The tentative agreement reached Tuesday in the dispute between the province's public school teachers and the B.C. government has an important connection to the sentencing of serial killer Cody Legebokoff.
Both the teachers' strike and the justice meted out to Legebokoff through his trial, verdict and sentencing were handled in the Canadian way, through emotionally charged but still peaceful discussion. Too many citizens in this country take contentious but civil conflict resolution for granted. In too many parts of the world, teachers and other public sector employees do not have the right to withhold their services in their efforts to seek better wages and working conditions. In too many parts of the world, the rule of law is applied from aa gun, instead of a gavel.
Regardless of whether the teachers or the Liberal government is right about class size and composition being an issue that belongs at the contract bargaining table, both sides have agreed to meet each other in court to argue the merits of their respective positions. It is an expensive and time-consuming process but the alternative is far worse. In a different era, the government would have dispatched police forces, armed thugs or both to break up picket lines, following the tried-and-true practice governments across the world have used to quell labour dissent. In a different era, striking teachers and their supporters would have engaged in coercion, vandalism, rioting and other forms of civil unrest to make their case. Bribery and corruption would have been rampant while violence would have been a constant threat from both sides.
Instead, teachers engaged in lawful disobedience by refusing to work, although government could have also made its own peacefully aggressive move and locked teachers out of their workplace. Either method is a confrontational but non-violent way to apply pressure to the other side during bargaining. While the insults and the bad blood flew frequently during this strike, the flying objects in similar disputes in many other countries are tear gas cannisters, rubber bullets, Molotov cocktails and bricks.
Some have argued that the Liberal government has not respected two court decisions in favor of the teachers. To the contrary, the government respects - but doesn't agree - with those decisions. The government has decided to appeal the rulings, placing its faith in its legal arguments and the wisdom and knowledge of the judges to see the merits of its case upon further review. The B.C. Teachers Federation would have had the same right to appeal if it, and not the provincial government, had lost the first two rounds in court.
The same patience in peaceful conflict resolution was at work in the Legebokoff case. The faster, more violent solution still seen in many parts of the world would have seen a mob storm the Prince George Regional Correctional Centre, where guards, prison officials and local police officers would have turned a blind eye as Legebokoff would have been dragged from his jail cell and lynched.
Although it took nearly four years for justice to be served on Legebokoff since his arrest, after being caught red-handed with the blood of Loren Leslie on his face and his clothes, a jury of citizens calmly considered the evidence from both sides and rendered a verdict. A judge then sentenced the killer, in accordance with the laws passed by politicians chosen by voters in free elections. The families and friends of the victims were able to take part in the process and give statements to the court. The news media, by and large, was able to report on the proceedings to the broader community.
Legebokoff committed horrific crimes but the justice administered to him was fair and reasonable. The government and the union representing teachers bitterly disagreed with one another and often behaved terribly but the agreement they reached was also fair and reasonable.
The institutions in place to bring about peaceful and just resolutions to conflicts in communities across Canada are hardly perfect but they are what billions of people across the world dream of having for themselves.
