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President’s Message
BCTF Summer Leadership Conference 2022
Greetings colleagues, and welcome to our first in-person Summer Leadership Conference since 2019!
I’d like to thank you all for taking time out of your summer holidays to join us here in Vancouver. I hope you have all taken some very well-deserved time to relax and recharge after another tremendously challenging year of teaching and union work through an evolving global pandemic. For many of you, this will be your first BCTF in-person event after having been recently (or not so recently) elected to your local executives. For others, this is a familiar but long-absent circumstance—meeting with your colleagues from around the province to talk about our work and build solidarity. Whatever your level of experience, our goal is to make this an enriching, enjoyable, and invigorating week for all. We recognize the enormous pressure that teachers and union activists have been under these last few years, and the toll that pressure has taken on each of us. That’s why the theme for this year’s conference is Recovery, (Re)connection, and Appreciation. The way we move through the post-pandemic period is crucial to the strength and solidarity of our union. We must recover with equity, inclusion, and justice in mind. We must recommit ourselves to building a strong public education system that honours the work of teachers; from wages and working conditions to our collective work on social justice, how we do our work is key. Reconnecting with one another during this conference and in ongoing ways is similarly important. As we all well know, teaching—as well as union work—is fundamentally relational. As always, the more we share and learn from one another, the better. You will find that the theme of Recovery, (Re)connection, and Appreciation permeates and connects all our workshops, panels, and group activities this week. We hope you find the program we’ve planned helpful, inspiring, and focussed on what you need.
Whether it’s your first or fourteenth Summer Leadership Conference, thank you for taking time out of your summer holidays to be here. These moments where we gather, share ideas, build our skills, connect and reconnect, and celebrate our work—these are the moments that motivate and sustain us. Opportunities like this can be used to invigorate our local officers, guide the work of our activists, and model the kind of collaborative working relationships we have in the BCTF. It is our collective work here and throughout the year that is the strength of our union. Please use the Summer Leadership Conference as a chance to ask questions and connect with new people who bring fresh perspectives, providing you opportunities for growth and understanding. We have so much to learn from one another. As always, know that your union supports you. I look forward to serving you all as President this year, and I thank you for the opportunity. Have a great conference.
Clint Johnston President
