Bill No. 112 - Education Act. - Third Reading

CLAUDIA CHENDER « » : I am pleased that this is the last piece of legislation that I will be speaking to tonight. I am also pleased to support this bill. All of us want to make sure that schools are safe places for students, families, and teachers.

We're pleased to see, as my colleagues just mentioned, that the government has worked with the unions in the development of this bill. It will be critical that the government follow through on their commitment to continue to consult and collaborate in the development of regulations because, as we know, that's where the rubber meets the road.

We will be looking to the regulations to provide more clarity about how these processes will be implemented. In particular, as has already been flagged, it will be important to balance the need for safety with the need for protection of people's personal information. We will be watching that closely to ensure that that information is closely guarded and, where necessary, conveyed but not stored, perhaps.

We do not want to increase the administrative burden on educators, and we don't want to impose unnecessary barriers for dedicated professionals working in our education system. We believe the bill as written strikes a balance. We were very pleased to hear that the government won't be passing the cost of record checks on to employees who are currently employed in the education system. We look forward to a clear policy from the regional centres on when record checks result in actions taken.

Now that we will have this information, which is important, how will that information be used in operational and procedural ways? That is something we will be looking for. It's not clear right now exactly what that will look like or how the accountability and transparency around that decision making will flow, so that's something that we are looking at as this bill passes and is operationalized.

With that being said, we support the intent of the bill and look forward to getting greater clarity on how it will be put into practice.