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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2011-11-24, Page 11THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2011. PAGE 11. THE EDITOR, Rural citizens of Ontario and even some of their city cousins have been ARCed, a.k.a. whitewashed. In short, they have “been had”. In days of yore when bandits rode into town brandishing guns, they lived outside the law, following rules of their own making, and, any town of any worth, they believed, was theirs for the taking. Did our forefathers stand by quaking, saying, “There’s nothing we can do?” No! They, to a man, at once formed a posse and with an honoured sherriff, rode out to catch the culprits. Today, the Accommodation Review Committee (ARC) gangs, a law unto themselves, “ride” into town with stealthy moves. It’s not the banks they hit, but the heart and soul of our communities. They snatch our children away without a thought of the effect that action has on families and communities. They cram our beloved children into buses so they’ll get no exercise or sociability on the way to school. The air polluted by bus exhaust fumes is what our children will have to breathe. We, the citizens, will foot the bill for these events we did not and cannot condone. Politicians and citizens no longer carry six-shooters. Today the weapons of choice are votes and words. Did the politicians in Queen’s Park notice that our local MPP and the former Minister of Education, although they were tossing “education” dollars into our communities, were not returned to Queen’s Park? Surely they have noticed that and wondered why? Possibly, it’s because rural people like to spend money wisely and like to be consulted honestly about needs and changes to their schools. Money need never have been thrown away on ARC meetings whose decisions were made long before people took time from work and other obligations to meet and to be ignored and insulted by some members of some school boards and sometimes even their staff. As a result, the voters spoke and still the people hear of no moratorium on school closures and no changes to the Education Act that would put a rein on wild west behaviour of boards and give citizens resource to help if they needed it to defend their communities’ schools. Where is the pioneer spirit that made our communities so strong? Where is the courage to stand up to something so terribly wrong? “It’s not the children only Who are being ARCed away, But the very heart and soul of us. Get up and have your say. Appoint Dalton McGuinty, sherriff, to form a posse strong, and with his local and education deputies immobilize those ARCers who’ve done so much harm. Buy a stamp, or write an e-mail; use the weapons we have at hand. Be a strong supporter of your school and its community. Grandma, Grandpa, Mom and dad, and every kid, write to the “sherriff” premier and his “deputy”. You’ll be glad you did. Ask Premier McGuinty to introduce a New Education Act that makes School Boards responsible to the communities they are supposed to serve. That rogue School boards must be stopped is one exceedingly troubling fact that must be enacted by our “posse”. Write to say, Enough! Enough already! It’s the year 2011. We don’t expect perfection but we do expect respect, from everyone elected to serve us. Write to say, I care; we care, and we want our children educated here not there. A concerned citizen of Ontario. 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