Four Vancouver school trustees recently fired by B.C. Education Minister Mike Bernier say the minister defamed them by alleging that elected board members had harassed staff and created a toxic work environment – and they're demanding he apologize and retract those comments.
The release of two letters from the trustees' lawyer Wednesday is the latest twist in a conflict between the Vancouver School Board and the province over issues including the provincial education budget, seismic upgrades for schools and potential school closings, as well as allegations of workplace bullying. The letters say the four trustees, all from the Vision Vancouver party, are considering "all legal options" but do not specifically threaten a lawsuit.
Mr. Bernier fired the board – consisting of the four Vision Vancouver trustees, four from the Non-Partisan Association and one Green – on Oct. 17, citing their failure to adopt a balanced budget. Under B.C. law, school boards are required to pass a balanced budget by June 30 of each year. The board rejected the budget, saying its roughly $20-million in cuts was too much. In the letter to the minister, the lawyer for the four Vision Vancouver trustees alleges that Mr. Bernier defamed them in remarks to the media and in a letter and video remarks to parents.
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"In a series of letters, media releases and leaks to the press you have seriously defamed my clients' good names and reputations by alleging that they created a toxic work environment by bullying, harassing and intimidating senior staff at the Vancouver School Board, which directly [led] to six members of the senior staff taking medical leave at the end of September," the letter from Bryan Baynham says.
"My clients are not prepared to let these unfounded allegations go unanswered and have instructed me to demand that the record be set straight," he adds.
A statement from Mr. Bernier's office said he had just received the letter and that "it is being reviewed and we will respond appropriately."
The fired Vision Vancouver trustees are also seeking a retraction and apology from Sherry Elwood, president of the B.C. School Superintendents Association, in relation to workplace allegations.
In a Sept. 28 letter that became public, Ms. Elwood wrote to the Education Ministry regarding the "escalating behaviour of elected officials towards the management team of the Vancouver School Board" and described a working environment that "creates a toxicity."
The province referred those allegations to WorkSafeBC, which is now investigating.
"To my clients' knowledge, no staff member has filed a complaint or has anyone raised a formal allegation against them," Mr. Baynham says in his letter to Ms. Elwood.
"Leaving aside the serious breach of privacy of senior staff involved, the directive to WorkSafeBC to embark upon an investigation based on hearsay has caused serious damage to my clients' good names and reputations," the letter adds.
Ms. Elwood was not immediately available for comment.
Mr. Bernier announced an audit of the board on June 30 after it failed to pass the budget. On July 18, he named a special adviser, Peter Milburn, to head that audit, which was to report back to the ministry by Sept. 30.
That deadline was subsequently extended. The report is now complete, but has not been publicly released. The ministry says it is waiting for the outcome of an investigation into a privacy complaint about the report and for advice from the Privacy Commissioner about any concerns that could arise from making the report public.
The Privacy Commissioner says the timing of the report's release is up to the ministry.
Wendy Stueck