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| Fantastic adaptation of Moby-Dick movie poster sent by a reader! |
In senselessly spending strike savings,
it's clear Clark is channeling Captain Ahab.
Bill Tieleman’s 24
Hours Vancouver / The Tyee
column
Tuesday August 5, 2014
By Bill Tieleman
"Towards
thee I roll, thou all-destroying but unconquering whale; to the last I grapple
with thee; from hell's heart I stab at thee; for hate's sake I spit my last
breath at thee." –
-
Captain Ahab in Moby-Dick by Herman Melville, 1851
For
Premier Christy Clark, the BC Teachers' Federation has become Moby-Dick, the
object of hatred to be pursued to the ends of the earth.
Clark
has become Captain Ahab, driven mad in her desire to destroy the union version
of the white whale.
That
became apparent last week when the BC Liberal government announced what is a
truly crazy plan -- to pay parents of students $40 a day if the union strike
continues into September.
Crazy,
because it makes no sense.
Clark's
scheme would instantly dispose of the estimated $12 million in daily savings
from the strike without putting a penny into improving public education.
What's
worse, while the government claimed the money is for "child care" for
students under 13 years old, there is no requirement that parents spend it on
child care -- nor is there child care available to be had, and certainly not
for $40 a day.
The
move infuriated the union, which it was highly calculated to do.
BCTF
president Jim Iker dismissed
the government move as "a blatant and divisive attempt to prolong
disruption in B.C. schools."
It
shows the premier's unhealthy obsession with harpooning teachers instead of
solving the serious underfunding problems in our schools.
Where
is Starbuck?
In this
whale tale, there is no BC Liberal Starbuck -- Captain Ahab's first mate who
cautioned against chasing Moby-Dick.
If
there was, perhaps Clark would realize the folly of her mission.
Remove
the union from the equation, and consider whether the government would
compensate oil companies if First Nations took legal action that delayed
pipeline construction or drilling plans. Not a chance.
Would
Clark pay $12 million a day to patients to receive treatment in the United
States if B.C. doctors legally withdrew their services in a fee dispute? No
way.
The
BCTF is taking legal strike action, as is its right, but the BC Liberals are
giving away allocated education dollars.
The
reason this borders on insane is because the B.C. government is appealing a
B.C. Supreme Court decision that ruled it must restore class size and
composition limits negotiated by the union.
If the
government loses again, it will be forced to spend hundreds of millions of
dollars on more teachers and resources in our schools.
Where
will it get that money if all strike savings are spent? You guessed it -- from
taxpayers.
If the
teachers are on picket lines for two weeks in September, forcing the government
to raise wages and benefits more than it wants, the strike savings money that
could have paid for it will have already disappeared.
An
ill-fated voyage
Captain
Ahab asked a passing ship as he began his demented pursuit: "Hast thou
seen the white whale?"
Yes,
indeed we have -- and a battle with it will not end well.
The
solution is obvious: negotiate a fair agreement with teachers this month and
put the dispute behind you.
But so long as
Christy Clark channels Captain Ahab, this ill-fated voyage continues.
.
8 comments:
I paid school taxes but have no children in the system and as such should I not receive a part of my tax burden back? One must be fair to all taxpayers.
Hey Bill, someone with a handle as to Cocobean filed a comment on the Bill Good subject and I guess you can not place it in this column. Regardless that person is suggesting exactly what the first commenter outlined. Taxes for school purposes should be spent on the school system. If there is surplus that grows because of a labour dispute than next year's taxes can reflected that savings. All would benefit except for the most important principals in this situation and that would be the future as in children. Mrs. Clark is mean, miserable and ugly,as in my opinion and that of All my associates just a "plane" and simple BITCH. She certainly is an excellent flyer on that broom.
"I paid school taxes but have no children in the system and as such should I not receive a part of my tax burden back? One must be fair to all taxpayers."
Nope. We all pay into it. That means everyone pays. It's the right thing to do, even though it is socialist.
Things should get interesting as the polls were not backing the province. Now Vince Ready will get involved, something he would not do up till now. Expect classes in early September, and changes in class sizes 1115
I will add a comment that the majority of BC citizens support the Teachers in a recent poll. Now Mr. Ready is ready, willing and quite able to assist in this dispute. Is he not the #99 in assists in labour disputes as in the past? As mentioned in my first sentence, the teachers are correct, Mrs Lark and the Fast Bender of the Truth totally wrong as in 1001 %. For the sake of children, let justice provide as dictated by the courts. Thank you for reading.
and no plan to sit til thanksgiving how responsible
http://www.raesidecartoon.com/ed-gallery.html
Teachers need to tone down their demands, it's not just the government side that has caused trouble. The BCTF is a bit stubborn too.
Lets see, recently we had Clark and MacRae stand up in the leg. and tell us the province was so broke they needed to mine for $17M a yr in the pockets of children who lived at 50% below the poverty line. Now they have $40 a day for every school age kid under 13. There isn't even a means test. Do all those millionaires really need the money? Do those who will not be paying for day care need the money? Will those who are on disability be able to keep the money or will it be clawed back $ for $ like the child support.
What a huge waste of money. I would suggest this is Christy and her clowns way of trying to buy the electorate and freeze the teachers out.
Clark and Fassbender truly have no brains or ethics.
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