Badiuk case an opportunity lost

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 22/09/2015 (3285 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Brad Badiuk situation could have been such a teachable moment for a city trying to come to grips with being identified as the most racist city in Canada.

Instead, utter silence.

The Kelvin High School website lists Badiuk as an electronics teacher for the 2015-2016 school year. I haven’t heard from anyone who’s had a confirmed sighting of Badiuk in the school.

Badiuk’s case isn’t just a prime example of what people can and can’t do on social media, in their homes and on their personal time, without its affecting their careers, though that’s certainly significant.

Here you have a veteran teacher, at Kelvin since at least the late 1990s, who attacked indigenous people in postings on his long-since-disappeared Facebook account.

And absolutely no one involved will say anything.

It was last December when someone saw Badiuk’s Facebook postings and alerted the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, which set off the alarm bells.

Winnipeg School Division has never acknowledged Badiuk by name or school. WSD first said it had suspended an unnamed teacher with pay, and launched an investigation which could result in possible discipline ranging from sensitivity training to dismissal.

Not long after, WSD said the unnamed teacher from the unnamed school was henceforth suspended without pay, as the investigation continued.

And then WSD stopped saying anything.

AMC Grand Chief Derek Nepinak sued Badiuk back in January, though the lawsuit made no reference to Badiuk’s being a teacher. As late as yesterday, Nepinak still had not responded to numerous interview requests.

Court records show that Badiuk did not file a statement of defence; court officials said, in general terms, that it is not necessary to do so, if the parties agree it’s not necessary, and which could indicate they’re talking to each other outside the court system.

The Manitoba Teachers’ Society has never acknowledged that the union is representing Badiuk’s interests, at least with his employer. MTS did say, in general terms, that teachers are held to a high standard, and that what they do outside the job can impact their jobs.

But we can only surmise that MTS was representing Badiuk with the school division.

We can only guess what, if anything, Badiuk did during these nine months, and how, if at all, the man has changed as a result of his experience.

Badiuk has never responded to umpteen interview requests. His WSD email appears to have been active throughout the situation, since interview requests did not bounce back as undeliverable.

A remarkably invaluable opportunity lost.