Rally at Christy Clark's Office Allows Okanagan Parents to Speak Out

Concerned citizens speak out about the ongoing labour dispute. (Photo Credit: KelownaNow)

Over 100 parents and children were protesting at Premier Christy Clark's office in West Kelowna to ask the government to come to an agreement that will let children go back to school.

Parents and children lined Dobbin Road in West Kelowna by Clark's office, holding signs supporting B.C.'s teachers and calling for schools to open again. The crowd was lively and determined, and judging by the amount of honks they received by cars passing by, their stance is a popular one.

One of the organizers, Sara Evans Neukomm, with her son. (Photo Credit: KelownaNow)

Organizers Sara Evans Neukomm and Rebekah Pearce met over Facebook on a province-wide page for parents to actively protest. The two decided to organize a rally at Clark's office, and as Neukomm says, “it snowballed.” According to Neukomm, 13 other communities in BC on Tuesday were meeting outside their MLA's office, whether that MLA was NDP or Liberal. The event was mostly planned over social media, and it drew a lot of attention from parents and other concerned citizens.

Neukomm has two children, one of whom “is devastated” that he wasn't able to start kindergarten on Tuesday. She's also feeling the pressure of how she'll take care of her children with working full-time. “Beyond the next couple of week's where I've taken time off to get my son gradually entered into kindergarten, I don't know what I'm going to do with them. I'm going to be relying on family to help me care for both kids. It's tough, it's really tough.”

Two young brothers protesting together. (Photo Credit: KelownaNow)

Pearce is particularly concerned about the public being misinformed on the focus on wages. “It's really not just about a wage increase. This is a normal part of any renewable contract ... It's about the teachers' ability to create an environment in which they're able to teach the kids. With the class sizes so humongous, it's really impacting their ability to deliver that education.”

Erin and Owen Goward have five children, their oldest with autism spectrum disorder. “We're really concerned about the lack of support [for children with special needs], the way they've been stripping away the support in the public schools. These children and families like us are going to be missing out on opportunities, resources, and support that aren't going to be there.”

This was Colleen Harris-Smith's first protest. Though she normally works, she was able to make it on Tuesday to show her support for public education and her anger that schools still aren't open. “It's really disheartening and disappointing that my kids aren't in school learning. That's where they should be and that's where they should have been in June.” She has a few days of day camp and family coming in from out of province to help, but she so far doesn't have plans for past next week, hoping that this issue will be resolved by then.

One family shows off their sign in front of Christy Clark's office.(Photo Credit: KelownaNow)

One family even came from Christy Clark's previous riding in Vancouver. They're visiting friends and decided that since they'd normally be at their own school protesting, they'd support the rally at Clark's office. The father said that their biggest concern was “that our kids are seeing our leaders are trying to mislead the public. You can tell when someone is being dishonest, and the BC Supreme Court says it too.”

Organizers of the event were also passing out printed $40 bills, following an idea started in Nelson. In an attempt to tell the government that parents would rather have the $40 per day per child invested in public education, parents are writing messages to the B.C. Liberals on the back of the bills and sending them to Victoria. The Nelson groups says they know that some families have to utilize the money to take care of their children, but they're encouraging anyone who is able to refuse the money “to redirect it, not back to the government, but to your local schools. They need it.”

One protestor shows off the bills she received. (Photo Credit: KelownaNow)

Christy Clark was not at the office on Tuesday to respond to the event.