N.B. youth advocate’s recommendations draw criticism

Child, Youth and Seniors’ advocate Kelly Lamrock issued recommendations this week on how to uphold the rights of children with special needs in New Brunswick classrooms.

The move follows his office’s review of the “delicate relationship” clause in the educational assistants’ collective agreement.

The advocate recommendations elicited very different responses from Ability NB and CUPE 2745.

“One of the concerns we have in the disability sector is that rights-based approaches are often lost,” said Haley Flaro, executive director of Ability NB. “The advocate is right on that we need to prioritize conventions such as rights of the child over these types of issues that arise.”

According to Lamrock, the education assistants' collective agreement allowed one employee to bump another who had fewer years of service, until 2008.

"I was surprised by his comments and allegations,” said Theresa McAllister, CUPE 2745 provincial president. “That we don't have the best interest of the students at heart, which we always do, at all times.”

The delicate relationship clause recognized the benefits of keeping a student with the same education assistant if the child needed familiarity and stability to meet their learning needs.

McAllister says the advocate is making recommendations without a discussion with the union.

"That is part of our collective agreement and the only way things get changed is via negotiations so that's the process that we have the right to negotiate,” McAllister said. “If changes may be made, then the government will have to bring it to the table or the union would bring it to the table.”

The advocate is recommending the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development develop a clear policy on the use of the delicate relationship clause and how parents can request that it be considered, such as being published on all school district websites where it will be accessible to parents.

"We've often seen these issues escalated to our attention, where we see decisions made for financial reasons, where there's been changes and agreements with unions that necessitated changes,” Flaro said. “Unfortunately, those don't take into account the rights of the child and can be really disruptive to the life of a child with a disability.”

Lamrock is urging government to complete a consultation and policy development process by September 2023.