BILL 51 – 2003
TEACHING PROFESSION AMENDMENT ACT, 2003

HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia, enacts as follows:

1 Section 1 of the Teaching Profession Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 449, is amended

(a) by adding the following definition:

"authority" means

(a) a society incorporated under the Society Act,

(b) a corporation incorporated under the Company Act or a private Act, or

(c) a person designated, by regulation, as an authority

that operates or intends to operate an independent school as defined in section 1 of the Independent School Act; , and

(b) in paragraph (b) of the definition of "authority" by striking out "Company Act" and substituting "Business Corporations Act".

2 Section 5 is repealed and the following substituted:

Council

5 (1) The college is to be governed by the council in accordance with this Act.

(2) The council consists of the following:

(a) 8 members elected to serve on the council as the representatives of the zones;

(b) 11 persons appointed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council on the recommendation of the minister;

(c) one person, nominated jointly by the deans of the faculties of education in British Columbia, who is appointed by the minister to hold office during pleasure.

(3) Before making a recommendation under subsection (2) (b), the minister must consult with persons who the minister considers are representative of

(a) authorities,

(b) public school principals and vice principals,

(c) superintendents, and

(d) parents.

3 Section 18 is amended by striking out "the members" and substituting "the members of the council".

4 Section 21 (i) is repealed.

5 Section 22 is amended

(a) in subsections (1) and (2) by striking out "28 (4)" and substituting "27.1, 28 (4)", and

(b) in subsection (5) (a) by striking out "board" and substituting "board and authority".

6 Section 23 is amended

(a) in subsection (1) (d) by striking out "training and" in both places,

(b) by repealing subsection (4) and substituting the following:

(4) Bylaws made under subsection (2) may provide that the discipline committee may exercise the discipline powers of the council, except those under section 22 (4) and (5). , and

(c) in subsection (5) by striking out "the member" and substituting "the council member".

7 Section 24 (2) is amended by striking out "respecting the training, qualification or certification of teachers".

8 Sections 26 (3), 27 (3) and 28 (3) are amended by striking out "members." and substituting "committee members."

9 Section 26 (9) is amended by striking out "prevent the member" and substituting "prevent the council member".

10 Section 27 (4) (a) is repealed and the following substituted:

(a) cooperate with teacher education institutions in the design of teacher education programs, and .

11 The following section is added:

Duty to report professional misconduct

27.1 (1) A member who has reason to believe that another member is guilty of professional misconduct must promptly provide to the registrar a written and signed report on the matter.

(2) Subsection (1) applies even if the information on which the belief is based

(a) is privileged, except as a result of a solicitor-client relationship, or

(b) is confidential and its disclosure is prohibited under another Act.

(3) A person who knowingly reports false information under subsection (1) commits an offence.

(4) No action for damages lies or may be brought against a person for reporting information under this section unless the person knowingly reported false information.

12 Section 28 (4) is amended by striking out "or" at the end of paragraph (c) and by adding the following paragraph:

(c.1) a written complaint about the conduct of a member, signed by a person and referred to the council by the registrar for the purposes of a preliminary investigation, or .

13 Sections 30 (1) and 31 (1) are amended by striking out "elected".

14 Section 34 (c) is amended by striking out "board" and substituting "board or an authority".

15 Section 35 is amended

(a) by striking out "may, by a resolution passed by the votes of a majority of the council members present at a duly constituted meeting of the council," in both places and substituting "may, by a resolution passed at a duly constituted meeting,",

(b) in subsection (2) (b) and (e) by striking out "satisfied the board" and substituting "satisfied the board of examiners",

(c) in subsection (2) (d) and (f) by striking out "satisfy the board" wherever it appears and substituting "satisfy the board of examiners",

(d) in subsection (2) (b), (d), (e) and (f) by striking out "employee of the board" wherever it appears and substituting "employee of the board or authority", and

(e) by adding the following subsection:

(4) A resolution proposed at a duly constituted meeting under this section may be duly passed by the majority present at the meeting.

16 Section 36 (a) is amended by striking out "board" and substituting "board and authority".

17 Section 43 is repealed and the following substituted:

Annual reports

43 (1) The council must annually report to the minister, by a date specified by the minister, on the financial affairs and administration of the college, the performance and competence of the members, educational matters generally and other matters

(a) on which the council considers it should report, or

(b) that the minister has directed be included in the annual report.

(2) The minister, within 45 days of receiving a report under subsection (1), must make the report public.

(3) Subject to subsection (1), the council must comply with any guidelines the minister issues concerning the form of the reports and the matters to be addressed by those reports.

Transitional

18 (1) In this section:

"council" means the council as defined in section 1 of the Act;

"minister" means the minister charged by order of the Lieutenant Governor in Council with responsibility for the administration of the Act;

"new section" means section 5 of the Act as enacted by section 2 of this Act;

"the Act" means the Teaching Profession Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 449.

(2) On the coming into force of the new section,

(a) the members and other persons elected or appointed to serve on the council cease to hold office on the council,

(b) the council consists of 20 persons to be appointed by the minister and each of these persons holds office during pleasure until, as a replacement, a council member is

(i) elected in accordance with paragraph (c) (i) and (ii), or

(ii) appointed under the new section, and

(c) the minister must specify

(i) the dates on or before which the college must hold one or more elections to replace 8 of the persons appointed under paragraph (b), and

(ii) the term of office of members of the council elected as described in subparagraph (i).

(3) The minister must specify

(a) the dates on or before which the college must hold one or more elections to replace the members of the council elected in accordance with subsection (2) (c) (i), and

(b) the term of office of members of the council elected as described in paragraph (a).

(4) The elections described in subsections (2) (c) and (3) (a) are for members to serve on the council as representatives of the zones mentioned in subsection (2) (a) of the new section.

(5) Section 9 of the Act does not apply to

(a) the holding of elections as described in subsection (2) (c) or (3) (a), or

(b) the term of office of members of the council elected as described in subsection (2) (c) or (3) (a).

(6) On the new section coming into force, section 16 (1) of the Act ceases to apply until a date specified by the minister, and during that period, the chair of the council must be a member of the council, elected as chair by the council, on a date specified by the minister.

Commencement

19 Sections 1 (b), 4, 6 (a) and 10 come into force by regulation of the Lieutenant Governor in Council.