Horgan confident of schools vaccine mandate, but decision won’t come from government

• Government won’t order vaccine mandate for schools
• Premier Horgan says trustees need to work with government to reach decision

B.C. Premier John Horgan says he’s confident a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for schools will happen very soon but insists it is not for the government to order it for teachers and staff.

He said it was important to respect the decision-making jurisdiction of elected school trustees across the province’s 60 school districts and to ensure those trustees have access to all COVID-related health information needed to make a decision.

Speaking during a press conference Thursday, Oct.7, Horgan was asked why the government introduced a mandate for its own direct employees earlier this week – the BC Public Service Agency – and yet will not order a similar mandate for schools.

“We stand ready to work with elected school boards to achieve the results we all want to see,” he said. “I know the BC Teachers’ Federation and CUPE have supported the notion of moving in this direction [a mandate]. I think it will be done in short order.

“But we have to respect jurisdictions here … they’re as diverse as British Columbia. What’s needed in Sooke is not the same as what’s needed in Vancouver which is different from what’s needed in Valemount,” he said.

Horgan noted getting all of the stakeholders on the same page would be ‘a glorious thing’ and the province is leading by example by mandating all of its employees to get a vaccine. He’s confident school districts …”will be heading in that direction very, very quickly.”

However, he stressed BCPSEA (the B.C. Public School Employers Association) – which is an amalgam of the school districts and the province – is who they negotiate with. They do not negotiate directly with teachers and staff.

“We are the funder to be sure, but there is a dual relationship between trustees and the government. I don’t want to say to trustees who’ve put their name on a ballot, got elected, and have been working hard to represent the needs of their community … if they need access to information, we’re here to give it to them. But they need to make these decisions with us not because of us.”