THE IMPACT OF REGIONAL POLITICAL CULTURE ON THE ROLE OF THE MINISTER OF EDUCATION IN BRITISH COLUMBIA AND ALBEFtTA George Jerome Bedard B.A., University of Toronto, 1970 M.A., Institute of Social Studies, 1985 THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in the Faculty of Education O George Jerome Bedard 1992 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY June 1992 All rights reserved. This work may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means. without permission of the author. APPROVAL Name: George Jerome Bedard Degree: Master of Arts Title of Thesis: The Impact of Regional Political Culture on the Role of the Minister of Education in British Columbia and Alberta Examining Committee: Chair: Allan MacKinnon Norman Robinson Senior Supervisor 'mke Manley-Casimir Professor Jamie Wallin Professor (Emeritus), Administrative, Adult, and Higher Education Th2 University of British ColumbiaP External Examiner /" Date Approved vCUJE a / 'pF~ PARTIAL COPYRIGHT LICENSE I hereby grant to Simon Fraser university the right to lend my thesis, project or extended essay (the title of which is shown below) to users of the Simon Fraser University Library, and to make partial or single copies only for such users or in response to a request from the library of any other university, or other educational institution, on its own behalf or for one of its users. I further agree that permission for multiple copying of this work for scholarly purposes may be granted by me or the Dean of Graduate Studies. It is understood that copying or publication of this work for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Title of Thesis/Project/Extended Essay THF IMPACT OF REGIONAL POLITICAL CULTURE ON THE ROLE OF THE MINISTER OF ECUCATION IN BRITISH COLUMBIA AND ALBERTA Author: / J 1 (signature) (name) ---f (date) ' ABSTRACT THE IMPACT OF REGIONAL POLITICAL CULTURE ON THE ROLE OF THE MINISTER OF EDUCATION IN BRITISH COLUMBIA AND ALBERTA The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of regional political culture on the role of the education minister in British Columbia and Alberta. Townsend (1988) contended that British Columbia has a discordant regional political culture and Alberta a largely concordant one, and that this dichotomy has differing impacts on the values, attitudes and behaviours of important actors in educational governance. This study examined the impact of discordant/concordant cultures on six ministerial role dimensions: personal, government, legislature, ministry, political party and public. The main data base of this study was semi-structured interviews of two former B.C. education ministers, Heinrich (1983-86) and Brummet (1986-1990). The findings of Jamha (1988) on three Alberta education ministers (1971-1986) and of Giles (1983) and Cree (1986) on B.C. education ministers (1953-1983) were also utilized. The findings of this study support the notion of a dichotomy of regional political cultures in British Columbia (discord) and Alberta (concord), with different impacts on the formal role requirements, informal expectations, and behaviours of ministers. The dichotomy of impacts in British Columbia and Alberta was shown to be salient in all six role dimensions, especially in the two least formally prescribed, the personal and public dimensions. In addition, regional political culture also directly affected the educational climate, policy choices, and the debate about the legitimacy of governmental actions, especially in British Columbia. The discordant culture also heightened the structural tensions already built into the educational system and catalyzed a power game of mandate versus expertise. The politicization of school board elections in B.C. was also attributable to a discordant culture. iii DEDICATION For my wife MARIAN who also lived with this thesis ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis reflects the support, contributions, and scholarship of several individuals to whom I owe a debt of gratitude. To my supervisor at Simon Fraser University, Dr. Norman Robinson, for his wisdom and counsel. TO Allan Jamha, Valerie Giles and Jennifer Cree, for their diligent scholarship of the person at the apex of the education system. To the Honourable Jack Heinrich and the Honourable Tony Bmmmet -- interviewed by this researcher -- for their candour and insights. TABLE OF CONTENTS . Approval ..................................................11 ... Abstract .................................................. 111 Dedication ................................................iv Acknowledgement ............................................ iv Table of Contents .............................................v . Figures ..................................................VII I . INTRODUCTION ........................................1 The Problem .......................................3 Sub-Problems .......................................3 Significance of the Study ................................4 Assumptions .......................................5 Limitations ........................................5 Overview .........................................7 11 RESEARCH PROCEDURES AND METHODOLOGY DataRequired ......................................9 Subjects ..........................................9 Data Collection and Treatment ........................... 12 A Note on the Comparison of British Columbia to Alberta .......... 14 Summary of Chapter I1 ................................17 111 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY .............................18 Political Culture: Theory ............................... 18 Political Culture: Approaches to its Study ....................23 The Functions of the Provincial Cabinet in the Parliamentary System .... 36 Roles: The Theory .................................. 39 Roles: The Application in the Alberta Setting .................. 40 The Experience of Being B.C. Minister of Education: 1953-1983 ...... 54 The Legal and Legislative Context of the Authority of the B.C. Minister of Education .............................62 Historical Origins of Ministerial Authority .................... 68 The Context of Power in The British Columbia Education System ...... 70 The Political and Economic Context of British Columbia Education in the 1980s ..................... 83 Political and Educational Context. The Heinrich Ministry. 1983-1986 ... 85 The Political and Educational Context of the Brummet Ministry. 1986-1990 ........................................ 89 Ministers Perceptions of the EconomiclPoliticallEducational Contexts: Evidence From the Interview Data .........................97 The Role Dimensions of the B.C. Minister of Education .......... 101 Summary of Chapter I11 .............................. 150 IV FINDINGS ..........................................153 Contexts ........................................154 Role Requirements and Behaviour ........................ 157 Personal Dimension .................................158 Government Dimension ...............................163 Legislative Dimension ............................... 166 Party Dimension ................................... 169 The Ministry of Education Dimension ...................... 170 Public Dimension .................................. 175 Summary of the Impact of Regional Political Culture on The Role of the Minister of Education in British Columbia and Alberta ......... 181 Related Findings ................................... 186 Structure-Based Tug-of-war ............................ 187 The Bipolar Political Culture and Party Politics in School Board Elections ............................... 203 Summary of Chapter IV .............................. 205 V SUMMARY. CONCLUSIONS . IMPLICATIONS ................... 207 Summary .......................................207 Conclusions .....................................213 Implications ...................................... 214 BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................... APPENDIX (Interview Guide) ...................................228 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1 B.C./Alberta Education Statistics. 1986- 1987 .................. 15 Figure 2 The Relationship Of The Three Strands Of Political Culture To Political Role Requirements and Behaviour ....................22 Figure 3 B.C. Ministers of Education and Terms of Office ................ 55 Figure 4 The Nested Relationship of the Minister of Education's Legal Environment .................62 Figure 5 The Hierarchy of the British Columbia Court System ............. 66 Figure 6 The Cast of Players in the Public School System ................ 76 Figure 7 A Structural View of the B.C. School System From A District Level ... 199 Figure 8 The Conceptual Framework of The Public/Professional Education Bureaucracy ................ 202 vii INTRODUCTION Canadian politics is regional politics; regionalism is one of the pre- eminent facts of Canadian life, whether reflected in the principles of cabinet building, the acrimony of federal-provincial conferences, or the virtual elimination of class voting on at least a national scale. (Richard Simeon and David J. Elkins, 1974, p.397) The notion that regionalism exerts a strong pull on politics in Canada has been described and validated in basic social and economic characteristics including economic bases, levels of income, religious and ethnic make-up, patterns of national cleavage and conflict, as well as in regional or provincial differences in sense of citizen efficacy, in the degree of citizen trust in government and in the degree and type of involvement in political matters. The