To the Editor:
As a parent of four kids in the public school system and a teacher who has been locked out of his school by the government since the middle of June, I am very anxious for school to resume. It is a good time to reflect on the context of the ongoing conflict between the BC Liberal government and the public education system. No matter what may or may not happen between the writing of this letter and the eventual return of students and teachers to classrooms, certain points need to remain in the public memory.
This current dispute really began in 2002, when the Liberal government illegally stripped out sections of the contract they formally agreed to. After years of court proceedings, the government was consistently found in the wrong, and even in contempt of court and negotiating in bad faith. That has not stopped it from acting above the law.
Maybe it’s because Premier Christy Clark sends her own kid to a private school. Maybe it’s because Education Minister Peter Fassbender does the same. Maybe because the Americans figured out that selling out public institutions makes a lot of money for private corporations at the expense of a decent education system for the remaining 99 per cent. The HST, the disruption of our medical system and poor treatment of our nurses and doctors, the fake Jumbo Glacier Resort town council, the betrayal of the ALR, and the environmental tailings pond disaster of Bill Bennett’s buddies in the mining industry — maybe what is really needed now is the beginning of a MLA recall petition. Please speak up for our future generations.
Creston