As a dedicated Margaret Wente fan, it grieves me to take issue with her, but when she says of Surrey and its CUPE local, "The Education Ministry acts warm and friendly, but it is, after all, part of an NDP government and depends on union support" (March 18), she's being misleading. Yes, CUPE leaders look like fools on this issue, but that's their right in a society that has free collective bargaining. What CUPE demands isn't the law until there's a clause in the contract. And the Ministry of Education doesn't bargain with CUPE -- the school district does.
I teach in a district in which the CUPE local once tried to bargain a clause that would have prevented students from doing "CUPE work," such as shelving books in the library and picking up garbage outside. When the dust had settled, guess which clause wasn't in the contract?
In the very unlikely event that Surrey ends up with a clause that prevents parents from volunteering in schools, it's the local trustees who should carry the can, not the government.