Thousands were in attendance at the Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation rally in Regina in April. (Daniel Reech/980 CJME)

By Derek Craddock

STANDING WITH TEACHERS

Northern Sask. families join new initiative to support teachers

Mar 15, 2024 | 5:00 PM

A mother and daughter from Saskatchewan are doing what they can to resolve the contract dispute between the provincial government and teachers.

Nicole Berg and her six-year-old daughter Victoria live in Saskatoon. Nicole said her daughter started asking why her lunch time was being cancelled and some activities were not happening.

Nicole did her best to explain to Victoria what is happening and later asked her the question, ‘what do you think we should do about it?’

“Her response was, ‘well we should just call the government,” she said. “And she headed to her little whiteboard and she came up with the idea for a phone club for kids and adults, and that’s how the idea was born.”

That resulted in the creation of Families With STF where parents can book a 15-minute time slot to phone the Premier and the Education Minister to resume talks with teachers.

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So far, Nicole said they’ve received so many inquires, that she’s scrambling to fill them all. She said the time slots have been booked from many constituencies.

“Prince Albert – Carlton and Prince Albert – Northcote represented here so far,” she said. “It’s really split across a lot of different constituencies across the province. So of course, the bigger centres have more responses so, a lot from Saskatoon and Regina, but then certainly from outside of that to smaller centres as well. Batoche, Biggar, Sask Valley, Kelvington, and so on.”

President Samantha Becotte of the Saskatchewan Teachers Federation said she found it encouraging and heartwarming that this campaign has started.

She said that initiatives like this show that parents and those not in the education sector are worried about the current impasse and how it’s affecting schools.

“These are real people from across Saskatchewan who have a vested interest in education, whether it is directly because it’s the student themselves or an education worker or a parent of a student,” she said. “We want to know that those services are going to be there and we want to ensure that the the kids of today are well supported through their education so that they can fulfill their dreams and and provide those services in the future as well.”

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education also responded to the Families with STF campaign but only addressed the recent funding deal reached with the Saskatchewan School Boards Association (SSBA).

That deal would see over $356 million a year over four years for school divisions to tackle size and additional supports.

However, the STF had called for that funding commitment to be included in their contract.

“The Government of Saskatchewan is inviting the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation to pause their job action so that teachers and students can return to their classrooms and the teachers’ union can return to the bargaining table,” said the Ministry of Education in a statement.

For Nicole, and the many parents who have placed calls to the Sask Party government, the reason why they are supporting the teachers in this fight is they trust them and not those in the legislature.

“We trust them every day with our kids and and their welfare and their education and ultimately how teachers are investing in their future. So, there’s no reason for us to stop trusting teachers now when they say this is what we need to be able to have a good working environment, which is a learning environment for our kids,” she said.

“Ultimately, we want our voice to be heard as parents, as school communities, as constituents who are concerned about the talks that have stalled.”

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derek.craddock@pattisonmedia.com