Education Secretary Bernard Drainville apologized on Thursday for his comment on teachers’ salaries and said he did not want to imply that teachers are less important than MPs.
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“I can understand that some of you were hurt by these comments and so I apologize to you if that was the case. Because that wasn’t my intention,” Bernard Drainville said contritely during a press conference in Lévis.
The minister clarified that what he wanted to emphasize was that the professions “are so different that it becomes difficult to compare them”.
“That’s what I meant,” he said. But that certainly doesn’t mean that female teachers could be any less important than MPs.
“I come from a humble background. It’s not part of me to look down on the world,” added Mr. Drainville.
In an interview with Le Devoir on Monday, the minister was asked about the 30 percent pay rise elected members of the National Assembly are prepared to give themselves while Quebec negotiates collective bargaining agreements for teachers.
“Are you really comparing a teacher’s job to a deputy’s job? Are you trying to tell me it’s comparable?” He then started, stressing that he thought the comparison was “lame” and even “a bit demagogic”.