To the editor,
Seems not so long ago, when the late Bill Murdoch served for many years as MPP for a riding in our geography, that he earned his reputation as being a voice of and for his constituents. He was often described as a maverick politician who possessed personable ways and passion for his constituents and community causes.
In those days the voices of the people were collected locally and transmitted to the governments and following civic discourse, events unfolded. It seemed rather democratic and while imperfect, was generally and universally accepted.
Fast forward to today, and citizens must now comply with what the provincial government wishes to be delivered by “super” mayors, for now, and likely wardens at some time ahead. It seems that processes have now been usurped by calls for fast tracking and no matter what, step aside if you object. This conjures up unfortunate memories of procedures from external oversight being replaced by self-reporting compliance (remember the e-coli tragedy?).
We need someone with Mr. Murdoch’s integrity and voice to rejoin the fray.
As for the current Minister of Education, Stephen Lecce, and his efforts to starve public education, he appears to resurrect a notion by John Tory several years ago to replace public education with charter schools. One understands this to mean that students get funded individually. The recent undertaking by Minister Lecce to allocate $200 to “catch up” is supposedly based on the recent poor EQAO scores. This action cleverly disguises the broader agenda. A stark and rather disconcerting contrast.
Rather than a magnanimous gesture by Mr. Bill Davis of extending public funds to the separate system upon his retirement, Mr. Lecce is offering chaos as an ongoing policy direction.
We need someone with the late Mr. Davis’ integrity and voice to rejoin this fray too.
C. Brodie Hart
Brockton
