Freedom Flyer 25

the official newsletter of the
Freedom Party of Ontario

June 1994

Education...

ROYAL COMMISSION COMMITTED
TO EDUCATION MONOPOLY

LONDON (Oct 18, 1993) - Fp leader Robert Metz challenged Ontario's Royal Commission on Learning to live up to its stated objective of giving Ontarians "a say" in the province's education system. His written and oral presentation was delivered to Commissioners Avis Glaze and Monsignor Dennis Murphy. The Commission was in London as part of its three-month (and $3 million) public hearing tour on education through the province.

Co-chaired by Monique Begin and Gerry Caplan, the Commission is the government's latest attempt to address the increasing discontent with its costly, bureaucratic, and dysfunctional education system.

USELESS EXERCISE

Metz suggested that contrary to giving Ontarians a real "say" in the province's education system, as the Commission was purporting to do, it was really another useless exercise in opinion-gathering made by a government fully committed to preserving its monopoly and control of education in Ontario.

"As long as Ontarians are denied an educational choice both in terms of curriculum and in terms of directing their education tax dollars to the school(s) of their choice," argued Metz, "they really don't have any 'say' at all when it comes to education in this province."

When the Commission first sought public input, it was announced that individuals would get ten minutes each to make an oral presentation, while groups would get thirty minutes. However, when Fp contacted the Commission to be scheduled for a thirty-minute presentation - over a month before the hearings were to begin - we were informed that there would be no thirty minute presentations and that all presenters would be limited to ten minutes.

Needless to say, it came as quite a shock to discover upon our arrival at the hearings that there were indeed thirty-minute presentations being made --- by groups like the Union of Ontario Indians, the Association of lroquois and Allied Indians, and Ecole Secondaire Mgr. Bruyere!

Worse, when Metz arrived at the main auditorium of the G.A. Wheable Adult Learning Centre, where he was scheduled to make his ten-minute presentation to Commissioners Gerald Caplan and Monique Begin, he was told that he would have to move to a classroom in another section of the school where he could make his presentation to two other Commissioners. It was explained that the reason for the change was to accommodate a group that required the French interpretation services which were only available in the main auditorium. Needless to say, we were once again shocked when we later learned that no such group or individual made any presentation during our originally scheduled timeslot!

Those who made presentations in the assigned classroom did not have an easy time of it. Because adult classes were in progress during the whole time, presenters were constantly interrupted by noise in the hallways, public announcements over the school's P.A. system, and a host of inadequacies that made the whole hearing process appear as if it was less a hearing than a staged event to give presenters a feeling of what it was like to be in a school. It certainly was not an environment conducive to a Royal Commission.

LEARNING - OR "SOCIAL JUSTICE?"

The Commission was created by an Order In Council dated May 5, 1993 which begins with a reaffirmation of the government of Ontario's "commitment to economic renewal and social justice" - a clear indication that "learning" is a secondary consideration. And with it's commitment to "social justice," it is also clear that freedom of choice in education is not about to become a reality under an NDP government.

Ironically, the government will be able to use the many varied opinions and ideas it hears (referred to as "conflicting ideas" by Commission co-chair Gerald Caplan) as a justification to continue forcing its unpopular, expensive, and ineffective programs on local boards and taxpayers. Varied ideas and opinions simply cannot be accommodated within a government monopoly, but by selecting those that happen to agree with its plans, the government will be able to argue that it is doing is what the public wants.

As is becoming more evident with each passing day, when the government does what it wants, our children's education is left wanting in the process.

READ THE DETAILS!

Freedom Party's submission has been reprinted in this issue of Freedom Flyer. Additional details are available to Fp members and supporters on request.