Dear Mr. Milloy:
When I recently read about the proposed budget cuts to education, particularly the choices as to which programs will see funding cuts and which will not, I was deeply disturbed with the direction the Ontario Liberal Government has taken.
When I voted Liberal in the last election, I did so with the strong belief that your government would see fit to support the needs of our youth. By cutting the funding to northern communities and putting a low cap on the maximum credits a high school student may take, this budget will fail our youth.
Canada has an unfortunate reputation internationally as a nation that fails to support its aboriginal people. Cuts to northern education in Ontario will hit those groups who most need support. This will not fly under the radar of people who care, people who would normally vote Liberal.
The EQAO cuts do make sense to me. In fact, the tests are one way the educational system has sunk to its current low standards. The standardized curriculum is weak and our students enter high school with little to show for their previous years. Math and science are particularly weak areas when compared with other countries.
In order to gain all of the required and recommended courses for several post-secondary programs, a student will need at least as many credits, often more, than your budget accounts for. Many students will still take extra courses, but will need to pay for them out of hand. This sets up a two-tiered system of education in which students from less affluent families are penalized. But perhaps that doesn't matter, since proposed funding cuts also affect post secondary education.
How many students know their career path at 13 or 14 years of age? Yet by capping credits in this manner, students are given no room for flexibility in their choices. Choose one wrong course, and it could cost you your post-secondary education or a chance at an apprenticeship.
It is true that there is waste in our high schools and that this is one place where cuts can be made. Many students take the same course two or even three times over in order to upgrade their marks, even when a credit was granted. Should taxpayers foot this bill? I would say no.
What also bothers me is that funding for all-day kindergarten has not been touched. By making our schools into daycare services early on, we set the stage for low standards at an early age. Young children need free play and unstructured outdoor play in order to grow and thrive to their utmost potential. One only needs to consult any journal on developmental psychology to see the literature supports such choices. Schools are not created with these needs in mind. Clearly, once again it is not the needs of the students that are guiding the decisions. But then, since most students cannot vote, perhaps this is not of interest.
It is, however, in society's best interests to prepare students for the future in the best way possible. The economy cannot take increased youth unemployment, higher drop-out rates and possibly an increase in youth mental health issues and suicide rates. When students look at their prospects, particularly those who will be hardest hit by these cuts, they will no doubt lose some hope. The short and long-term costs of that cannot be underestimated.
I urge you to reconsider your budget allocations in education and to act in the best interests of Ontario's youth.
Sincerely,
Laura Lamond
Showing posts with label politics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label politics. Show all posts
Tuesday, 17 April 2012
Tuesday, 28 September 2010
War, Peace and Morality
Many people have "Support our Troops" magnets on their cars these days. Just what does that mean? Does it mean that they support the use of our troops in the war in Afghanistan? Does it mean "support our troops--bring them home because this war is ridiculous and not worth the loss of lives"? Or does it mean that they gain security in knowing that we have young people willing to sacrifice their lives to go and kill others that the government has decided, for better or for worse, are the "bad guys"?
I have a great deal of respect for the veterans of WWII. Hitler and his cronies needed to be stopped. Perhaps this could have been accomplished sooner, with less loss of life, but I am no military strategist, and hindsight is 20/20. However, one thing is clear: there was a moral imperative (genocide) that made this fight necessary. There was a clear goal, and once that goal was achieved, the war came to an end. Yes, there were some financial benefits, and perhaps that did motivate some leaders to participate, but in the end, World War II was about stopping a tyrannical, murderous regime bent on genocide (well, also in recovering from the effects of World War I, but this is long enough without getting into that here as well!).
I would argue that the threat of genocide is grounds for military action when other, more peaceful means have been exhausted, or when the threat is so immediate as to eliminate that possibility, such as in Rwanda. Remember Rwanda? When the threats became real, not only did the international troops stationed there fail to respond; many countries actually evacuated their troops. It is estimated that the genocide could have been avoided with the addition of more troops, and that this could have easily and quickly been achieved had western countries responded. But there is no oil in Rwanda, only people, and not very wealthy ones at that.
Afghanistan? This is all about revenge on an entire region for the events caused by a small group of individuals. The financial benefits for a handful of elites seem to be as much a part of the incentive as anything else. In the name of "freedom" (for whom??) and "women's rights" (a side effect that hasn't truly come to be), we are asked to continue to support a war that can neither be won nor lost. People seem surprised that the Afghans often feel scorn for western soldiers, but how could they not with so much turmoil, so many civilian deaths, and so much assumed "control" by those with very different agendas than their own? There is a cultural arrogance at work here when elected officials are thrown out of office because the foreign armies simply don't like their politics. No, I am not referring to the Taliban.
It is not lost on many of us that the involvement of Canada's troops in Afghanistan has and continues to free up more US troops to fight the pure oil greed war in Iraq. Many like myself are frustrated that so much is wasted on that effort--lives, money, materials, time etc. that could better be used towards more sustainable ends--ends that would decrease or perhaps eliminate the need for foreign oil. While no one alternate energy solution is likely to do that, the combination of what we can do now as well as research into improved efficiency and technology, and better consumer education (better yet, revolution), can quite possibly do the trick. Much human energy is wasted in arguing various strategies against each other--we need to use it all: wind, solar, geothermal, true energy pricing, biomass, government incentives, relevant taxation, elimination of oil and gas subsidies, adoption of renewable energy subsidies, investment into efficient mass transit, overhauls in the food industry, investment into renewable and sustainable infrastructure, etc.
Capitalism, as unchanged and powerful as we have let it become, has grown into a religion, a political force, and a huge stumbling block to progress. It has become an entity unto itself that threatens our future. We have given corporations levels of power and rights that far exceed the powers and rights of citizens. There is a difference between the free market and the market that becomes God. We have lost sight of our economy as a tool for trade and have elevated it to the status of the ultimate goal of our society--beyond those of the rights, freedoms and happiness of our citizens. We are a society increasingly ruled by fear, and we are more concerned about security now than in building our own cultural identity. We invest more and more into war and security and less into education, health, science, non-military research, arts and culture. We are so bent on protecting ourselved that we are losing anything worth protecting. In our dealings with foreign nations, we have become tyrannical and greedy, therefore creating a cycle in which increasing security and military measures become necessary. It is a vicious cycle from which we cannot easily escape. Capitalism, as practiced by western nations (esp. in North America), has stagnated. It is time to review our options and improve the system. We are smart enough and able enough to do better. We owe it to ourselves and future generations.
I have a great deal of respect for the veterans of WWII. Hitler and his cronies needed to be stopped. Perhaps this could have been accomplished sooner, with less loss of life, but I am no military strategist, and hindsight is 20/20. However, one thing is clear: there was a moral imperative (genocide) that made this fight necessary. There was a clear goal, and once that goal was achieved, the war came to an end. Yes, there were some financial benefits, and perhaps that did motivate some leaders to participate, but in the end, World War II was about stopping a tyrannical, murderous regime bent on genocide (well, also in recovering from the effects of World War I, but this is long enough without getting into that here as well!).
I would argue that the threat of genocide is grounds for military action when other, more peaceful means have been exhausted, or when the threat is so immediate as to eliminate that possibility, such as in Rwanda. Remember Rwanda? When the threats became real, not only did the international troops stationed there fail to respond; many countries actually evacuated their troops. It is estimated that the genocide could have been avoided with the addition of more troops, and that this could have easily and quickly been achieved had western countries responded. But there is no oil in Rwanda, only people, and not very wealthy ones at that.
Afghanistan? This is all about revenge on an entire region for the events caused by a small group of individuals. The financial benefits for a handful of elites seem to be as much a part of the incentive as anything else. In the name of "freedom" (for whom??) and "women's rights" (a side effect that hasn't truly come to be), we are asked to continue to support a war that can neither be won nor lost. People seem surprised that the Afghans often feel scorn for western soldiers, but how could they not with so much turmoil, so many civilian deaths, and so much assumed "control" by those with very different agendas than their own? There is a cultural arrogance at work here when elected officials are thrown out of office because the foreign armies simply don't like their politics. No, I am not referring to the Taliban.
It is not lost on many of us that the involvement of Canada's troops in Afghanistan has and continues to free up more US troops to fight the pure oil greed war in Iraq. Many like myself are frustrated that so much is wasted on that effort--lives, money, materials, time etc. that could better be used towards more sustainable ends--ends that would decrease or perhaps eliminate the need for foreign oil. While no one alternate energy solution is likely to do that, the combination of what we can do now as well as research into improved efficiency and technology, and better consumer education (better yet, revolution), can quite possibly do the trick. Much human energy is wasted in arguing various strategies against each other--we need to use it all: wind, solar, geothermal, true energy pricing, biomass, government incentives, relevant taxation, elimination of oil and gas subsidies, adoption of renewable energy subsidies, investment into efficient mass transit, overhauls in the food industry, investment into renewable and sustainable infrastructure, etc.
Capitalism, as unchanged and powerful as we have let it become, has grown into a religion, a political force, and a huge stumbling block to progress. It has become an entity unto itself that threatens our future. We have given corporations levels of power and rights that far exceed the powers and rights of citizens. There is a difference between the free market and the market that becomes God. We have lost sight of our economy as a tool for trade and have elevated it to the status of the ultimate goal of our society--beyond those of the rights, freedoms and happiness of our citizens. We are a society increasingly ruled by fear, and we are more concerned about security now than in building our own cultural identity. We invest more and more into war and security and less into education, health, science, non-military research, arts and culture. We are so bent on protecting ourselved that we are losing anything worth protecting. In our dealings with foreign nations, we have become tyrannical and greedy, therefore creating a cycle in which increasing security and military measures become necessary. It is a vicious cycle from which we cannot easily escape. Capitalism, as practiced by western nations (esp. in North America), has stagnated. It is time to review our options and improve the system. We are smart enough and able enough to do better. We owe it to ourselves and future generations.
Wednesday, 5 May 2010
Early Spring
Our family went on a backpacking trip the weekend before last. By the end of the trip, we saw lots of blackflies (thankfully not biting so much yet!). Normally, if you go anytime up to about the 20th of May, you'll be able to avoid biting insects, so this was a month early.
We had walked the same trail a *few* years back at the same time of year. We needed to keep the water filter in a sleeping bag to keep it from freezing, and had to crack ice around the edges of the lake to pump water. Not so much this trip--we hiked in t-shirts and wished we'd brought shorts along.
I have noticed the same thing at home. The blossoms are about 3-4 weeks early, and the magnolia trees have blossomed and dropped their petals already. During March break, the weather here was warmer than in Florida.
I am not a winter person, and spring is one of my favourite times of year. I love being awakened by birds calling, I love the smell of the earth and the lilacs. I love the golden fields of dandelions. However, this is making me nervous. I'm not ready yet to do serious gardening, yet the early spring is demanding just that. It's really less about me and my preferences though. It's alarm at what is happening to our climate. Spring is coming earlier, not just this year, but with a visible change across decades. Weird weather is becoming the norm. There is a great deal of concern about our latest human-caused disaster, the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, which is absolutely horrible and terrifying in its destruction. There is also the acidification of the oceans. This is caused by the increased absorption of carbon, that is causing rapid loss of species and if left unchecked will destroy the world's coral reefs within the next few decades.
It would really take a great deal of determination to fail to see the connection between the health of our oceans and our own welfare.
There is so very little political will to do anything--it's all a game of quick profits and one-upmanship with not a trace of concern for the future, the planet or the basic needs of its inhabitants. The right-wingers laugh at the rest of us for caring, and go out of their way to make the problems worse. I find it difficult not to get discouraged.
And yet-
the birds are singing, the sun is shining, the lilacs are out and it's incredibly beautiful out there. Perhaps one of the most important things to do about it all is to enjoy it, now, and share that enjoyment with others.
We had walked the same trail a *few* years back at the same time of year. We needed to keep the water filter in a sleeping bag to keep it from freezing, and had to crack ice around the edges of the lake to pump water. Not so much this trip--we hiked in t-shirts and wished we'd brought shorts along.
I have noticed the same thing at home. The blossoms are about 3-4 weeks early, and the magnolia trees have blossomed and dropped their petals already. During March break, the weather here was warmer than in Florida.
I am not a winter person, and spring is one of my favourite times of year. I love being awakened by birds calling, I love the smell of the earth and the lilacs. I love the golden fields of dandelions. However, this is making me nervous. I'm not ready yet to do serious gardening, yet the early spring is demanding just that. It's really less about me and my preferences though. It's alarm at what is happening to our climate. Spring is coming earlier, not just this year, but with a visible change across decades. Weird weather is becoming the norm. There is a great deal of concern about our latest human-caused disaster, the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, which is absolutely horrible and terrifying in its destruction. There is also the acidification of the oceans. This is caused by the increased absorption of carbon, that is causing rapid loss of species and if left unchecked will destroy the world's coral reefs within the next few decades.
It would really take a great deal of determination to fail to see the connection between the health of our oceans and our own welfare.
There is so very little political will to do anything--it's all a game of quick profits and one-upmanship with not a trace of concern for the future, the planet or the basic needs of its inhabitants. The right-wingers laugh at the rest of us for caring, and go out of their way to make the problems worse. I find it difficult not to get discouraged.
And yet-
the birds are singing, the sun is shining, the lilacs are out and it's incredibly beautiful out there. Perhaps one of the most important things to do about it all is to enjoy it, now, and share that enjoyment with others.
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