dr Jago was a preferred candidate.
 
 “My team and I met with Dr. Jago on February 16 to discuss the assignment and to gauge his interest and availability.
 
 “In considering the role of mediator at our meeting on February 16, Dr. Jago sought confirmation that the mediator’s terms of reference balanced the interests of both parties to the dispute.
 
 “My staff shared the draft terms of reference for the mediator that government was considering including as part of Bill 22. These are the terms that were eventually incorporated into Section 6 of Bill 22 as these were directly relevant to the assignment. We did not share with Dr. Jago any other component of Bill 22.
 
 “Dr. Jago did make a comment and a suggestion on the draft terms of reference. His comment was prefaced on his desire to have greater balance expressed in the mediator’s terms of reference.  He suggested that the terms of reference which refer to government policy outcomes be phrased in the same manner as those terms that refer to outcomes the Union is seeking.  I accepted his suggestions.
 
 “Different words such as “must” and “may” were replaced with “is to” to provide consistency when specifying that the new collective agreement “is to” enable or include the matters described. These are found in S.6 (2) (c) and S.6 (2) (d).
 
 “Dr. Jago made no other suggestions regarding the terms of reference, or any other part of Bill 22.”
 
 -George Abbott, Education Minister

CKNW Vancouver News

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