NDP Accuses Pcs of Partisan Picks for Education Board
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Winnipeg - 07/07/2021 Page : B003 WEDNESDAY, JULY 7, 2021 ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM NEWS B 3 NDP accuses PCs of partisan picks for education board MAGGIE MACINTOSH ter’s calendar, which includes details principal secretary and to have the sec- While the province claims the re- a teacher-librarian from Winnipeg who LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE REPORTER about a recurring weekly meeting of retary for Treasury Board makes com- forms will empower parents and re- spoke at the NDP news conference, and the “TMB.” plete sense.” direct up to $40 million to classrooms, only identified herself as Stacey. SELECT few of the Manitoba David McLaughlin (clerk of the The NDP education critic, however, critic concerns include the possibility Cullen insisted the province has A premier’s staffers, elected of- executive council), Jonathan Scarth cited the list of 13 names — including an appointed board to be politicized by been listening to feedback about Bill ficials and employees from the (premier’s principal secretary), and what he calls “hand-picked Tory ap- any government of the day. 64 through a variety of forums, includ- education department make up a board Paul Beauregard (then-secretary to the pointments” — as a sign of what is to On Tuesday, Altomare accused the ing through his teacher listening tour, tasked with overseeing the logistics Treasury Board) were among those in- come under the Education Moderniza- province of “plowing ahead” with pol- which consisted of 30 school visits. of the Pallister government’s public vited to a TMB meeting Feb. 2. tion Act. itically driven reforms through the The parent engagement task force, school system overhaul. “This is an internal working group to “In order to plan well, you need to en- TMB, regardless of public input, noting chaired by MLA Scott Johnson, also a The official Opposition released a list manage the transformation around K to sure that you have a diversity of voices. hundreds of presenters have signed up member of the TMB, has run a series of members on what the province calls 12 education. We used the same format, You can’t have singular politically ap- to speak at the committee stage, during of town halls and virtual meetings in its “education transformation manage- the same positions, when we did health pointed voices making these decisions,” which amendments are proposed. recent weeks. ment board” Tuesday, during a news transformation,” Education Minister said Nello Altomare (Transcona). “There’s a general frustration that The province can create as many conference held to accuse the govern- Cliff Cullen said Tuesday. The second reading of the controver- the government is choosing to move committees as it likes, said Altomare, ment of politicizing education and im- “Anytime we do a transformation of sial legislation, which aims to replace forward without hearing from teachers but ultimately, appointees will make de- plementing Bill 64 before it passes. this nature, we do need all the key play- elected school boards with a central- and a general frustration that the bill cisions under Bill 64. The Manitoba NDP obtained the ers within government fully appreciat- ized board made up of government doesn’t really seek to reform education names through a freedom of informa- ing what we’re trying to accomplish. So appointees and parent council mem- in a way that impacts all teachers and [email protected] tion request for the education minis- to have the clerk, to have the premier’s bers, has been postponed until fall. students and faculties positively,” said Twitter: @macintoshmaggie Finance Minister Scott Fielding Retail union alarmed over plans to change Sunday rules THE Brandon local of Manitoba’s retail workers union is sounding the alarm over proposed changes to legislation allowing employees to refuse Sunday shifts. United Food and Commercial Work- ers Local 832, which represents em- ployees at Brandon’s Safeway and Sobeys West grocery stores, said in a news release Monday the province is considering modifying existing regula- JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS tions. Sandpiper Beach in Big Tree Park at St. Laurent, north of Winnipeg, on Tuesday. The RM is now charging non-residents to use the beach. Currently, workers can refuse Sun- day work as long as they give their employer two weeks notice. The union said the province wants to: allow em- ployers to ask job applicants to sign a Reeve defends access fees for St. Laurent beach document agreeing to work Sundays; allow Sunday work to be covered by col- ERIK PINDERA food carts and equipment rental busi- the demand.” Smith chalks up the outrage over lective agreements between employers nesses. That doesn’t sit well with Doreen the council’s decision to charge tour- and unions; and exempt retailers with THE reeve for St. Laurent makes no More out-of-towners are using the Szor, who has owned property in the ists for beach access to misinforma- four or fewer workers — including the apology for charging non-residents to beach, littering and driving up costs area for about a decade and has been tion on social media and the rumour owner — from the legislation. splash in the waves at a Lake Manitoba related to cleaning up trash and trans- using the beach for 40 years. mill. The text of the proposed amendments beach. porting it to the dump, she said. “If you have a place there and you “These are people hiding behind can be found on the online Manitoba Access to Sandpiper Beach through “The costs have been going up... more have company, (they have) to pay,” screens... I’m sad to say, but they’re Regulatory Consultation Portal (https:// Big Tree Park, which is owned by the and more people are accessing the Dzor said. “The rates are outrageous. haters,” Smith said. “Anything the RM reg.gov.mb.ca). The changes are intend- RM, costs $5 per person per day as of park... Our tipping fees just for our mu- You can get a provincial park pass for does, they hate it... we are only doing ed to address the needs of retailers fol- this summer. nicipality here, the last year has gone under $50 and they’re asking for $100 this as a pilot (project). We want to work lowing the repeal of Sunday and holiday Reeve Cheryl Smith said the money up $50,000,” Smith said. for a family pass (for the season).” out the glitches. A pilot to us means con- shopping restrictions in December, the will pay for infrastructure upgrades at “Let’s charge $5 for visitors that will Szor said she thinks the fees will sultation.” provincial government web page on the the beach, including bathrooms, a play- help with the expenses and hopefully, drive down tourism in the southern In- amendments explains. ground structure and water lines for we don’t have to raise taxes to meet terlake community. [email protected] UFCW Local 832 president Jeff Trae- ger said the first exception is the one the union is most concerned with, out of fear it could lead to discrimination. “When we first were talking to gov- Residential school anger behind vandalism: clerics ernment about this months ago... we, on the labour side of the table, were COLIN SLARK arguingJuly that 7, retail2021 workers6:30 am needed (GMT -5:00)to Powered by TECNAVIA have the ability to spend time with their family, especially since there’s a good TWO Brandon churches and several ve- chance their spouse works Monday to hicles were vandalized with black spray Friday and their children go to school paint over the weekend in acts clerics Monday to Friday,” Traeger said, add- believe are tied to residential schools. ing Finance Minister Scott Fielding ac- St. Matthew’s Anglican Cathedral, cepted the argument and indicated he First Presbyterian Church and the would protect the right to refuse Sun- vehicles were tagged with the words, day work. “God is dead” and “We were children.” “Now they come out with this change “All things considered in the big to the regulation, which effectively scheme of things, it could have been a means that going forward, employers lot worse than what we experienced, but will ask people who they’re hiring if also not really that surprising because they want to work Sundays and if they I know there’s a lot of anger out there say yes, (they’ll) sign this and it’ll go and some of it is going to be directed in their file and you no longer have the at churches,” St. Matthew’s Dean Don right to refuse Sunday work. If they say Bernhardt told the Brandon Sun. no, they simply won’t get hired.” “This is sort of a potential outcome In an email to the Brandon Sun, Field- of that anger, so I wouldn’t say I was ing said the current list of exclusions is overly surprised.” “outdated and cumbersome.” Multiple churches in Western Canada “The new proposed exclusions are have been burned and vandalized dur- MATT GOERZEN / BRANDON SUN modernized and simplified... while most ing the past month following reports Black paint graffiti defaces the wooden front doors of the First Presbyterian Church on 12th Street in Brandon on Monday. Canadian jurisdictions do not have the of more than 1,500 Indigenous chil- right to refuse work on a Sunday at all, dren buried in unmarked graves on the we want to balance retailers’ needs to grounds of former residential schools. and sisters should be listening. Here in ing out to local elders and people the side you and not put conditions on it?’ maintain adequate staffing levels with Various religious organizations part- the Anglican Church of Canada, we’ve local church hasn’t spoken with before and not say, ‘We’ll only do it if it’s done employees’ wishes to have Sundays off nered with the federal government to been working alongside First Nations to see what its role in reconciliation the way we like it.’” to enjoy time with family and friends.” run the schools, established to forcibly folks, we apologized for our role in the should be.