"We're Doing this for the Kids"

One of the recurring themes about politicians is how disingenuous they all are. It doesn't matter what their political stripes, pandering to their base seems to be the top priority for all of them.

As we enter week three of a District wide school strike, certain details have come to light against the backdrop of finger pointing and the political blame game.  My last post highlighted various options that could be taken in order to get our kids back into schools. Despite these options available, our politicians have steered clear of the fray. Instead of providing leadership by insisting our kids should return to our schools, they seem incapable, or unwilling to do the right thing and show some much needed leadership in this bitter dispute that has divided our community.

Most recently, what's being asked with greater frequency is: why isn't education deemed an essential service? 

Harry Bains is the Minister of Labour in British Columbia and one of his duties is to ensure his mandate is fulfilled as per the Labour Relations Code.  Section 72 of that Code addresses Essential Services in the Province and once upon a time, education was included in that statute.  Interestingly, but perhaps not surprisingly, once the NDP came to power in 2017, things changed.  One of the first orders of business with this joint partnering of the Greens and the NDP, was to update the Labour Relations Code. And when the dust had settled, the provision that had declared education as an essential service, was removed.

And here we are, a few short months later and it seems the entire province is on strike, including 500 support workers who are now holding close to 8000 students hostage in their bid to go to school.  One might think that The School Act, which was created to ensure educational services and compulsory attendance be upheld for ALL school age children, might be a more worthy piece of Legislation to uphold. But politics can be fickle that way. Kids can't vote, and they can't pay membership fees to unions or pledge big donations to political parties.  Given their actions, it appears these are the priorities of those who hold power in our province, rather than pursuing the well being of our citizens.

And we also have to thank our very own MLA, Adam Olsen, for helping enact these changes to the Labour Relations Code. Without his support, our kids might be back in school right now. I might be a tad hypocritical, to suggest his pleas to help support our families and our kids ring a tad hollow, but actions speak louder than words.  And on that front, it is evidently clear, that what our ed leaders, our special interest groups, and ALL that our politicians deem priorities in this District, certainly isn't us...the taxpayers. Or our kids.

The mistake they're making is forgetting one thing: they're not the government, WE are. We have the power to change this, and make it right for our kids. There are petitions that can circulate, urging that the Legislation be reinstated to ensure education be deemed an essential service, so that their schooling can resume.  Parents with legal backgrounds can coordinate with other likeminded individuals, to challenge the legality of the Legislation that is holding our kids hostage. We have the ability to  finally make it right so that education has a fighting chance in this province, by putting the emphasis on our kids, where it needs to be.

Kids grow up and those affected by these various job actions that has seen their report cards taken away from them, sports activities and scholarship opportunities dashed due to the clashes between  special interest groups and our education leaders, won't be forgotten. They'll remember how their fundamental right to an education took a backseat to this constant hand wringing and squabbling. And it will determine who they will select at the ballot box.

So what's it going to be?