Filed under: Politics | Tags: Catholic, Christian schools, dalton mcguinty, education, election, faith-based, fundamentalist, funding formula, Global, hindu, Howard Hampton, Human Rights, islam, Islamic, jewish, john tory, Liberal, liberals, NDP, Ontarians, Ontario, Ontario Liberals, PC, racism, schools, terrorist
The faith based funding issue should have been about simple human rights. The U.N has already indicated that the practice of funding only Catholic schools in Ontario is unjust. John Tory hoped to address this issue by fixing the problem and allowing fairness. Fund all or fund none, and he opted to fund all. Unfortunately, reality occurred and we found out that Ontarians are actually a lot more racist, ignorant and bigoted then they like to believe. Not all Ontarians are like this, but based on call-in shows and the general mood of people, many are. In reality the question should have been “would you like Islamic schools to get public funding”. Many Ontarians have extreme stereotypes about Islam, to some no fault of their own. The images they see, and are bombarded with, tend to be on the extreme. On the radio comments, in regards to faith-based education, revolved around fundamentalist Islam elements and “terrorists”. I have even heard a voter say that they do not what terrorist schools to get funding. Now a lot of this is based on fear, since 9/11, but in essence we still extremely fearful and ignorant in Ontario. Now the question is, does that fear show how successful the media has been in planting the wrong image about Islam in the minds of Canadians? Because it’s absolutely amazing how clueless people are about various religions in Ontario. Rather than be properly educated about any group of people, we like to remain in our sheltered domain; ignorant to the facts around us.
Filed under: Issues, Politics | Tags: Anglo-Saxon, canada, canadian, Chart of Rights, Conservative, freedom, Immigration, Liberal, Multiculturalism, Pierre Trudeau, Trudeau
Why do many Conservatives, not all, hate the Charter of Rights, Multiculturalism and Immigration in Canada? Why does the Charter of Rights make them feel that it is a flawed justice system? Why does the world multiculturalism ante up thoughts of destroying “their” culture? What is the fear about immigration? However, I had to take a look at history to realize that what they actually hated was the loss of power to control the lives of others; using discrimination, prejudice and ignorance as a way to dominate.
In essence, in Canada the courts aren’t above parliament. This is generally, a lie being pushed by people who think Canadians are not bright enough to know better. Parliament makes laws and those laws are limited by the constitution and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. If somebody believes that a law exceeds the limits put in place by the Constitution and Charter, they can challenge it in court. The Supreme Court of Canada has the final word on whether a law actually breaks the Charter or not, but most laws are struck down at the provincial level and the government doesn’t challenge the provincial courts on it. If the courts strike down a law, the government then has the option of rewriting the law so that it abides by the Charter.
That law is there to protect minorities against what is known as the tyranny of the majority. If the Charter of Rights did not exist, then I guess it would be fine for the majority of Anglo-Saxon Canadians to continue to discriminate against any one group of individuals. There is a need to limit the powers of majority in order to keep democracy from becoming something it should not be.
Multiculturalism is a way to recognition of the many, vast cultures that built, and continue to build, this country. It is amazing that so-called Canadians love to say that other cultures are eroding the Canadian culture. Please tell me, what is the Canadian culture anyway? Are Anglo-Saxons so much better than other cultures? Have we forgotten all of the groups that made of Canada anyway? Have we forgotten the history of Canada, which is based on a group of people that came to a place that was not their own? Also, remember that many things that we call Canadian are actually the essence of other cultures.
Lastly, check out the last names in your area and the meals you eat. All sorts of groups brought their foods and customs with them; slowly integrating them into Canada’s greater culture. There is nothing wrong with immigration; since it made the country we now call Canada. Those against it essentially live in a world of ignorance and fear. Somehow, they were better than any other culture that comes to Canada. There is so much unwarranted fear around the issues of immigration. In the end, many immigrants today still thank Pierre E. Trudeau for their chance to enjoy Canada. So it is no wonder why there is such a move for immigrants to vote for Liberals or NDP candidates during elections. Not to say that there are not minority groups that vote for conservatives. Those who do are generally either fiscal or religious conservatives. I am generally fiscally conservative myself, but I guess I would be labelled progressive. The problem is the baggage that comes along with conservative style parties. In addition, the Conservatives like to play to the religious side on issues to morality, albeit history has shown that many conservative types themselves were prejudice and immoral, in that fashion, themselves.
Canada will go on and change for the better. There is nothing anyone can do to stop that change. Learn and adapt. Learn about others, as they come and are forced to learn about you. Just because someone does not look like you, eat your food and think like you does not mean we cannot live together. We can all be Canadian, from different strips. We do not have to live in fear. This is one planet, and we are all in it together.
By: Torontomatic
Filed under: Politics | Tags: 905ers, dalton mcguinty, election, immigrants, john tory, Liberal, minorities, mmp, NDP, Ontario, PC, referendum
The fact that Dalton McGuinty and his Liberals will probably win this election is actually not about anything he did. As he said, he would let the people view his record and judge him accordingly. He has constantly said that there is more work to be done. Added with a long list of broken promises, the choice would seem to be clear? No, in fact it is not! The problem is not on the Liberal or NDP side, but the PC side. The reasons that the Liberals are leading in Ontario polls are actually due to problems faced by John Tory. John Tory’s problems are actually three-fold, along with additional problems of Ontario history.
Faith-based funding
This has been a “Pandora’s Box”, issue in Ontario. What John Tory is trying to do is admirable and just. We need to, in Ontario; face the issue of only funding Catholic based education with public dollars. It is wrong and the status-quo is not good enough anymore in our changing mosaic. John Tory said himself “the fact is that we must either FUND ALL or FUND NONE”. I would have preferred that this issue had been brought to the legislature as an open vote, within parliament. A straight-forward question, which would have required all MPP’s to vote on the issue as a ‘Yes’ or a ‘No’, would have settled this issue. However, it is too late for that now. John Tory decided to support the fund all option, since the other option would have been political suicide. A fund ‘none’ option would have brought out the majority of Catholics to challenge their rights under the constitution of Canada. In addition, people in John Tory’s own party have come against the issue. This does not bode well in the GTA. Not that their stance on the issue is admirable. I mean, just because it is unpopular within their constituency, it does not mean they should change their principles. What is ironic is that amongst minorities in the GTA it makes them look “ignorant” and against minority rights in Hindu, Islamic and other communities. Unfortunately, people do not want to hear conservatives say that they are against funding, however unfair that label is. But lets be honest, all political parties would have faced difficulties if they decided to deal with the issue. So again, I do applaud Mr. Tory for bringing this issue into the limelight, since we MUST deal with the problem. Albeit, this one issue alone has greatly affected the campaign in Ontario; causing people to lose focus on the other pressing issues. In the end, another party may bring this issue to the surface during parliament, with the focus on removing funding, which would be ironic.
The ignorant thorns within the PC party
No matter how you cut it the Progressive Conservatives still look too “Conservative”, in the immigrant communities. Sorry to offend those right-wingers, but it will almost be impossible for them to get a foothold within these communities; unless it is by force. The legacy of Mike Harris has not helped either. Within many immigrant communities, right or wrong, he was seen as anti-minority and a bit racist. I do not feel that he is at all, but this was the image and impression left imprinted in the minds of the voters. They say that the election will be decided amongst the 905ers. With that being said, the PC party needed to have a somewhat ‘Red Tory’ feel. However, again, with candidates, like Bill Murdoch speaking out against the faith-based funding issue, it does not make them look good. Some individuals I have spoken with, in various communities, have even said that they are getting racist comments like “I will not support any south-Asian or Asian candidate”. The sad thing is that these are card carrying PC members. So again, no matter how much a person may have a fiscal conservative swing, the issue becomes, “do I want to associate myself with that”. In addition, websites like http://www.freedominion.ca and campaigns from within to support conservatism, and not John Tory only show how right-wing elements of the PC Party scare 905ers into sticking with the Liberal red, regardless of the corruption problems. I think that Dalton McGuinty knows this. They know that the election will be decided by 905ers, so what do they have to lose? The sad thing is that polling shows that John Tory would have made a better leader than Dalton McGuinty; however the party support is way back of those numbers. So essentially, they are comfortable with Mr. Tory, just not the Tories themselves. Maybe he should have run for leadership of the Liberal party of Ontario?
Times are good and people are just too comfortable
The Ontario economy is generally strong. The Canadian dollar is high. Real Estate is at an all time high. So what does this mean for the election? What is means is people will stick to the status quo. Ever hear the old saying “if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it”? With all of the corruption in the Liberal party of Ontario, and the “slush-fund issues”, you would think people would want change? But in fact they don’t. People are angry with Dalton McGuinty. I have heard card-carrying Liberals say that “Dalton is a liar and untrustworthy”. However they are not angry enough to change political allegiances. Dalton would probably have to threaten to take 95% of their take home income before they would budge. What is truly sad is the problems that occurred under the Liberal government, with money and slush-funds, will probably continue. However, people seem to be willing to give him one more chance. I think another thing the NDP and the PC parties misses is the transit issue. With the Move Ontario 2020 plan, coupled with the “Transit City” plan, by promising to spend over 17 billion (we will see if that even happens), people want to give him a chance. The NDP and Conservatives should have focused on other issues that affect the everyday lives on Ontarians. Unfortunately, the faith-based issue has clouded any other policies they had and people just want the status-quo. Again, times are good in Ontario. However, remember, when the NDP came into power in Ontario the mood was different. When Mike Harris got into power, we swung the pendulum to the other side, opting to fiscal conservatism and an end to waste. When Dalton came to power we wanted to end a Mike Harris era that “cut too deeply and too fast”.
The end-game might actually be the sad part for the PC party. They should stick to John Tory and go forward, however I gander that they will opt to remove him from leadership of the PC party of Ontario. John Tory is the best leader for the party and anyone else just simply will not work. I almost sense a split in the party, internally, similar to what happened federally. This would be devastating for the party, as a whole. On the NDP side, I am not sure what the end-game is at all. The ghosts of Bob Rae still haunt the party in Ontario. Albeit, the label was simply unfair during a recession; they just should have not tried to implement their party policies during this time. It seems like Ontario will be painted red for a long time. In the end Dalton’s smartest moves may have been the preset 4 year elections and the Ontario referendum on electoral reform. All bodes well for the party and baring any major gaffs or if Liberals forgot to vote. Unless something major happens in the next few days, it seems that we will have either a minority or majority Liberal government again.
By: Torontomatic
It’s make it or break it time. Even with a dysfunctional council, a tight-fisted province and a scornful federal government, this city still has a chance to be the envy of the world.The future is closer than we think. For Toronto, that’s good news and bad.
Depending on decisions we make in the next two or three years, this city could become the envy of the civilized world or just another urban casualty.
It’s really that simple. Which is not to say it will be easy. The truth is that in many respects we already know what needs to be done to ensure civic success, but so far how to get it done has eluded us.
On the good side, Richard (Creative Class) Florida has moved to town. Some of the best-known architects in the world – Frank Gehry, Will Alsop, Daniel Libeskind – are working here and the level of design has been driven up a notch or two. The condo boom has meant a wholesale return to the downtown core, and waterfront regeneration has started, albeit slowly and with much difficulty.
If things work out as planned, the waterfront will be the catalyst for a wholesale transformation of Toronto and turn its skyline into a global urban icon.
But it could so easily turn the other way. City Hall has become dysfunctional and Toronto continues to be abused by both federal and provincial governments. Civic underfunding is chronic and the governing structure is woefully inadequate to the demands of the 21st century.
“Nowadays I find myself thinking about that movie, It’s A Wonderful Life, where there are two futures,” says internationally respected Toronto planner Ken Greenberg. “It’s the same with Toronto; there’s an optimistic future and a nightmare scenario. What will happen depends on how we deal with a number of issues.”
These run the gamut from civic governance and financial instability to planning and public transit. Most worrisome, if the nightmare vision comes to pass, is that it won’t be because of a single big mistake but countless smaller ones. This is the most likely scenario, that the city will die the death of a thousand cuts.
Similarly, if it prospers, it will be because we made the right choices – over and over again.
Given Toronto’s propensity for doing the wrong thing, it’s hard not to be skeptical, especially given the breakdown of city council. Most observers agree the politicians who represent Toronto at the municipal level have failed dismally. Indeed, we have reached a point of stasis, where we can no longer look to City Hall for leadership.
But as Joe Berridge, partner in Urban Strategies, argues, “City Hall is almost irrelevant at this point. Municipal government has enormous catch-up to do. At one level, it’s demonstrating why the province and federal government must play a major role in the life of the city. These and other institutions can do all the important things that need to be done.”
Filed under: Politics | Tags: 2007, Catholic, discrimination, education, election, Hampton, Howard, Liberal, McGuinty, NDP, October, Ontario, PC, schools
With the entire buzz about faith-based education, it seems that we have not dealt with the underlying problem facing education. The funding formula is truly something that must be looked at. Although I may agree that the status quo cannot continue, in reference to funding only Catholic schools, my worry is that the PC Party of Ontario has not taken time to look at the funding formula? What will happen, as parents take their children out of public schools and place them in faith-based schools? Will the funding formula continue to apply to ALL schools? I suspect that there would be a lot of Catholic High Schools closing also, since a lot of parents, who are not necessarily Catholic, send their children there. Now I wonder if a new school is available, will parents prefer it and cause a mass exodus of children to other faith-based schools. The NDP seems to be the only party with a platform devoted to public education, leaving the debate over faith-based schools alone. The PC’s and the Liberals have interesting ideas and plans. Albeit, I do not understand what Dalton McGuinty was thinking by attacking faith-based education, while doing a press release from a Catholic school.
It seemed kind of ironic and odd to me. How does that play to the viewer on TV? Now that the cookie is out of the jar this issue will not go away. Maybe this was their master plan all along? Maybe they are all working together on this? Get us talking about it and when we are angry enough we may just vote in an NDP government. I think we did that before? Maybe with a majority they will just remove funding from all Catholic schools or merge them into one public educational system. Hey, its not NDP policy, but who really knows anyway. All bets are off when you got a majority government and I don’t think anyone thought they would have won the election last time. Pipe dream or nightmare?
By: Torontomatic
Filed under: Issues, Politics | Tags: education, election, faith-based, issue, Liberal, NDP, PC, religious, schools
Maybe we in Ontario have forgotten, but the UN says that funding of Catholic schools only, is discriminatory. Not that I would hold up the U.N as a pillar of excellence, but thats for another topic. We cannot continue to bury our heads in the sand! Personally I feel there should be only one school system, which would fix this issue; however that is beside the point. The fact is John Tory should be applauded for making this an issue we ALL need to face. He is placing his political future on it and I gather that even if the Liberals win, they will not touch the issue. However, it would be interesting to see what would happen in a minority government situation. Would they deal with the issue? No one likes change, but the “status quo” is not good enough for us in Ontario. Constitutional or not we must either have ONE school system, where Catholic schools are NOT funded or a system that brings ALL faith schools under the “scrutiny” of a PUBLIC system, like Catholic schools.
Unfortunately, I am not sure if we have truly gone through the trials and tribulations of funding faith-based schools. For example, will the funding formula still exist in the public system? If so, will it apply to faith-based schools? Will we see public schools close? If we fund some religions, what happens if others (I will leave that to your imagination) ask for funding? Has anyone thought of the long-term issues? I have already told you my opinion. I think there should be one system. But no political party is going to “remove” funding from Catholics. Although it would be the right thing to do, it would be political suicide. I think John Tory knows this and has opted for the only other option, since no other party (if they would be honest), wants to tackle the issue.
What is unfortunate is the ignorance, that shows its ugly face, in the attitudes and misconceptions about faith-based schools. Ignorance is not something we should tolerate. I sense really it is fear of the unknown. We have gotten so used to funding only Catholic schools, that it has become a part of an Ontarians’ life. We must not forget that we cannot continue with the status quo. I do not mind removing funding, from Catholic schools, but is that really going to happen? What I would have preferred is that this issue was brought to the legislature or as a referendum option, with a straight clear question. No middle of the road questions!
Will we fund all faith-based schools (mainstream) or only have one public school system with no faith-based school being funded.
This is NOT an easy issue. Lets remove fear of the unknown. I have heard worries about terrorist schools to the ignorant remarks about the “ghettoizing” of the school system. Its strange that most of these remarks are pointed at ethnic communities, when Catholics for years have been receiving money. I know if not that simplistic, however just because we do something it does not make it right. At one time we felt it was fine to discriminate against people of colour, gender or sexual preference. Whats more interesting is that there is no a word from Protestant schools that would benefit from funding. The main proponents have been Jewish, Hindu, Sikh and Islamic schools (albeit other Christian schools are included). I think I will delve into this issue more in a later post. The entire issue is truly complicated and complex. As they say “old habits die hard” and if we claim to be a diverse society that includes ALL, then lets “grow up” and start to tackle the difficult issues that make us who we are, which is Canadian.
By: Torontomatic
