Parents in Nova Scotia who look forward to attending their children’s Christmas concerts every year say they are irritated that many of the performances are now being held during the day – or are being cancelled altogether.
CTV Atlantic has received a number of complaints from parents who are angry the concerts are being scheduled during the daytime when working parents can’t attend. Others say the concerts at their children’s schools are being scaled back, or simply cancelled.
Many of the parents say their kids work hard to rehearse and produce the Christmas concerts, and when parents are not to be able to see the show, it’s disappointing for everyone.
Liette Doucet, the president of the Nova Scotia Teachers Union says she's not sure why some elementary schools are choosing to reschedule the concerts, but she says the timing is up to each school to decide.
"In some areas, they¹ve always taken place during the day only,” she told CTV Atlantic. "Teachers continue to go the extra mile to meet the learning needs of their students."
Tim Halman, the Progressive Conservative education critic in the province, says he thinks decisions to scale back or cancel the concerts are an indication of lingering bad blood between teachers and the province.
Earlier this year, the provincial government pushed through legislation to end a 16-month contract dispute with the province's 9,300 public school teachers.
Teachers held a one-day strike to protest that legislation – the first time they had ever chosen to walk off the job in their union’s 122-year history.
Halman believes that action damaged relations with teachers and there is still ongoing resentment.
“If these isolated cases are happening, I think it's a reflection on this government not making the appropriate steps to rebuild that trust and rebuild that relationship,” he said Wednesday.
