Court documents on B.C. teacher negotiations ‘out of context’: premier

VANCOUVER – B.C.’s premier says court transcripts that have fuelled claims her government attempted to provoke a teachers strike have been taken out of context.

Premier Christy Clark’s Liberal government has been under fire since a judge ruled last month that legislation around teacher bargaining is unconstitutional and that the government attempted to trigger a strike two years ago.

The Opposition NDP read out court transcripts in the legislature on Wednesday, and they appeared to show the government’s lead negotiator acknowledge such a plan.

But Clark says the transcripts represent only a snippet of the trial and she suggests they were taken out of context.

The government is appealing the court decision, and Clark says the public should wait until that process is finished before judging what really happened.

Clark points out there was no full-scale strike, and instead the government and the teachers union reached an agreement.