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Fleming said last year that his government’s efforts to hire several thousand teachers was likely the biggest hiring spree of educators in the province’s history. But Hansman said that hiring was linked to the Supreme Court ruling.

“That didn’t come about because of government benevolence or any action that the current NDP government took,” he said.

Hansman did offer the government an A+ letter grade for $2.7 billion it devoted over three years to seismic upgrades, repairs and expansions for schools, and he applauded several other items.

“There’s a lot of stuff external to the K-12 budget that we’re excited about. All the investments in child care and the elimination of interest on student loans and the affordability measures are all things that are going to be good for our recruitment and retention efforts here in B.C.”

Hansman’s comments on the budget come amid negotiations over the teachers’ contact, set to expire in June. On that topic he sounded positive.

“Bargaining will play itself out and at the end of the day, the province is in a very good financial situation. We’ve got the strongest economy in Canada and there’s a balanced budget here and there’s a surplus and so there are dollars,” he said.

Fleming said that in total, about $3.7 billion had been provided to support the renewal of collective agreements that will be negotiated under the province’s Sustainable Services Negotiating Mandate.

That mandate applies to public sector employers and it seeks to balance wage increases with the province’s bottom line.

mrobinson@postmedia.com

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