Public backed fired school board in ’80s

Re: Vancouver school board firing sets off political fingerpointing, Oct. 18

The firing of Vancouver’s school board echoes the last time the province fired the VSB back in the 1980s. Back then, a fiery response had much different results.

In 1984, COPE (the Coalition of Progressive Electors) won a bare majority on the school board, electing five of the nine trustees. They campaigned very heavily on a no-cuts budget.

The Socreds were in power provincially, and the B.C. government had been underfunding the Vancouver school board for years. (Does this sound familiar?) But the big difference was how progressive forces in Vancouver responded in the ’80s.

COPE made it clear they would only pass a budget that addressed needs, not necessarily a balanced budget, even if that meant passing a deficit budget. The gloves were off!

When the then-education minister issued an ultimatum — implement the cuts needed to balance the budget or be fired — the COPE trustees stood firm and the community stood behind them.

The province had no choice but to call a byelection, and all nine of the trustees elected were COPE! It shows the public is more than willing to stand with progressive politicians if they are willing to stand up for the public. Tim Louis, lawyer and activist, co-chair COPE