In the past couple of weeks, school authorities in British Columbia have suffered two significant losses in court:

  1. In British Columbia Teachers’ Federation v. British Columbia (BC Courts), the Honourable Madam Justice Griffin of the BC Supreme Court ruled that the legislation brought in to remove class size from bargaining but rather to insert provisions on class size directly into the School Act (BCLaws) violated the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.  Here (GlobeandMail) is a discussion of the decision and its implications, and here is the response of the BCTF (calling the decision “huge”).  Here is the response of the BC Public School Employers’ Association. 
  2. In Riazi v. Vancouver School District No. 39 (CanLII), the Honourable Madam Justice Dardi of the BC Supreme Court certified as a class action an application by parents regarding fees charged by a school board in relation to certain summer school courses.  Here (Global) is a discussion of the decision and its implications. 

Each of these decisions represent a significant threat to the province and school districts and should be treated with great care.

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