Dear MLA Raj Chouhan,

I am writing as a parent of a student at Buckingham in Burnaby School District 41. My child is in Grade 2, and we live in the Buckingham neighbourhood.

I am asking the Province to fully fund the $9.4 million arbitration liability facing SD41 by drawing on the $5 billion Contingencies Vote in Budget 2026. The budget documents themselves describe that allocation as covering "current collective bargaining mandate costs" — which is precisely what this liability is.

Three reasons this matters:

1. The cost is not SD41's fault. BCPSEA has publicly acknowledged that the cost would have been fully funded in 2022 had they correctly interpreted the salary grid. SD41 was not a party to that negotiation.
2. The district has no cushion left. Last year SD41 cut $4.2 million from the operating budget, including counsellors, custodians, the Grade 7 band program affecting 1,200 students, and advanced learning programs. Unrestricted reserves sit at roughly $4.3 million — less than half the arbitration liability.
3. This is a specific funding source, not a general ask. The $5 billion Contingencies Vote exists precisely for costs like this — unforeseen, arising from collective bargaining, uncertain at budget time. $9.4M represents 0.19% of that allocation.

I would appreciate a written response on whether the Province will fund the $9.4M from the Contingencies Vote before SD41 adopts its budget on May 27, 2026.

— Hwan-Joo P., Buckingham
Constituent of Burnaby-New Westminster