At the BCTF’s 2026 Annual General Meeting (AGM) in March, elected delegates from the Federation’s locals voted in favour of a motion to recognize the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement as a non-violent framework for advancing human rights, peace, and equality in Israel and Palestine. The motion sets in place a framework, as well as concrete actions, to guide the Federation by the movement’s core principles. At its heart, this motion seeks to build on longstanding efforts of the BCTF to promote peace and non-violent solutions to global conflict. The text of the motion, that builds on other democratic positions within the Federation, is below.

2026 AGM motion on Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions campaign

The motion adopted by the 2026 AGM:

That the Federation:

1. recognize the longstanding international movement of Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) initiated by Palestinian civil society and trade unions, as a non-violent framework for advancing human rights, peace, and equality in Israel and Palestine, and publicly announce the commitment of the Federation to being guided by its core principles when considering its own advocacy, purchasing, and investment decisions.
2. support the use of targeted BDS as one set of tools to hold governments and corporations accountable for violations of international law and human rights, consistent with the Federation’s purposes of advancing equity, anti-racism, peace, and global solidarity in the face of the harm done to students, teachers, and the education system in the occupied Palestinian territories.
3. develop and present, no later than the 2027 Annual General Meeting, an ethical procurement and investment review policy that evaluates how Federation funds, purchases, and investments align with the principles of the BDS movement, based on the Federation’s own values, policies, and independent judgment.
4. encourage the Executive to form a committee to review current investments and purchasing practices under this policy and bring recommendations to the Executive Committee and membership.
5. develop and disseminate workshops and educational materials to support member learning about the global mass movement for BDS strategies and their use in advancing human rights in Palestine and the world.

With the motion now part of the BCTF’s governance decisions, the next step is to begin operational planning. This will involve reviewing considerations for implementation, identifying responsibilities and assignments, and outlining how any resulting work will be organized.

Social responsibility and the BCTF

The BC Teachers’ Federation has a long and proud history of taking stands in support of social responsibility, justice, equity, and peace. First adopted in 1992 and inspired by similar policy from 1974, the Federation has a sweeping statement on social responsibility that explains why the BCTF, as a union of teachers, takes stances on global and social issues.

“All of us, regardless of subject and grade level, are engaged in introducing our students into an inquiry into human values, experiences and understandings. Respect for persons and peoples, for democratic process, for equality and a deep concern for justice are integral to educating students for citizenship in a democratic society. Social issues strike to the core of what teaching and education are all about. For example:

• Hungry children cannot concentrate in a classroom.

• Racism undermines self-esteem.

• Sexism limits options.

• Fear of war and violence steals children’s hope…” 

Our union of teachers is involved in social responsibility because societal issues, conditions, and concerns are inextricably connected with learning, teaching, and schooling. Our commitment to social responsibility and justice calls on us to support sustainable economies and the development of human societies in the direction of democracy, social justice, equality, equity, freedom, peace, and mutual respect.

BCTF history on advocating for peace in Israel and Palestine

For more than two decades, the BCTF’s various democratic bodies have passed motions in the spirit of our commitment to social responsibility in the hopes of advancing peace and non-violent solutions to the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East. The Federation’s recent recognition of how boycott, divestment, and sanction actions can be used to create pressure to end conflicts continues in the hope of finding peaceful solutions. This builds on a history of decisions and actions in support of peace and non-violent approaches:

2005: “That the BCTF seek out and offer solidarity to those joint Israeli/Palestinian organizations that have as their stated objectives to work for the non-violent and peaceful resolution of disputes in the region and to work for peace, dignity and understanding for all.”

2006: “That the BCTF endorse campaigns and petitions that aim to seek peaceful negotiated solutions to conflicts between nations of the Middle East, with a focus on Israel and Palestine.”

2006: “That the BCTF call upon the Government of Canada to seek to eliminate the root causes of conflict and find solutions by peaceful means for the common good of all and reject military approaches to resolving conflicts.”

2008: “That the BCTF urges the Canadian government to promote a peace settlement in the Middle East which will advance the struggle of the people of Palestine for national sovereignty and human rights, and protect the citizens of both Israel and Palestine from further violence.”

2023: In the wake of the terrorist attacks by Hamas against Israel, the BCTF released a statement to our members condemning the attacks, spoke out against rising anti-Semitism and Islamophobia in Canada, and called for the release of all Israeli hostages held by Hamas and for a ceasefire to end the bombings against Palestinians.

2024: The BCTF supported the government’s change to strengthen Holocaust education in the curriculum and worked with Jewish community groups to ensure the Federation’s teaching resource page included various lesson plans on the Holocaust and anti-Semitism.

Governance at the BCTF

The BCTF is a democratically structured federation made up of over 60 local teacher associations and unions. Our members ultimately determine the decisions and directions of the BCTF in two very important ways:

1. Members, through their locals, elect delegates to the BCTF AGM. The AGM makes key decisions for the organization and elects the Executive Committee. An AGM is typically made up of about 700 voting delegates elected by their local unions or associations.
2. Members, through their locals, also elect local representatives which make up the Representative Assembly; it meets three times per year.
   

All members are free to bring motions and ideas to their locals for consideration to change BCTF policies and procedures or create new ones. Once carried by the decision-making body of a local, motions are brought for consideration to the AGM and representative assemblies. Delegates are then free to debate and vote on the motions.