NDP calls for open PACE meetings and transparent decision making

HALIFAX – As school board representatives from across the country gather in Halifax this week, the NDP is calling on the Liberals to ensure the advisory council created when elected school boards were eliminated meets in public.

The Provincial Advisory Council on Education (PACE) will be the only English language body left to directly advise the Minister on policy issues.

“It is ironic that a province that just eliminated seven school boards is hosting this national conference,” said NDP Education spokesperson Claudia Chender. “Education, and what happens in our schools, including how and where they are built, is a major issue for our communities. People deserve to have some way to make their voice heard as part of the decision-making process.”

During the spring sitting of the legislature the NDP Caucus introduced legislation that would require PACE to hold at least two public meetings every year.

“As the reality of this change becomes more clear people are upset by their lack of ability to contribute input,” said Chender. “Already we’ve seen this with the site selection process and the changes the Liberals made so they are no longer required to do any public consultation at all.”

The Liberal government eliminated all English language school boards under Bill 72, the Education Reform Act, this past spring.

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