Union exec to lead new teacher registry

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This article was published 12/09/2024 (383 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Winnipeg teacher who has spent the last 25 years in union support and management roles across the country will be in charge of creating new disciplinary processes for her profession and launching a public registry.

Bobbi Taillefer has been tapped as the inaugural commissioner of Manitoba’s teacher registry and will oversee its 2025 rollout, the Free Press has learned.

Taillefer, who is a francophone, began teaching at Winnipeg’s Churchill High School in the 1980s. She was an elementary principal in the city before moving into union operations early on in her career.

Her latest role will involve reviewing complaints about teacher “misconduct and incompetence” and using her discretion to probe or close cases.

“This is an initial step. It’s a first time. Everybody’s eyes are on it. I think the legislation is good — the implementation needs to be as good,” Taillefer said in a phone interview on Wednesday evening.

“We’re going to work really hard to make sure that all parties, everybody who has an interest in this, is confident that it’s well run.”

Complaints are currently dealt with internally by the Manitoba Teachers’ Society — Taillefer’s employer from 1998 to 2019 — and through the court system.

Secrecy surrounding status quo processes led the former Progressive Conservative government to propose sweeping reforms, including the creation of an online database of teacher names, qualifications and standing, in 2023.

The NDP has promised to follow through with changes laid out in legislation, the Education Administration Act (Teacher Certification and Professional Conduct), by January.

“We’re hopeful that this individual will be able to take a non-biased approach to managing this registry, which is what the public wants,” said PC MLA Grant Jackson, education critic for the official Opposition.

At the same time, Jackson said the province has “put some questions into the process” by choosing “a very heavily aligned individual.”

Asked about the optics of selecting a well-known unionist, Education Minister Nello Altomare said Taillefer’s professional qualifications are “beyond reproach” and he trusts she will be effective.

Altomare called her “the right person at the right time.”

Contract details are being finalized, but the commissioner will work on a full-time basis in the new year, he said.

The government appointee’s term can be up to five years and re-appointments are permitted.

Both the Manitoba School Boards Association and MTS — whose leadership has repeatedly pushed back against the creation of a regulatory body similar to those in place for physicians and lawyers — had high praise for Taillefer on Wednesday.

Taillefer has consistently brought a wealth of knowledge and expertise “to the many responsibilities she has performed within public education across Canada for several decades,” said Sandy Nemeth, president of the association that represents 38 school boards in the province.

She spent her final years at MTS as general secretary, the highest non-political role at the union.

(In 2017, former education minister Peter Bjornson sued MTS and Taillefer, alleging the union had reneged on the promise of a union staff job that he left politics in order to be eligible for two years earlier.)

Her resumé also includes high-profile roles at the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario and Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation, both of which are in provinces with existing teacher registries.

“It’s going to give the commission a lot of credibility with teachers because she has been a union activist all her career — when she was a teacher, when she was a principal, when she was working for the society,” said Diane Beresford, a retired teacher who worked with Taillefer for 20 years at MTS.

Beresford said Taillefer is known for being “pro-teacher” and making “even-handed” decisions.

Since 2021, Taillefer has been employed as executive director of the STF, representing more than 13,500 teachers in Saskatchewan.

The Saskatoon-based union posted her job on Monday. The senior role involves advocating for teachers’ interests, reporting on operations and finances, and liaising with government, school boards and other education groups in that province, it states.

A handful of sources confirmed the appointment, which has yet to be formally announced.

“It’s a shame if we’re just going to look across the border to Saskatchewan and pick up a system that has demonstrated that it’s ineffective for students and for the general public,” said Cameron Hauseman, an associate professor of educational administration at the University of Manitoba.

As far as Hauseman’s concerned, STF has far too much influence in Saskatchewan’s registry and the set-up works against its goal of promoting transparency and public confidence.

The academic — who is listed as a certified teacher in good standing in the Ontario College of Teachers’ online database — said Taillefer’s “strong union ties” give him pause.

The B.C. government scrapped its teachers college in 2011 over concerns about its independence and replaced it with a new model that reduced the teachers union’s control in disciplinary matters, he noted.

Taillefer rejected his criticism of the Saskatchewan model and argued the setup is successful because it ensures all people involved in the complaint process are respected.

“Unions are not interested in having issues that degrade the profession,” the commissioner said.

MTS president Nathan Martindale said he was pleased with the choice, citing the appointee’s experience at all levels of the public education system and understanding of the labour relations process.

“From Day 1, we were clear that the commissioner must have a strong background in public education to ensure the best outcomes for teachers and students,” Martindale said, adding he is focused on ensuring the overhauled system’s decision-making panels are made up primarily of teachers.

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The legislation allows the commissioner to enter into an agreement with any teacher who’s under scrutiny about appropriate consequences or call a hearing and appoint a panel to issue a ruling.

It indicates that panels must include at least one teacher, an individual selected by the school boards association and a public representative.

In addition to her education experience, Taillefer has acted as a public representative in investigations into critical incidents in federal prisons.

Formerly Bobbi Ethier, she was president of the Liberal Party of Canada in the early 2000s.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca

Maggie Macintosh
Education reporter

Maggie Macintosh reports on education for the Free Press. Originally from Hamilton, Ont., she first reported for the Free Press in 2017. Read more about Maggie.

Funding for the Free Press education reporter comes from the Government of Canada through the Local Journalism Initiative.

Every piece of reporting Maggie produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.