HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2019-05-02, Page 20PAGE 20. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MAY 2, 2019.
Last Friday, over 300 protestors
shared their belief that proposed
education reform, from changes to
sex education to significant cuts to
the education system, are
“shameful” in front of Minister of
Education and Huron-Bruce MPP
Lisa Thompson’s Blyth constituency
office.
Teachers, support staff, students,
parents and grandparents gathered in
front of Thompson’s office at 4:30
p.m. on Friday. The event included
protest signs, flags, guest speakers
and marching through the
community to let the people of Blyth
know they weren’t impressed with
Thompson’s role in the cuts.
Guests included Ontario
Secondary School Teachers
Federation District 8 (Avon-
Maitland) union president Shane
Restall, Ontario English Catholic
Teachers Association First Vice-
President Warren Grafton and
Elementary Teachers’ Federation of
Ontario Avon Maitland Teachers’
Local President Kent Cleland.
Grafton said that unity across the
boards is important. He highlighted
problems with the cuts, pointing to a
school in Mississauga that recently
told Grade 11 students there would
be limited core courses offered in the
2019-2020 school year, forcing them
to re-choose their course load for the
next year.
He also pointed to the Near-North
District School Board, which
handed out redundancy notices to
121 secondary teachers, over half of
the board’s roster.
Grafton said that the government
is more interested in selling alcohol,
tailgating and promoting horse
racing than it is in the future of
education and the children of the
province.
He said that, by sticking together,
the teachers, parents and students in
attendance can “win this battle” and
restore education to what it was.
Restall focused on dispelling
myths, saying that teachers are not
fear mongering or encouraging
students to protest. He said these
events are happening organically as
a result of the “devastating cuts”
proposed by Thompson and the
reduction in local priorities grants.
“[Premier Doug Ford] and Lisa
are not up to the job,” he said,
adding the two are confusing class
average with class size and were
lying about job losses.
He encouraged people to fight for
“students over buck a beer” and for
“smaller class sizes over tailgating”
and said that cuts hurt students.
Cleland said that he was
impressed with the turnout for the
event, then went on to say he was
concerned about what Ford and
Thompson would cut next.
He gave a brief history lesson,
reminding everyone that previous
governments had made teachers
“public enemy number one” as a
means of quelling protests and that
the teachers and supporters should
be ready for that.
He also railed against Thompson’s
claims of “no jobs lost”, saying that
elementary teachers will lose their
jobs as well.
Finally, Cleland said that, as
teachers, he and his peers are used to
handling “bullies” like Ford and
Thompson. He said he will do
everything he can to protect “the
best public education system in the
world” and encouraged others to do
the same.
For her part, Thompson, in an
interview with The Citizen shortly
before the protest, said that the $1.6
billion attrition protection plan was
outlined over a month ago.
“We want to be perfectly clear, no
matter what’s being said and no
matter what information is being
shared,” she said. “We are doing
everything we can to let teachers
know where we stand: not one
teacher will involuntarily lose their
job because of our proposed
changes.”
Hundreds protest ed. cuts on Blyth’s main street
Taking a stand
Over 300 teachers, education professionals, parents and grandparents took to Blyth’s main
street on Friday afternoon to protest cuts to education and the increase in class sizes under
Premier Doug Ford and Minister of Education and Huron-Bruce MPP Lisa Thompson. The
demonstration included several guest speakers from local union chapters and marching up
and down Queen Street. (Denny Scott photo)
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By Denny Scott
The Citizen