Manitoba launches teacher registry, pledges future transparency

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This article was published 06/01/2025 (267 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba’s acting education minister says the public will never learn the circumstances surrounding past teaching certificate suspensions or cancellations but pledges future transparency with the introduction of a new registry.

The province’s publicly searchable teacher registry, which launched online Monday, shows the status of certificate holders and whether they are in good standing or if they’ve been suspended or cancelled. It offers no details about past reprimands or how long a teacher was working before a teaching certificate was suspended or cancelled.

Education Minister Tracy Schmidt said legalities from prior legislation limit the province from disclosing why a teacher’s licence was revoked, but the process will be transparent moving forward.

“We’re trying to do better as we move forward, and we know that this is going to increase the access to information, and ultimately the safety of students under our care,” Schmidt said Monday.

The registry displays the status of every Manitoba educator’s teaching licence dating back to 1960.

The registry shows two teacher certificates have been suspended and one was cancelled since Jan. 1. In 2024, six educators had their certification cancelled and two were suspended.

During its implementation, the public document was hailed as a way to improve transparency surrounding the disciplinary records of educators. The registry was included as part of amendments to the Education Administration Act that was passed unanimously in 2023 under the previous Progressive Conservative government.

Schmidt said the disclosure of detailed accounts of discipline were limited under the old framework of the act, but the amendments and the appointment of an independent commissioner will assist with transparency.

“We’ve published what we’re allowed to publish,” she said. “If there was an allegation of misconduct tomorrow that the commissioner referred to the hearing panel, the hearing panel made a finding, then that’s when you’re going to start to see that information become more detailed.”

Former teacher and union executive Bobbi Taillefer was named the inaugural independent education commissioner. Taillefer’s job is to review complaints about teacher misconduct and incompetence and use her discretion to probe or close cases.

Prior to Taillefer’s appointment, it was up to the Department of Education to suspend or cancel a teaching certificate.

Cameron Hauseman, an associate professor of educational administration at the University of Manitoba, said the registry fails to provide essential information for public accountability.

“If anything, it adds further questions surrounding those processes,” Hauseman said Monday.

He also said the registry doesn’t provide much relief to parents concerned about who is leading their child’s classroom.

“Simply stating cancelled or suspended does little to protect that public interest. Members of the public should look at that and determine, ‘Is this a teacher I want in front of my child?’ We simply don’t have that.”

The registry shows the licence of Alan Veness, a former teacher in Winnipeg, was cancelled on Jan. 2, some 18 months after police discovered more than 4,500 images and 20 videos on his personal electronic devices and hard drives.

Veness was sentenced to 33 months in prison on July 11, 2024, after pleading guilty to possessing child pornography.

Kelsey McKay, a former phys-ed teacher and high school football coach who pleaded guilty to sexually abusing his former students, had his licence cancelled on June 19, 2024.

McKay was first charged with sexual assault in April 2022. He was was sentenced to 20 years in prison in October 2024.

The listings offer no details about McKay or Veness’ employment between initial criminal allegations and their licence cancellations.

Schmidt said the education department looked to other provinces when building Manitoba’s registry, but Hauseman pointed out other provinces have a more forthcoming system.

The Ontario College of Teachers Find a Teacher registry lists a teacher’s qualifications, their date of certification, their status with the college and any disciplinary history.

It also publicly posts documents detailing disciplinary hearings and decisions against teachers accused of wrongdoing going back decades.

Hauseman is concerned teachers who were previously disciplined in Manitoba could move to another province for work and have no paper trail of their discipline.

“We had a chance to be a world leader when it came to dealing with teacher misconduct and pulling that curtain back,” he said.

During the legislation’s implementation, the Manitoba Teachers’ Society advocated for revisions to the bill, including limiting the registry to names and teacher certificate status, banning anonymous complaints and keeping open investigations confidential while ensuring teachers are on paid leave during them.

In a statement, MTS president Nathan Martindale said the union is analyzing the registry and website and will be meeting with the government on Jan. 16 for further discussions.

“We’re pleased that an initial overview of the registry shows that the vast majority of teachers are in good standing,” the emailed statement said.

The union leader encouraged teachers with questions about the registry to refer to the frequently asked questions document created by the Department of Education and Early Childhood Learning.

The registry can be accessed at: http://wfp.to/Ab4.

nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca

Nicole Buffie
Multimedia producer

Nicole Buffie is a reporter for the Free Press city desk. Born and bred in Winnipeg, Nicole graduated from Red River College’s Creative Communications program in 2020 and worked as a reporter throughout Manitoba before joining the Free Press newsroom as a multimedia producer in 2023. Read more about Nicole.

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