Morton’s Fork, Alberta
In the politics of Alberta, Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg vision has been bastardized to become “government of business, by business, for business.” In the April 23 election, voters can re-elect a…
Education
Rex Murphy’s Naive Take on the Quebec Student Protests
On CBC’s The National last night, Rex Murphy weighed in on Quebec’s student protests; the transcript can be found here, and the three-minute video here. He calls the protests “short…
When a University Recruits Abroad, Who’s in Charge?
A few years ago, I wrote an opinion piece on “pathway colleges”—i.e. private companies that recruit students from other countries and then ‘bridge’ them into Canadian universities by providing pre-university…
$30K+ Liberal donations involve Charles Jago
True intermediary needs impartiality, Editorial Peace Arch News, April 11, 2012 “Wherever one stands on the current teachers’ dispute, it must be recognized that it is crucial for all sides…
The Politics of Education
After I retired from teaching, my first blog was devoted to matters of education, including the institutional politics that frequently deform it. Now, more than five years into retirement, I…
Missing $$$ at Ottawa school…
Wow. This kind of puts some of the issues that we have to deal with on our own Parent Council into perspective! 70 K! I so completely sympathise with the…
Way To Stand Out!
The Alberta Liberals released there platform for the upcoming election in 2012. In the platform is a radical policy (at least I think) to try and reduce tuition cost of…
Tuition Fees and University Participation #nlpoli
The connection between tuition fees and university participation was big subject in the summer run-up to the general election and then in the general election last fall. Just to give…
Alberta Education: An election bomb?
Alberta is ramping up for an election and while busty buses and money-for-nothing schemes are dominating the scandals, the new Education Act may be the thing that pisses enough people…
Things that make me go arghhhh! Part 1
I figure that this wouldn’t be a true blog without random kvetching about nothing in particular. So in that spirit, I present semi-aimless carping about disconnected aspects of modern life,…
Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose
I grew up informed and amused by Vancouver’s great editorial cartoonists Len Norris and Roy Peterson. At home, there is an original Norris on the wall, purchased at a 1981…
OLPC Canada in Saskatchewan
Years ago I bought two XO laptops from the OLPC program. I got one, and the other went to a child in Mongolia or another country where technology is scarce.…
Globe & Mail: Save Costs by Increasing Class Sizes
I offer this post not to distract people from the robocall crimes, but to remind everyone that there are other scandals going on as well. Readers in BC probably already…
Homophobic language from an Ontario Catholic School Board
A Toronto area Catholic school board has recently released a blueprint to combat a wide range of discrimination. Laudably it includes a robust defense of the need to combat homophobia.…
Education versus war – Friday Film Pick: War Made Easy
As students wage a massive strike in Quebec, over proposed tuition hikes that will nearly double rates in a few years, and with police responding like violent fascists—blinding the eye…
A No Era for British Columbia
The British Columbia Liberals promised a number of things when they aimed to form government in 2001. This is from page three of their 36-page campaign document A New Era…