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Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound MPP Bill Walker wrote the following letter to Minister of Education Liz Sandals with regard to the educational assistant cuts at Bluewater District School Board, and enclosed letters from parents of children affected by the cuts.
Hon. Liz Sandals
Minister of Education
22nd Floor, Mowat Block
900 Bay Street
Toronto, ON M7A 1L2
Dear Minister Sandals:
I'm writing today to again bring to your attention concerns from parents, students and community members with regard to the recently announced cuts to as many as 50 Educational Assistant positions in the Bluewater District School Board. You may recall that I brought this issue to your attention during Question Period at Queen's Park last May.
As you're aware, the Board's decision to ...
Public ownership vs. private ownership. The most recent controversy in this regard is the upcoming sale of 60% of Hydro One by the Province of Ontario. Selling public assets is proposed for many reasons. The most nefarious reason is because of a belief that any kind of business activity should be conducted by the private sector as a matter of principle. Only slightly less so is...
I must admit, every time I see Steven Harper standing in front of a sign that says "LEADERSHIP", it makes me smile. OK, if you are a leader then you know what actions your staff is taking since you are leading them. If his staff was deeply involved with the Duffy payoff as described in the trial, and Harper continues to claim that he knew nothing about what all his staff knew, how does that line-up with this "LEADERSHIP" concept? The simple answer is, it doesn't. If he didn't know what they all knew, then he is a horrible leader. If he does know but claims as our leader that he didn't know, well we all know what we call that.
Mr Miller missed yet another chance to tell voters how the Conservatives would improve our democratic deficit by skipping out of a public forum on proportional representation in Flesherton on August 12.
Briefly stated, PR is simply a way of voting that more accurately reflects the wishes of all voters than does our current 'First Past the Post' (FPTP) system.
Some form of proportional representation is currently is use in 85% of OECD countries (countries with mature democracies and modern economies). There are different forms, and the form that Mr Miller described in a letter to the SunTimes is known as 'closed Mixed Member Proportional' (MMP). He's right, voters cannot see who will represent them, and I agree that method is open to abuse.
That is precisely why the NDP rejects that method and supports Open MMP or an Open Ballot. On an open ballot you get to vote for your MP just as you do now.
Dear Editor,
Larry Miller's letter (August 12) includes a false statement. The proposal for Proportional Representation for Ontario never included unelected representatives. It was an extremely intelligent proposal arrived at by a "Citizens Assembly" in a process which was admired worldwide. Their proposal for an MMP system (Mixed member proportional) required that the process used by the parties to select candidates for the list had to be "transparent." And remember: Larry Miller and the three candidates of the other parties were chosen by their own riding associations, not by citizens. During the actual election the citizens decide which of the parties' chosen candidates to vote for. A similar method would be used to select candidates for the list--with the rank-and-file members of the party selecting the most attractive candidates.
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