A second look at Walesa and Solidarnose

— page 7

Unions, Pro-Canada set for Apr. 7-9 GST protest

— page 3

Assembly of First Nations chief Georges Erasmus addresses rally outside the Globe 90 conference | on the environment and business opportunities at the Vancouver | Trade and Convention Centre March 21. Called by the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs and backed by the Western Canada Wilderness Committee and Project North, the demonstration was intended to bring the issue of Native land | claims and the federal govern- ment’s continued stonewalling on | negotiations to the international forum. UBCIC president Chief : Saul Terry told participants that the best demonstration of the federal government's commitment to the environment “‘would be a just set- tlement of the Indian land question

- and recognition of aboriginal title.”’ ;

Specific votes hinted in school referendums

_ The legislation currently being drafted by the provincial government on school district referendums is likely to include an unprecedented — and undoubtedly contentious — provision for votes on specific budget items, the Tribune has learned.

A memorandum sent to boards last week from the presidents of the B.C. School District Secretary-Treasurer’s Association (BCSDSTA) and the B.C. School Superintendents Association (BCSSA), stated that the referendum leg- islation now being written by the

attorney-general’s department would probably incorporate two options. Those options, according to the memo, which was written following a meeting between Education Minister Tony Brummet and officers of the two associations, would be: 1) a single vote referendum on an overall budget figure or; 2)an itemized referendum that would likely be capped at five specific items, with voters entitled to vote on each item. Brummet also indicated, according to the memo, that there would only be two see CHAOS page 2

March 26, 1990 50°

Vol. 53, No. 11

Teachers’

- meet hits funding» scheme

B.C. public school teachers opted to hit back at the provincial government March 19 by resolving to continue uniting with other groups in the education community against the Socreds’ plans of block funding and a referendum system.

Delegates to the annual general meeting of the B.C. Teachers Federation last week unanimously adopted an executive recom- mendation while members spoke of the urgency of mounting an effective fightback against the system before it becomes law when the legislature convenes next month.

In a speech which outlined the truckload of issues teachers face in consolidating their two-year-old “union of professionals,” BCTF president Ken Novakowski slammed “the folly of referendum financing.”

Novakowski, handily re-elected to a second term of office, charged that the Social Credit government created an artifi- cial “taxpayer revolt” to bolster its block funding formula.

The provincial government has pledged to end the system whereby school districts, faced with shortfalls in the grants they receive from government, supplement their yearly budgets with increases to property taxes on homeowners.

In the days before the Socreds imposed the restraint program in 1982, school dis- tricts could tax industrial and commercial properties. But that power was seized by the province, Novakowski noted.

“The entire burden was (then) borne by the homeowner. Taxes went up. Trustees and taxpayers felt the strain. But polls con- tinued to show that people valued public education and were willing to pay for it,” he told the opening session of the convention.

“So in January the government declared a taxpayer revolt, and without consultation, introduced a new education funding sys- tem.”

The new system will force school districts seeking funds beyond those provided in the provincial grant go to public referendum. The system is widely used in the United States, where inequities among districts have increased because voters in poorer

‘regions naturally reject higher taxes.

The government has demanded school boards file budgets reflecting the new block funding system by March 30, even though the legislation is not in place. Meanwhile, school trustees in several districts will soon be bargaining new collective agreements with teachers and non-teaching staff — a clear indication that the changes are intended to limit salary increases.

But as Novakowski noted, teachers have allies: “School boards around the province have condemned it. ...Municipal council-

see TEACHERS page 12

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