There are a lot of differences between what happens in BC and what happens in Ontario.
For starters, parents in Ontario get a copy of what parents submit to the college when a complaint is filed by a parent.
In BC, we have to submit a Freedom of Informaiton request, and we are blocked from accessing such information. (OIPC complaint in process. I’ll keep you posted on that.)
But for now…
Let us start by comparing websites.
Website Comparison
Ontario Teacher’s College
They have a tab called “Public Protection” & They have a “Parents” tab
Under Public Protection, you can see that they easily have a tab for professional standards.
They also have their accessibility policies easy to access.
Easy to find the annual reports listed in the tab below.
BC Teacher’s Regulation Branch Website
No easily accessible information for parents. I feel that their website is a maze of information and you just have to move through everything. This is not accessible to various groups of people.
I cannot find anything about accessibility policies or any kind of commitment to anti-oppression, equity, diversity and inclusion. If it’s there, I don’t know where. And here is a game to play. Who can find the annual reports? I know where they are, so I know how hard it is to find them. Let’s see if you can find them?
Let’s look at their website and if you were a parent, how would you find out about information regarding this process and what you would need to file a complaint.
This is the main page that you start off looking at.
Under the Information about teaching in British Columbia, you can click on the 3rd item where it says “Read the standards of the Teaching profession”. Which in my mind, looks like an area for teachers.
Then the “Make a complaint or report about a certified teacher” will bring you to Commissioner page. (This has recently been redesigned)
You then need to lick on Make a Teacher Complaint.
Or, you can click on the Discipline Outcomes.
You reach this area.
Then you need to click on the find out more about the discipline process.
This has recently changed since January 8th, 2024.
Then you need to click on Make a Teacher Complaint. This is the first page that says the word “parent”.
It used to look like this.
They have two paths to find the teacher standards.
One way, is through the discipline outcome page. To find the teacher standards document to know if they have even broken one in order to file a complaint, you need go back to this page.
And click on “read about the standards for educators”
And then search on this page.
And then click on “BC Educator Standards” to be brought to this page.
To yet, then need to continue to click on another link, the standards for certificate of qualification.
To then know to click on the first link to be finally be brought to the PDF standards document.
Seriously, they couldn’t make it any harder if they tried.
You need to be willing and able to spend hours just going through the maze and reading everything.
OR the second way is to click on Make a Teacher Complaint and find the link in the second paragraph. Then you will still be brought back to the other pages as I showed above.
So, this is the page that explicitly says who can file a complaint and info intended for parents.
So now, who was able to find the annual reports?
You have to go back to MEET THE COMMISSIONER and scroll all the way down to the bottom on that page.
You literally just have to spend hours clicking on all of the links, because just by hovering over the tabs it doesn’t indicate to you what the other tabs are inside. So…grab some coffee and hunker down.
IT IS A MAZE!
Now, let’s look at other differences.
Ontario Teacher’s College and why they exist. What pops out to me is the focus on public interest.
Teachers Regulation Branch
I have no idea where their mandate or goals, or guiding principles are located.
Is it this?
Is this it?
To anyone in the Minstry of Education, can you please redo your website (again) and make it more accessible for parents to access information?
Clearly, not in the public interest.
Thank you.