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2003 Legislative Session: 4th Session, 37th Parliament

FIRST READING

The following electronic version is for informational

purposes only.

The printed version remains the official version.

HONOURABLE CHRISTY CLARK

MINISTER OF EDUCATION

AND DEPUTY PREMIER

BILL 51 – 2003

TEACHING PROFESSION AMENDMENT ACT, 2003

HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia, enacts as follows:

Section 1 of the Teaching Profession Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 449, is amended

(

a) by adding the following definition:

"authority" means

(

a) a society incorporated under the Society Act ,

(

b) a corporation incorporated under the Company Act or a private Act, or

(

c) a person designated, by regulation, as an authority

that operates or intends to operate an independent school

as defined in

section 1 of the Independent School Act ; , and

(

b) in paragraph (

b) of the definition of "authority"

by striking out " Company Act " and substituting " Business

Corporations Act " .

Section 5 is repealed and the following substituted:

Council

(1) The college is to be governed by the council in accordance with this Act.

(2) The council consists of the following:

(a) 8 members elected to serve on the council as the representatives of the zones;

(b) 11 persons appointed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council on the recommendation of the minister;

(

c) one person, nominated jointly by the deans of the faculties of education in British Columbia, who is appointed by the minister to hold office during pleasure.

(3) Before making a recommendation under subsection (2) (b), the minister must consult with persons who the minister considers are representative of

(

a) authorities,

(

b) public school principals and vice principals,

(

c) superintendents, and

(

d) parents.

Section 18 is amended by striking out "the members" and substituting "the members of the council" .

Section 21 (

i) is repealed.

Section 22 is amended

(

a) in subsections (1) and (2) by striking out "28 (4)" and substituting "27.1, 28 (4)" , and

(

b) in subsection (5) (

a) by striking out "board" and substituting "board and authority" .

Section 23 is amended

(

a) in subsection (1) (

d) by striking out "training and" in both places,

(

b) by repealing subsection (4) and substituting the following:

(4) Bylaws made under subsection (2) may provide that the discipline committee may exercise the discipline powers of the council, except those under

section 22 (4) and (5). , and

(

c) in subsection (5) by striking out "the member" and substituting "the council member" .

Section 24 (2) is amended by striking out "respecting the training, qualification or certification of teachers" .

8 Sections 26 (3), 27 (3) and 28 (3) are amended by striking out "members." and substituting "committee members."

Section 26 (9) is amended by striking out "prevent the member" and substituting "prevent the council member" .

Section 27 (4) (

a) is repealed and the following substituted:

(

a) cooperate with teacher education institutions in the design of teacher education programs, and .

11 The following

section is added:

Duty to report professional misconduct

27.1

(1) A member who has reason to believe that another member is guilty of professional misconduct must promptly provide to the registrar a written and signed report on the matter.

(2) Subsection (1) applies even if the information on which the belief is based

(

a) is privileged, except as a result of a solicitor-client relationship, or

(

b) is confidential and its disclosure is prohibited under another Act.

(3) A person who knowingly reports false information under subsection (1) commits an offence.

(4) No action for damages lies or may be brought against a person for reporting information under this

section unless the person knowingly reported false information.

Section 28 (4) is amended by striking out "or" at the end of paragraph (

c) and by adding the following paragraph:

(c.1) a written complaint about the conduct of a member, signed by a person and referred to the council by the registrar for the purposes of a preliminary investigation, or .

Section 34 (

c) is amended by striking out "board" and substituting "board or an authority" .

Section 35 is amended

(

a) by striking out "may, by a resolution passed by the votes of a majority of the council members present at a duly constituted meeting of the council," in both places and substituting "may, by a resolution passed at a duly constituted meeting," ,

(

b) in subsection (2) (

b) and (

e) by striking out "satisfied the board" and substituting "satisfied the board of examiners" ,

(

c) in subsection (2) (

d) and (

f) by striking out "satisfy the board" wherever it appears and substituting "satisfy the board of examiners" ,

(

d) in subsection (2) (b), (d), (

e) and (

f) by striking out "employee of the board" wherever it appears and substituting "employee of the board or authority" , and

(

e) by adding the following subsection:

(4) A resolution proposed at a duly constituted meeting under this

section may be duly passed by the majority present at the meeting.

Section 36 (

a) is amended by striking out "board" and substituting "board and authority" .

Section 43 is repealed and the following substituted:

Annual reports

(1) The council must annually report to the minister, by a date specified by the minister, on the financial affairs and administration of the college, the performance and competence of the members, educational matters generally and other matters

(

a) on which the council considers it should report, or

(

b) that the minister has directed be included in the annual report.

(2) The minister, within 45 days of receiving a report under subsection (1), must make the report public.

(3) Subject to subsection (1), the council must comply with any guidelines the minister issues concerning the form of the reports and the matters to be addressed by those reports.

Transitional

(1) In this section:

"council" means the council as defined in

section 1 of the Act;

"minister" means the minister charged by order of the Lieutenant Governor in Council with responsibility for the administration of the Act;

"new section" means

section 5 of the Act as enacted by

section 2 of this Act;

"the Act" means the Teaching Profession Act ,

R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 449.

(2) On the coming into force of the new section,

(

a) the members and other persons elected or appointed to serve on the council cease to hold office on the council,

(

b) the council consists of 20 persons to be appointed by the minister and each of these persons holds office during pleasure until, as a replacement, a council member is

(

i) elected in accordance with paragraph (c) (

i) and (ii), or

(ii) appointed under the new section, and

(

c) the minister must specify

(

i) the dates on or before which the college must hold one or more elections to replace 8 of the persons appointed under paragraph (b), and

(ii) the term of office of members of the council elected as described in subparagraph (i).

(3) The minister must specify

(

a) the dates on or before which the college must hold one or more elections to replace the members of the council elected in accordance with subsection (2) (c) (i), and

(

b) the term of office of members of the council elected as described in paragraph (a).

(4) The elections described in subsections (2) (

c) and (3) (

a) are for members to serve on the council as representatives of the zones mentioned in subsection (2) (

a) of the new section.

(5) Section 9 of the Act does not apply to

(

a) the holding of elections as described in subsection (2) (

c) or (3) (a), or

(

b) the term of office of members of the council elected as described in subsection (2) (

c) or (3) (a).

(6) On the new

section coming into force,

section 16 (1) of the Act ceases to apply until a date specified by the minister, and during that period, the chair of the council must be a member of the council, elected as chair by the council, on a date specified by the minister.

Commencement

18 Sections 1 (b), 4, 6 (

a) and 10 come into force by regulation of the Lieutenant Governor in Council.

Explanatory Notes

SECTION 1: [Teaching Profession Act, amends

section 1] adds a

definition of "authority", and makes provision for the coming into force of

the Business Corporations Act .

SECTION 2: [Teaching Profession Act, re-enacts

section 5] restructures

the composition of the council.

SECTION 3: [Teaching Profession Act, amends

section 18] is self

explanatory.

SECTION 4: [Teaching Profession Act, repeals

section 21 (i)] is

self explanatory.

SECTION 5: [Teaching Profession Act, amends

section 22] adds

a reference to

section 27.1 of the Act as enacted by this Bill and adds a reference

to authority.

SECTION 6: [Teaching Profession Act, amends

section 23] removes

the capacity of the council to make bylaws respecting the training of teachers

and broadens the capacity of the council to delegate discipline powers to the

discipline committee.

SECTION 7: [Teaching Profession Act, amends

section 24 (2)] broadens

the capacity for the minister to request changes to the bylaws.

SECTION 8 : [Teaching Profession Act, amends sections 26

(3), 27 (3) and 28 (3)] clarifies references to council members.

SECTION 9 : [Teaching Profession Act, amends

section 26

(9)] clarifies a reference to council member.

SECTION 10: [ Teaching Profession Act, amends

section 27

(4) (a)] removes reference to the evaluation of teacher education programs

and removes the reference to programs leading to certification by the college.

SECTION 11: [ Teaching Profession Act, enacts

section 27.1]

requires that a member report to the registrar if the member believes another

member is guilty of professional misconduct or conduct unbecoming a member.

SECTION 12: [ Teaching Profession Act, adds

section 28 (4)

(c.1)] reduces the limits on the types of complaints that can lead to

disciplinary proceedings.

SECTION 13: [ Teaching Profession Act, amends

section 34

(c)] broadens the

section to apply to an employee of an authority.

SECTION 14: [ Teaching Profession Act, amends

section 35]

facilitates the delegation, under

section 28 (1.1) of the Act, of the capacity

of the discipline committee, under

section 35 of the Act, to a subcommittee.

SECTION 15: [ Teaching Profession Act, amends

section 36

(a)] requires the registrar to notify authorities of disciplinary action

taken against a member of the college.

SECTION 16: [ Teaching Profession Act, re-enacts

section

43] requires that annual reports be submitted by the council to the

minister and broadens the scope for those reports.

SECTION 17: [ Transitional] establishes rules for

the transition to the amendments made by this Bill.

Copyright (c) 2003: Queen's Printer, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada