Mike Bernier, B.C. Minister of Education
The final vote on third reading of a bylaw to close Osoyoos Secondary School (OSS) unfolded predictably last Wednesday at the School District 53 annex in Oliver.
Representatives of Osoyoos town council, Parent Advisory Councils (PACs), and others made last-ditch pleas to the school board to do the right thing and keep OSS open, or at least to delay the closure for a year so that a solution can be found.
Council members reminded the board that the Town of Osoyoos is willing to provide more than $1 million over three years to keep the school open – eliminating any savings the board would achieve by closing OSS and addressing any immediate budget concerns.
Board members sat impatiently, some only half listening. Then they delivered repetitive speeches, wallowing in self-pity about the funding situation the province has put them in and the nasty things that have been said about them by Osoyoos residents.
The final vote of 4-3 echoed the votes of April 6 on first and second readings of the bylaw.
It was as though nothing said or offered by the Osoyoos community made any difference to the trustees, whose minds were made up long ago.
The vote by board chair Marieze Tarr against closure may have been halfhearted given all that she has said in in recent months to support closure, but it is significant that neither of the two trustees representing Osoyoos voted to close OSS.
This means the closure decision was made by four trustees, none who represent Osoyoos, and, therefore, are unaccountable to this community.
Only the provincial government is directly accountable to Osoyoos, although some may argue that line of accountability is dubious given the disinterested representation by our local MLA Linda Larson.
Which brings us to an important argument made by NDP Education Critic Rob Fleming, who has been much more present on this issue than Larson.
Education Minister Mike Bernier has the power to refuse to sign off on any school closure under sections 73 (1)(a) and 168 (2)(p) of the School Act.
It’s true that B.C. Liberal governments have treated this provision merely as a rubber stamp, but the minister has the authority to overrule the board in a case where the integrity of its decision is in doubt or where the public interest is at stake.
Of course Bernier has steadfastly resisted anything that might be perceived as “interference” in a decision by the “locally elected” school board, which he believes is where the decision should be made.
Now, however, the board has made its decision.
Action by Bernier at this point would no longer be “interference” in the board’s process, but would be a case of the accountable minister using his authority to reverse a seriously flawed process that reached a decision contrary to the public interest.
This is by no means over.
Bernier and Larson must be made aware of every argument – and there are thousands of pages of them – why School District 53’s process was flawed and why closing OSS is not in the public interest.
Of course there is now a parallel court process underway to review these same questions and it would not be surprising if Bernier uses the pretext that he can’t say anything on a matter that is before the courts.
Fine.
But every ounce of pressure must now be brought on Bernier to exercise his authority under the School Act to overturn a bad decision that will be devastating to the economic health of Osoyoos and a severely disruptive barrier to the education of our students.
