Sask. education minister calls RCMP on group holding sit-in at North Battleford office

Education Minister Jeremy Cockrill says he called the police about a sit-in at his North Battleford office after they began intimidating his staff, but a teacher at the sit-in says the group wasn't "doing anything intimidating."

The sit-in happened on Friday. Cockrill said he had a meeting arranged with an individual teacher, but other people showed up.

Cockrill said he had a 20-minute conversation with the group about their concerns around the education sector.

"I'm happy to meet with any constituents of the Battlefords as long as we can have respectful conversation. But when you get to intimidating my staff, I'm sorry I'm just not going to tolerate that," Cockrill told reporters on Monday.

The Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation (STF) has been engaging in rotating strikes and withdrawals of voluntary duties since mid-January, after bargaining on a new collective agreement came to a standstill. The government says it will not negotiate on class size and complexity, while teachers want to include those issues in their contract.

Micheal Hagel, president of Tri-West Teachers Association and STF executive member, attended the sit-in at Cockrill's office. He said the group, which numbered around a dozen people at its peak, was made up of a mix of community members and teachers.

"I don't think we were doing anything intimidating. We would have left at the end of the office day, so it's unfortunate the RCMP had to be called to remove us earlier," Hagel said.

"It'd [also] be nice to have some movement on this, to have the class size and class composition into the contract, so that we have guaranteed funding for students going into the future."

Hagel said he stepped outside for a short period of time to speak to reporters after they were asked to leave Cockrill's office, but the rest of the group continued to read or be on their phones while he was gone. 

WATCH | Cockrill spoke with media on Monday about the incident:

Sask. education minister calls RCMP on group who held sit-in at his office in North Battleford

9 months ago

Duration 1:48

A sit-in at the education minister's office in North Battleford on Friday ended with the RCMP being called. On Monday, Jeremy Cockrill said he had a meeting set up with an individual teacher, but many others from the local teachers association showed up for a sit-in. (Includes footage from Julia Lovett-Squires, Battlefords Now, Pattison Media.)

Group wanted to speak with premier

Hagel said the sit-in began after Cockrill was asked to call Premier Scott Moe, and Cockrill refused. 

"We said that we're staying until he made a phone call to Premier Moe to expand the bargaining mandate of the government trustee bargaining team, and he said, 'You're welcome to be here, just be respectful that it's an office and we close at 5,' " Hagel said.

Cockrill said the group was "fairly calm'' but several group members took photos of his staff members and then, he said, they became slightly threatening.

"That's really where I drew the line and asked the RCMP to come and remove these folks from the office," Cockrill said.

Erik Hansen, a retiree who attended the sit-in, took a photo of the office which included one of Cockrill's staff members, but stopped once he was asked to.

He said Cockrill didn't come out of his office once police asked the group to leave.

"I don't think it was very respectful, being that we were respecting their space, but we do have the right to voice our opinions and have a quiet demonstration," Hansen said. 

Battlefords RCMP confirmed it received a report of a protest at an office on Friday at about 3:20 p.m. CST. The Mounties said the group left without incident after officers arrived at the office.