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9 & & e Teachers‘ unions need new generation of leadership Continued from page 8 dent if it took place at a school! Perâ€" _ proud Ontario teacher." If the overâ€"simplifying the situation, the _ haps it‘s time for a new generation â€" teaching profession has been rate of growth in Ontario in the past _ of leadership within the teachers‘ _ debased or demeaned in any way, it 25 years has outâ€"paced the ability of _ unions. is by these selfâ€"styled militants who governments of all three political parâ€" The pursuit of good government _ demonstrated their unworthiness ties to deal with the issues in a _ is a little more sophisticated than _ for the profession with their attack meaningful manner. We didn‘t get _ rolling the political dice every four _ on Minister Witmer. into this situation overnight and it _ years. seeking the favours of whatâ€" One can only hope that if the will take a high level of leadership _ ever opposition party suits your _ "once proud" crowd is truly trouâ€" going forward to make the system _ purposes. bled about teaching in Ontario, they more relevant to the next generaâ€" The smart money is on a longâ€" _ can retire to their pensions. Bob tion of students term proposition. Foster an intelliâ€" _ Nixon ensured they are actuarially As we approach the next Ontario election, perhaps as early as the first week of May. the "OECTA incident" may be seen in retrospect as a "trigâ€" gering event." Perhaps, OECTA and other teachers‘ unions will reflect more carefully upon their behavâ€" iour... the type of behaviour that might provoke expulsion of a stuâ€" What was Ernie Eves thinking? This ‘convenient‘ reâ€"invention of the democratic process has never happened in the history of the British Parliamentary system of governance in Ontario, Canada or good old England for that matter. _ So what divine providence allowed the Tories to reject hunâ€" dreds of years of governance? Call it the ‘Budgetâ€"fromâ€"theâ€" Bunker‘. And that says volumes about the Tories‘ disregard for the democratic process. To ensure that the Opposition parties are limited in their ability to publicly criticize the budgetâ€"fromâ€" theâ€"bunker, Eves has adjourned the Legislature until April 30, when a Polilics is very much the art of manipulating public opinion. But rarely is there ar incident to rival the scale and sheer arrogance of Premier Ernie Eves‘ decision to deliver a provincial budget outside away from the Ontario Legislature. Instead of presenting a budget to MPPs at Queen‘s Park, the Eves govâ€" ernment will take the unprecedentâ€" ed step of delivering the Ontario budget on March 27 in a television studio before an invitationâ€"only crowd. You said it WHAT DO YOU ENJOY MOST QUESTION SPRING? CHRONICLE EDITORIAJ The slogans on the grocery bags hiding the faces of some of the OECTA militants read "A once This incident raises deep and disturbing questions about Ernie Eves‘ judgment and his commitâ€" ment to the core principles of leadâ€" ing a democratic government. Clearly, Eves has listened to the wrong political spinâ€"doctors at the expense of doing what is right, what is moral and what is decent in a democratic society. Ontarians need to seriously consider if such a perâ€" son is fit to hold the office of preâ€" mier. The pursuit of good government is a little more sophisticated than rolling the political dice every four years. seeking the favours of whatâ€" ever opposition party suits your purposes. The smart money is on a longâ€" term proposition. Foster an intelliâ€" gent debate on education issues Support candidates of all three political parties who understand that the foundation of an orderly, prosperous society is based upon a wellâ€"educated citizenry. Opposition politicians respondâ€" ed to Eves‘ budget tactic by accusâ€" ing the premier of being "gutless." We agree. A budget should be a document that a government is proud of and which instills confidence. But Eves and company has taken the cowâ€" ardly approach to government. Premier Eves, as a longâ€"standing member of the Legislature, should have more respect for the traditions of government. Speech from the Throne could mark the beginning of a spring election campaign. But there is one aspect that dis turbs us even more. This isn‘t the first time the "Driving around with my roof off." "I don‘t have to wear a sweater." Tonya Coulthard _( ; COMMENT Jeff Albion One can only hope that if the "once proud" crowd is truly trouâ€" bled about teaching in Ontario, they can retire to their pensions. Bob Nixon ensured they are actuarially sound and there are thousands of young, enthusiastic university gradâ€" uates anxious to take their place Fric Cunningham served as a Liberal MPP in the Ontario Legislaâ€" ture from 1975 to 1984, representing the communities of Ancaster, Dunâ€" das and Flamborough During the Tory leadership camâ€" paign and as premier, Ernie Eves has sought hard to differentiate himself from the arrogance and contempt that had become the markings of Mike Harris. Whatever distance from Harris that Eves might have created, it all evaporated in an instant with a decision that can only be described as sheer stupidity and the epitome of political arrogance and conâ€" tempt. Not exactly the characterisâ€" tics Ontarians are looking for in their next leader. Ontario PCs have shown disdain for the rules of Parliament. In 1997, the Tories were the first in Ontario hisâ€" tory to be found in prima facie conâ€" tempt of the legislature for sending out a pamphlet promoting the amalgamation of Toronto before the merger was even approved by MPPs. You‘d have to go back to pre Confederation Canada to find simi lar reprimands on provincial parlia ments. In 2002, the Speaker made a simâ€" ilar ruling after the government tried to block an investigation by the Privacy Commissioner. "The smell of wet concrete." "You can drive with the windows down and listen to music." Kate Dawson Of course, some cynics will suggest that Emie Eves was insincere in making this invitation, or that it wasn‘t really intended as an inviâ€" tation at all (merely a throwaway line fed to him by one of the three consultants that the Speaker of the Legislature says are now running the province). Just in case this is true, it might be wise to send a copy of your suggestions to your local newspaper for publication as a letter to the editor. Ontario used to have the highest minimum wage in the country, but my government has successfully managed to change that so that we now have one of the lowest. Our labour relations legislation and employment standards now rival Alabama‘s. Our health care and education systems have been so starved for resources, that our private sector strategies are actually starting to look good to some people. My government is proud of the crises that it has invented. We are confident that the people of Ontario will be so pleased with the results that they will want to reward us with another term so that we can finish the job of eliminating public services and replacing them with inferior, forâ€"profit alternatives. Thank you, Mr. Speaker (you ungrateful wretch). Now let‘s get out of here and go to the television studio. I‘m hoping that other people will want to join me in offering their assistance to the government in their time of need. Send your comments to: Emnie Eves, Premier. Legislative Building, Queen‘s Park , Toronto ON, M7A 1A1. Or eâ€"mail the premier at webprem@gov.on.ca. Reflecting on the past eight years in a which my government has been in power, it‘s clear that we have fundamenâ€" tally changed the way that Ontario is run. Where people without jobs could once SCOTT count on the social assistance system to help them house, clothe and feed their PIATKOWSKI families, we now require them to submit to endless humiliations and punishments in order to get their meaâ€" ger cheques. After cancelling all social housing construction and eliminating rent control, we now allow the private sector to build affordable housing. The fact that they don‘t actually do so is none of my government‘s concern, because we all know instinctively that the free market system works (in theory). The people who died in the Walkerton water tragedy were but like road kill on the privatized 407 â€" unfortunate but necessary casualties of our drive towards privatization and deregulation. Priâ€" vatizing and deregulating the electrical power system was our next step, and though it didn‘t work, we proudly made cosmetic changes and moved ahead with our ideological agenda. We‘ve already privaâ€" tized prisons, longterm care, the Province of Ontario Savings Office and driver examinations; soon we‘ll be privatizing land registry offices and anything else can find that isn‘t nailed down. We do it because we know that the free market system works (for our high priced consultants, at least). Mr. Speaker (you ungrateful wretch), it pains me to have to be here in the legislative chamber, that public space for which my govâ€" ernment has so much contempt. Here we must face elected officials representing people who were not gullible enough to vote for the governing party in the last election. These MPPs actually think that they have the right to hold my government accountable by asking questions and proposing alternatives. As the premier told the CBC last week, "these critics are too caught up in the political system to realize that regular people don‘t care where a budget announceâ€" ment is made." Because we are required to pretend that we still live in a democâ€" racy, the people of Ontario will soon have the opportunity to cast their votes in a provincial election. There is no point in pretending otherwise, as my government has been systematically raiding the public treasury to pay for oneâ€"sided elecâ€" tionâ€"style ads for more than a year. And, . iWR what is the public treasury for, if not to . |M@R@®@ ‘HER | promote the interests of the governing ANOTHER party and to reward party organizers who Vl F\N have set themselves up as highâ€"priced | consultants. One thing that my governâ€" | ment strives to avoid as much as possible | is to allow your tax dollars to be squanâ€" | dered on the actual provision of public Alll s | services. â€" _ resh from the exhilaration of destroying over a century and a Fhalf of parliamentary tradition and any notion of the governâ€" ment being responsible to the legislature (remember, that‘s what the Rebellions of 1837 were all about), Emie Eves issued this kind invitation to all Ontarians. Yes, I‘ve decided to take him up on his generous offer to help him write the next Tory Throne Speech. Here‘s what my first draft looks like: "I believe that a Speech from the Throne should be written by the people who will be most affected by it, the people of Ontario." Ontario Premier Emie Eves, quoted in The Globe and Mail, March 13 Ontario Throne Speech, draft one seott. piatkowski@rogers.com ANOTHER VIEW IE ' ‘ CE 2 J