More than 70 per cent of British Columbians are closely following the contract dispute between the provincial government and the B.C. Teachers Federation, and they don’t think it’s going to end anytime soon.
Some 70 per cent of respondents in a new poll by Insights West say they are “not too confident” or “not confident at all” that the dispute will end before the start of the new school year on Sept. 2. Pollsters were somewhat surprised by this result.
“Usually, you’re expecting something a little closer to 50/50 on a question like that,” said Mario Canseco, vice president of public affairs for Insights West.
Canseco said the response shows that cynicism and frustration with the negotiation process are starting to set in among the public. He sees further evidence for this in other poll results that show 40 per cent of people who don’t have children in the school system still feel affected by the dispute.
If respondents are right, and school doesn’t begin in September, the province will pay parents $40 per day per child under age 13 while schools remain closed. Those polled don’t necessarily think that’s a good thing.
The province’s offer has had little effect on public perception of the conflict, according to the polling firm. Almost half of British Columbians surveyed in the poll released Thursday said they support the BCTF, while only 38 per cent favoured the government.
Those results are virtually unchanged from a similar poll conducted by Insights West and CTV Vancouver in June.
Similarly, only 37 per cent of respondents in the poll said they thought the monetary initiative was a “good” or “very good” idea, while 52 per cent deemed it “bad” or “very bad.”
Even among parents with children in public schools, the idea had only lukewarm support, with 47 per cent saying it was a good idea, compared to 46 per cent opposed.
Most of the time, questions about tax rebates to the public have a higher level of support among the people who stand to benefit, Canseco said.
“These are the people who are getting the money back, but they don’t seem happy about it,” he said.
Canseco said it’s likely that parents either don’t think the $40 offer is enough money to provide childcare, or they don’t care how much money is offered because they just want the dispute to be over.
The poll was conducted online between Aug. 11 and 12. There were 816 respondents, all members of Your Insights, an in-house panel that provides samples of the general public for Insights West.
The company says its data has been statistically weighted according to Canadian census figures for age, gender, and region in B.C. The margin of error is +/-3.1 per cent.
