VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – More than half of British Columbians favour binding arbitration over legislation as a way to end the ongoing teachers’ dispute.

That’s the finding of an Insights West poll, which suggests 62 per cent of people in this province favour arbitration. Only 28 per cent flat-out disagree.

“More than half of them actually disagree with the idea of legislating teachers back to work. So, it’s a tough situation for the government in the sense that they do not want to see binding arbitration… and if they legislate them back to work, they’re going to be facing an uproar,” says Mario Canseco with the pollster.

The numbers also suggest about half of British Columbians think teachers have done more to try to end the dispute. Only one in five people side with the government in that regard.

Sixty per cent those asked say a balanced budget is more important than raising the salaries of government workers.