A mixed reaction
Annapolis Valley residents react to province removing administration from union
Annapolis Valley residents are feeling a wide range of emotions after the province announced it will remove principals and viceprincipals from the Nova Scotia Teachers Union.
This is but one of several changes outlined in Nova Scotia’s new Education Reform Act — changes the public is mixed on whether to support or not.
With this, along with the dissolving of the province’s seven English school boards, parents questioned whether job action would still happen. Parents like Alicia Graveline, who says last year’s strike is still fresh in her mind.
“I hope it doesn’t come to it, but I definitely see a strike happening. I would support the teachers if they did that,” she said.
The NSTU said later in the day that it was taking potential job action off the table after concessions from the province.
Direct impact on students
Graveline is a Kingston resident and said the province’s decision to remove administrative staff from the union concerns her.
She believes it will inhibit clear communication between teachers and their management — principals and vice- principals — which will then directly impact students like her son, aged seven, who has unique challenges that he faces in school.
“My son has issues in school, and the relationship of teachers and the principal working together has always been a great one that I’m thankful for. Once they are removed and that separation is there, that could really change,” she said.
“My son could suffer as a consequence.”
Graveline said she feels the government’s recent changes will mean teachers and principals ap-
Conditional discharge for theft
Jeffrey Mark Loomis McQuade, 26, of Wolfville, has been handed a conditional discharge with probation, including restitution, for theft.
McQuade was originally charged with defrauding an individual of a sum of money exceeding $5,000 but pleaded guilty to the lesser, included offence of theft in December. The matter was adjourned for sentencing.
On Feb. 26, Judge Alan Tufts handed McQuade a conditional discharge with three years of probation, including $10,749.70 in restitution payable through the court.
McQuade committed the offence in Kings County between Nov. 25 and Dec. 15, 2015.
Refused breathalyzer
Nicholas Jonathan Caldwell, 28, of Wolfville, has been sentenced to intermittent custody for failing to comply with a demand made to him by a police officer to proach their jobs differently.
“A lot of the teachers are in it for the children. So are the principals. Will this change that? It’s hard to say, but I think it could,” she said.
Not enough for a strike
Kings County resident Matt Boates feels discussions between the province and teachers’ union have been about one thing on both sides: control.
“I think it comes down to the union doesn’t want to give (them) up because it’s union money, and I think the province is trying to likely further degrade the strength of the union, so I think they’re both playing games,” he said.
Boates says he is not worried the province’s removal of administrative positions from the union
provide samples of his breath for analysis by means of an approved screening device.
Caldwell changed his plea to guilty in October. The court imposed a two-year driving prohibition against Caldwell. The matter was adjourned to allow time for a pre- sentence report to be prepared and for sentencing.
On Feb. 28, Judge Alan Tufts sentenced Caldwell to 30 days of intermittent custody, to be served from Fridays at 9 p.m. to Monday at 5:30 a.m. beginning March 9. Caldwell will be on probation during his intermittent custody and for 12 months thereafter. Caldwell was fined $100 in victim surcharges.
Caldwell committed the offence in Greenwich on Aug. 16, 2016. A charge of operating a motor vehicle while disqualified in Avonport on Dec. 28, 2017, has been adjourned to March 27 for plea. This charge has not been proven in court.
Breathalyser offence
Gary Ian Patterson, 34, of Falmouth, has been handed a suspended sentence with probation will cause a strike.
He feels it would take a whole lot more.
“There are broader issues the union is likely using as a further wedge to justify their cause for job action. I don’t think there has been enough consultation with the educators — it parallels with the medical situation, the Health Authority, not consulting with the doctors. It’s interesting,” he said.
An attack on democracy
Albert Johnson, of Middleton, is a former NSTU provincial executive member. He feels removing principals and vice- principals from the union is a “very poor move on the part of government.”
“Administrators have always been looked on as colleagues, and it’s a collegial model that’s
for operating a motor vehicle while his blood alcohol level exceeded the legal limit.
Patterson changed his plea to guilty in January and the matter was adjourned to Feb. 26 to allow time for a pre-sentence report to be prepared and for sentencing.
Judge Ronda Van Der Hoek handed Patterson a suspended sentence with 18 months of probation and imposed a two-year driving prohibition against him.
Patterson committed the offence on the Falmouth Back Road on July 21, 2017. The legal blood alcohol limit is 80 mg of alcohol in 100 ml of blood. Patterson gave breathalyser readings of 230 and 220.
Breathalyser offence
Shane Breen, 21, of Moncton, has been fined for operating a motor vehicle while his blood alcohol level exceeded the legal limit.
Breen changed his plea to guilty on Feb. 27. Judge Alan Tufts fined Breen a total of $1,560 and imposed a one-year driving prohibition against him.
Breen committed the offence in New Minas on Dec. 3, 2016. normally used in all schools so (they’re) all one and the same. This is another example of McNeil’s attitude towards divide and conquer, so they can separate them out,” he said.
Johnson added he feels these decisions appear to be anti-union tactics, limiting the administration’s choice on who they belong to.
“It’s a bad thing — simply another attack on democracy and democratic rights of people. We don’t have enough democracy, really, in our society, and they’re taking away another aspect of it,” he said.
“Those people were elected into elected positions – that was only a year or so ago.
Local autonomy is lost. It’s another way of centralizing and making a bigger bureaucracy.”
Comparing this situation to Ontario’s
Jessica Isenor is a professional working in Windsor who holds a Masters’ in Education and says she has concerns with how discussions have taken place.
“It doesn’t feel like there’s been enough discussion with people who are impacted by this: teach-
The legal blood alcohol limit is 80 mg of alcohol in 100 ml of blood. Breen gave breathalyser readings of 140 and 140.
Charges of operating a motor vehicle while his ability to operate was impaired by alcohol or a drug and possession of stolen property were dismissed.
Breathalyser offence
Ross Keith Skinner, 69, of Enterprise, Ontario, has been fined for operating a motor vehicle while his blood alcohol level exceeded the legal limit.
Skinner pleaded guilty to the charge on Feb. 27. Judge Alan Tufts fined him a total of $1,300 and imposed a one-year driving prohibition against him.
Skinner committed the offence in Cambridge on Dec. 23, 2017. The legal blood alcohol limit is 80 mg of alcohol in 100 ml of blood. Skinner gave breathalyser readings of 140 and 140.
Suspended sentence for assault
Robert Joseph M. Crow, 39, of Newport, has been handed a suspended sentence with probation for committing an assault. ers, parents, people who attend school,” she said.
While she doesn’t oppose the principles behind consolidating the school boards, she worries about how it will impact teachers looking for permanent jobs in their respective areas.
“(People are) on the substitute list for many years to get the seniority… and now there are people who can sort of move around and may rejigger the system. I’m just afraid certain people will lose out. I don’t see a lot of winners coming out of that,” she said.
As someone who’s lived in Ontario, a place she says has been negatively impacted by the removal of administration staff from the teachers’ union, she feels concerned the same will happen here.
“Having seen some of the animosity that that generates between teachers and principals, it makes the workplace a little more contentious whereas within the same union, they can bring in mediators and things can get resolved in a more amicable manner before it has to escalate,” she said.
Crow changed his plea to guilty in January and the matter was adjourned to Feb. 27 to allow time for a pre-sentence report to be prepared and for sentencing. Judge Ronda Van Der Hoek handed Crow a suspended sentence with 12 months of probation.
Crow committed the offence in Newport on June 18, 2017. A charge of uttering a death threat was withdrawn.
Firearm offences
Todd Jason Johnson, 41, of Dartmouth, has been fined for failing to store firearms in accordance with regulations, possessing a CIL 12-gauge shotgun without holding the necessary licence and possessing a Savage 17 caliber rifle without holding the necessary licence.
Johnson pleaded guilty to the charges on Feb. 27. Judge Alan Tufts fined Johnson $130 on each count, for a total of $390 in fines. The court imposed a 10-year firearm prohibition against Johnson and granted a forfeiture order with consent.
Johnson committed the fences in Kingston on Feb. 2. of-