B.C. teacher suspended after telling int’l students to ‘go back to Spain,’ forcing student with asthma to run

An empty hallway is seen at a school in Vancouver, on Sept. 5, 2014. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

A longtime Maple Ridge–Pitt Meadows high-school teacher has received a short suspension after admitting to professional misconduct related to comments and decisions made during his physical education classes.

William Walter McCrae made the admission in a consent resolution agreement with the provincial Commissioner for Teacher Regulation, a summary of which was posted online Tuesday.

The document outlines several incidents reported by the district during the 2023-2024 school year.

In one case, two female international students from Spain arrived late to class and began warming up with male students rather than the girls’ group. McCrae instructed them to join the other group but became frustrated, according to the agreement, “that they were continuing to talk and be disruptive to the class,” on top of what he perceived as a lack of urgency.

The summary says McCrae told the students they were “guests” in Canada and should “go back to Spain” if they could not follow this country’s rules.

The following day, after the students apologized, McCrae told them he did not “get paid to teach international students.”

In a separate incident, McCrae required “Student C,” who has asthma, to participate in a relay race, despite the student saying their inhaler had run out.

The summary notes that the school had no record of medical concerns for the student, leading McCrae to assume they were making excuses to avoid the race.

According to the agreement, he responded by saying “nice try” and told the student to “join the rest of their group and do the best they can.”

The student later experienced breathing distress after five minutes of running.

The summary also indicates that McCrae had been previously disciplined.

In 2023, he received a letter reminding him to use appropriate language with students. The following year, the district issued a letter of reprimand for an alleged failure to maintain appropriate professional boundaries.

The commissioner proposed a consent resolution agreement in December 2024, concluding McCrae failed to foster an inclusive and respectful learning environment and to protect students’ physical and emotional safety and suspending him for three days.