5 hours Ago By Carol Sanders
Laying off 93 educational assistants to Indigenous kids in Hanover School Division right before Christmas is a “shock” to its members and will create more work and more risk for EAs left behind, says the faith-based union representing them. Read this article for free: Already have an account? To continue reading, please subscribe: * Laying off 93 educational assistants to Indigenous kids in Hanover School Division right before Christmas is a “shock” to its members and will create more work and more risk for EAs left behind, says the faith-based union representing them. Read unlimited articles for free today: Already have an account? Laying off 93 educational assistants to Indigenous kids in Hanover School Division right before Christmas is a “shock” to its members and will create more work and more risk for EAs left behind, says the faith-based union representing them.
“Obviously we are devastated for our members who are facing layoffs,” Geoff Dueck Thiessen, regional director of the Christian Labour Association of Canada, said in an email Friday. “This shock is especially impactful so close to Christmas.” On Wednesday, the Steinbach-based school division announced that it gave two weeks notice to 93 educational assistants being laid off on Dec.
11. The layoffs follow the unexpected loss of federal funding for Jordan’s Principle programming in the 2024-25 school year. SVJETLANA MLINAREVIC / THE CARILLON FILES Hanover School Division superintendent and CEO Joe Thiessen Hanover school CEO and Supt.
Joe Thiessen said Indigenous Services Canada’s regional office has, in recent years, handled funding applications for educational assistants, and in early summer indicated the division could go ahead with hiring EAs for the 2024-25 school year. In October, when Hanover submitted the bill for September to the ISC regional office,the division was told that it wouldn’t be paid and that the funding responsibility had shifted to a federal ISC office. “This requires us to reapply for funding,” Thiessen told the Friday.
It’s not a matter of resubmitting the same applications for each of the 102 Indigenous students to receive funding for an EA, he said. More information is required because the program has imposed stricter criteria to qualify. Thiessen said he expects most if not all the applications will be approved and they’ll recover the funding.
The question is, when? From the start of the school year until the Dec. 11 layoff, the division will have paid more than $1 million for the educational assistant supports, he said. “We would’ve liked to delay this, if there was a possibility,” he said, referring to the layoffs.
“Waiting till after Christmas would’ve been nicer. We just felt like we’d exhausted every option to find out answers and we’re still waiting for answers. We’re hopeful to bring back as many of the EAs as possible and as soon as possible.
” Indigenous Services Canada said it wouldn’t be able to respond Friday to questions about whether Hanover was required to reapply to another level of ISC bureaucracy for Jordan’s Principle funding. The principle is named after Jordan River Anderson of Norway House Cree Nation, who was born in 1999 with multiple disabilities and died at age five without ever leaving the hospital because federal and provincial governments couldn’t decide who should pay for his at-home care. Now, when a First Nations child needs health, social or educational services, they are to receive them from the government first approached, with questions about who pays figured out later.
Indigenous Services Canada said Hanover’s request for educational assistants support through Jordan’s Principle is still under review. “Requests are reviewed on a case-by-case basis to determine how the requested specific product, service or support meets the distinct needs of each child,” it said. The union representing the EAs slammed the process that’s led to layoffs and may end up hurting the kids it’s supposed to help.
“It’s unacceptable that funding for these critical supports for Indigenous students would be so tenuous,” Dueck Thiessen’s email said Friday. If Hanover — which has more than 9,000 students — doesn’t get the funding restored before the 93 layoffs take effect, other educational assistants and staff in the division will step up to help and share resources, Joe Thiessen said. “We’re deeply committed to ensuring every student has the support they need to thrive,” he said.
Spreading more work among fewer employees is a concern, said the union. Winnipeg Jets Game Days On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop.
“EA work is rewarding but also exhausting and often comes with risk of violence,” Dueck Thiessen said. The union will work with the employer as much as it can to mitigate the negative impacts on those facing layoffs and those still working who provide critical supports to students with the greatest needs, he said. The school division hopes the funding is restored and it doesn’t come to that, Thiessen said.
“We’re just hoping that bringing this to light will also maybe help speed things along so we can help kids,” he said. carol.sanders@freepress.
mb.ca Carol Sanders is a reporter at the legislature bureau. The former general assignment reporter and copy editor joined the paper in 1997.
. Every piece of reporting Carol produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the ‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about , and .
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Thank you for your support. Carol Sanders is a reporter at the legislature bureau. The former general assignment reporter and copy editor joined the paper in 1997.
. Every piece of reporting Carol produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the ‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about , and .
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider . Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism.
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