It was a true gold rush. Teacher salaries in Australia were poor. Even the mildly adventurous headed for Canada for the same reason that Ned Kelly robbed the bank at Jerilderie. That’s where the money was. Canadian educational authorities advertised widely in teacher magazines and newspapers for primary and secondary teachers in the mid-to-late 1960s. For instance, the Times Educational Supplement, a popular UK publication, carried as many as three pages of advertisements for a while in each of its fortnightly issues. The pay that various Canadian school districts offered was over twice that offered in any of the Australian states at the time and a return flight was free if one contracted to stay two years or more. Most stayed longer because it was worth it.
The advertising was especially aggressive in Australia, because its teachers had always enjoyed a high world-wide reputation. Some Inspectors of Schools in NSW were invited to tour Canada during their annual leave so that they could report faithfully on the employment conditions. It was a determined, all-out push to recruit Australian teachers.There was a general shortage of teachers around the world at the time and Canada had legislated for a four-year-trained work force. While most of its teachers were upgrading and student teachers studying longer, there was a very large gap in supply. While there, many Australian teachers took the opportunity to upgrade by attending special week-end lectures and summer schools. The University of Alberta at Edmonton, a popular University with Australians generally, provided useful courses for the visitors.
Jack Pizzey, Minister for Education, later Premier of Queensland, visited Canada during this period. Since he was the butt of Queensland Teacher Union criticism of teacher conditions at the time, his visit could have been an attempt at political diplomacy.
Canadian school boards in more remote school districts combined to advertise for teachers who were ‘programmed’ for service in remote communities. These districts were prepared to pay much higher than normal salaries. Canada, as a nation, was prepared to go for broke to fill the gap and to compete with its North American neighbour in the schooling of competent, socially well-adjusted adults for the remainder of the 20th Century.
It worked. Hundreds of teachers from all Australian states took advantage of the offerings. There were teachers on every aircraft that departed for Vancouver for a while. At one stage a Boeing aircraft was chartered to cater for the mass brain-drain. Australian state governments and bureaucracies had been too slow to realise that they had been treating their most precious resource poorly, and were jeopardising the economic future of the country. Canada, for its part, was well pleased with the process and the outcome.
Ray captured the feelings of many, many Queensland teachers…
VANCOUVER, HERE WE COME
[Tune: "California, Here I come."]
Oh, Vancouver, here we come,
Far from where we started from -
To foller
The dollar
Only makes sense;
For peanuts
We’d be nuts
Staying our side of the fence:
So Queensland won’t see us around,
No sir, we’re Vancouver bound -
Let’s get teaching off the ground,
Oh, Vancouver, here we come!
Oh Vancouver, here we come -
Say goodbye to feelin’ glum -
You’ll give us
The shivers
Winter or Spring: No worry
Let’s hurry
Where each teacher is a king!
And if it’s good enough for Jack,
Let us follow in his track;
Only, we ain’t comin’ back!
Oh, Vancouver, here we come!
Oh, Vancouver, here we come -
Want to pick that teaching plum;
The Boeing
Is going
End of this term -
Our Service
Is nervous -
Lordy, won’t it make ‘em squirm!
But if they want to plug the drain
One thing’s very, very plain:
DOUGH,DOUGH,DOUGH,DOUGH, DOUGH ADAIN!
Oh, Vancouver, here we come!
Such was the success of the Canadian venture that almost every large school was affected and teachers who didn’t go had at least one or two friends who did.
THEY’VE ALL FLAMING WELL GONE
[Tune: "Kaiser Wilhelm's Batman"]
Jessie has gone,
Tessie has gone,
Bessie has gone to Vancouver;
Harry has gone,
Barry has gone,
Gary has gone to Vancouver;
Rita has gone,
Peter has gone,
Nita has gone to Vancouver;
What are we waiting for?
Why the delay?
Let’s get that plane to Vancouver!
Louie has gone,
Stewie has gone,
Bluey has gone to Alberta;
Cheryl has gone,
Errol has gone,
Beryl has gone to Alberta;
Maurice has gone,
Boris has gone,
Horace has gone to Alberta;
What are we doing here
Out in the rain?
Let’s hit the trail for Alberta!
