SASKATOON – The organization supporting more than 13,000 teachers in Saskatchewan has a new president. Patrick Maze replaces Colin Keess as head of the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation.
Last August, the federation accused Keess of leaking collective bargaining information to a teacher and stripped him of his powers. A judge reinstated his authority earlier this month.
Keess had planned to run again for the federation’s top job, but withdrew his nomination on Friday.
READ MORE: Suspended STF president back on the job after court ruling
He says in a statement that the dispute had an impact on his decision to withdraw and he wanted to do what was best for the teachers federation.
Keess and his lawyer point out that no complaints were made against him to the federation’s ethics committee about any breach of confidence.
He was elected three times as president of the teachers federation.
Maze, who is also the president of the Regina Public Schools Division, says his election might be a sign that teachers want to move on from the dispute.
He says a governance committee has been set up to recommend changes to federation bylaws.
“It’s time to start a new chapter for the STF and we need to work at bringing the focus back to representing teachers,” Maze said in a release Friday.
“Many of the challenges are the same in every classroom and … the STF has to reconnect with teachers and make sure their voice is heard and represented.”
Comments