Raise the Hammer

It's interesting that our 2 major political parties seem to have forgotten 2 of the principles that are common to all democracies. In John Tory's case, it's 'Separation of Church & State'. In Premier McGuinty's case, it's 'Innocent Until Proven Guilty'. No wonder so many Ontarians will sit this election out for the 1st. time in their lives. Both of these parties offer democracy a long lingering death by inches.

If the Ministry of Education is really about education, why are they not also proposing full funding for schools for children who have learning difficulties, children who are gifted in all or certain areas, deaf or blind children? A Ministry of Education's primary function ought to be education, not religion.

(Question -Will this proposed funding extend to Native education institutions, only if they attempt to teach several hundred existing Native religions to their students, or will the province happily fund a school that teaches only one indigenous religion with students of many different beliefs & languages?)

Both the Torys & the Liberals are having a grand old time trying to purchase the votes of our newest group of immigrants & fundamentalist groups with the province's tax dollars (every one's taxes). A cultural mosaic will always be better than a melting pot but, when any persons come to a new country to start a new life there is some expectation that they do not look at that country's educational system as suspect or as a corrupting influence to young people. In some cases, our entire society (which you have to hope is based on equality & fairness) is also seen within a critical view because of cultural baggage, bigotry, racism, & homophobia, etc. brought from 'The Old Country'. The same may be said about some extreme right wing Christian sects that flourish in Canada.

In the U.S., most home schooled students belong to Christian religions that are not main stream. If people wish to opt out of the Public System, they can always home school their children. There are many reasons other than religion to home school, but this remains an option for anyone who wishes to do so.

People who are critical of our educational system, & culture, be they extreme in any faith, ought to realize that in a more rigid society, less secular society, They might be the ones facing blatant discrimination & religious persecution. It's absurd to flee discrimination in one country & come to another with the idea that you have a right to see other people as inferior on the basis of faith, race, creed, colour, gender, sexual orientation or other irrational biases.

People should either embrace those freedoms or reject them, according to their own faiths & consciences, but please don't expect the rest of the province to pay for it. Retain cultural identity & religious values by all means, but do not expect me to both bury mine & pay for the funeral at the same time.