Liberal MLA Brendan Maguire says he stands by his vote to legislate a contract on Nova Scotia teachers, even though it did “disenfranchise” people.
Maguire and his 32 Liberal colleagues voted in favour of Bill 75 on Tuesday. The legislation imposed a contract on the province’s 9,300 public school teachers, ending a month-long work-to-rule campaign.
READ MORE: Bill 75, legislating a contract on Nova Scotia’s teachers becomes law
“I felt like we were at an impasse,” Maguire said in an interview Thursday. “Every vote on the contract, the margin got wider, and wider, and wider. I honestly believe that the government and the union didn’t have a firm grasp on what teachers wanted, and after almost two years of negotiation where do we go.”
Many teachers have said the contract dispute came down to conditions in the classroom while others maintained that ending the long service award was the deal breaker. Maguire said he believed in order to address the classroom conditions, the government had to close the book on the compensation package.
Backbench MLAs have avoided speaking publicly about the legislated contract since the government announced it would impose a contract on teachers more than a week ago.
READ MORE: What is the new normal as Nova Scotia teachers adjust to legislated contract?
But on Wednesday, Maguire posted on his Facebook page about his reasoning for voting ‘yes.’ Referencing his own history as a union member and experience with striking, Maguire said this was the last decision he ever expected to make.
“Nobody wanted to do this,” he said. “It would be the last decision I’d ever want to make, because it does disenfranchise people.”
Unions and their supporters have pointed to a growing list of bills from the Liberals that they claim are anti-union. The government said it would legislate a contract on teachers in December, but then reversed course and went back to a third round of negotiations. And the Nova Scotia Teachers Union had long warned its members a legislated contract was possible.
Maguire, though, said he doesn’t believe the legislation was inevitable.
“People don’t want to hear this, but there was 18 months, almost two years, of negotiations, there was give and take on both sides.”
‘If we fail it’s on us’
It’s now up to the government to follow through on its promises to address the problems in classrooms, Maguire said.
Since the fall, teachers have been speaking out ever more on a lack of resources in the classroom that is leaving them overwhelmed. Maguire said the council created in Bill 75 will have “real power” and address those concerns.
“There’s no report coming out of this committee, it’s actually changes,” he said, citing the committees $20 million budget to tackled the issues over two years.
READ MORE: NS teachers tell legislature that imposed contract will hurt students most
He said he didn’t think more working conditions should be added into the contract because there was no consensus on what needed to be changed in classrooms or where resources are most needed. For example he said he heard differing opinions on the value of data entry and a no-fail policy.
“We’re committing to more money, more resources, and if we fail it’s on us.”
Maguire ‘deeply embarrassed’ by outburst in the house
Maguire said an incident at Province House on Feb. 15 is a moment he’ll “regret” and he’s “deeply embarrassed” by it.
WATCH: Liberal MLA Brendan Maguire has an outburst in the Nova Scotia Legislature
“It was not my proudest moment, I have children I wouldn’t want my children to see that, I don’t think that’s how any adult should act,” he said. The debate was about the construction of new schools.
READ MORE: Government defending J.L. Ilsley school replacement amid criticism
He said he and Houston have had a tense relationship for a long time and he said Houston also said things that Maguire says he wouldn’t say to someone.
WATCH: Brendan Maguire says he’ll regret lashing out at PC MLA Tim Houston
On the recording, another MLA can be heard calling Maguire a “joke,” though it’s not clear who. Houston says it wasn’t him who made the comment.
Maguire said he’s apologized to his constituents and Speaker of the House, Kevin Murphy. He said he would be willing to meet with Houston and apologize to him as well, but says he also wants an apology in return.
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