Hanes: Respect is a one-way street for Education minister
Education Minister Bernard Drainville has been on a mission lately to instil civility in Quebec's classrooms.
Starting this fall, students will be obligated to use the formal 'vous' to address adults at school, while smartphones will be banned outright to eliminate distractions.
Despite these efforts to command respect from young people toward their teachers, he's failed to show much of it himself.
In fact, Drainville's latest manoeuvres show outright contempt toward those running and working in Quebec's public school system, in both word and deed.
Deep cuts to education were announced on the cusp of the summer holidays, catching administrators off guard. About $570 million was slashed after plans for the coming year were already set in motion, sending educators scrambling to review staffing and squeeze resources before classes resume in the fall. The last-minute timing of the reductions was disrespectful to begin with, but their scope was the real blow.
Outraged teachers, union leaders and parents warned crucial services would be lost and the most vulnerable students would suffer.
If Drainville was hoping the umbrage would die down over the summer, he was wrong. More than 157,000 Quebecers signed a petition spearheaded by Parti Québecois education critic Pascal Bérubé. And many took to the streets in protest.
Drainville's initial response to widespread concern was to insist the government wasn't actually cutting the education budget, but rather limiting projected increases after years of budget growth. While technically true (education spending has been rising by about 7 per cent annually in recent years and the government belatedly decided to keep it to 2 per cent), the effects would, nevertheless, be devastating. Schools would have to lay off staff, shelve tutoring sessions, cancel lunch programs, or reduce pedagogical supports for the students who need it most.
Attempts to dismiss the alarm came off as gaslighting.
But it's when the government reversed most of the cuts that the real disdain emerged.
Last week, Drainville came up with a 'new envelope' of $540 million to offset the previously announced budget compressions. But rather than just retracting what was previously announced, he attached strings to the money and lectured administrators about fiscal responsibility.
'Let's be clear: this is not an open bar,' the minister warned in a Facebook post. 'Accountability will be required.'
To access some of the funding, each English school board and French service centre will have to jump through hoops.
'Of the $540 million announced today, $425 million will be in a dedicated envelope,' Drainville said. 'In order to access it, each CSS should demonstrate they've made efforts to diminish their administrative expenses and commit to using the money solely for student services.'
The minister didn't bother to offer any examples of what 'administrative expenses' service centres and school boards are supposedly wasting money on. Instead, he made it sound as they were planning to throw parties with public funds. In reality, most principals, teachers, classroom aides, behavioural specialists, psychologists and speech pathologists probably buy supplies or snacks for their classrooms out of their own pockets. The 'open bar' remark was gratuitous.
Worse, is Drainville's comments suggest he doesn't get these dedicated professionals are the ones who provide the services to students he has suddenly realized are so critical.
This, after all, is what the entire education sector was trying to tell him when he announced the budget cuts at the start of the summer. Now, after weeks of 'consultation' (more like backlash) 'he's heard the worries and the needs.' It's as if he's throwing warnings back in educators' faces.
He could have just stuck with 'You spoke and we heard you.'
Drainville could have used the recent financial results showing Quebec went $3-billion less in the red last year than previously projected to justify a political climbdown, but he went with arrogance and haughtiness.
'We're choosing education, we're choosing students — without sacrificing sound management,' he declared, once again getting a dig in at school staff.
Education budgets have been climbing since the Coalition Avenir Québec was elected in 2018 — 55 per cent, in fact. But that was after a period of Liberal austerity. And after many of the province's teachers went on strike in late 2023 to demand support so they can help their students learn.
Education should be spared from belt-tightening as much as possible. It's an investment in the next generation.
This one-step-forward-two-steps-back routine of adding money and then taking it away, then putting it back again is more than short-sighted. It's destabilizing for public schools. Hiring and then letting support staff go only exacerbates the teacher shortage.
Premier François Legault has repeatedly claimed education is one of his priorities. But his government doesn't always act like it and his Education minister sure doesn't sound like it.
When asked in 2023 why elected Members of the National Assembly deserved a 30-per-cent pay hike, but not teachers, he responded snarkily: 'Are you really comparing the job of being a teacher to being an MNA?'
There's nothing wrong with schools establishing expectations for respect, but it should start with the Education minister.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Winnipeg Free Press
23 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Thousands in the Ivory Coast protest the exclusion of opposition leaders from election
ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) — Thousands of Ivorians took to the streets in Abidjan, the capital of the West African nation, to protest against the exclusion of opposition leaders from the upcoming presidential election. Ivory Coast, a nation of 32 million that is the biggest economy of francophone West Africa, is due to hold a presidential vote in October. Earlier this year four main opposition figures, including former President Laurent Gbagbo and former Credit Suisse chief executive Tidjane Thiam, were barred from running by the electoral commission. Protesters gathered Saturday morning in Yopougon, a densely populated suburb of the capital Abidjan, holding banners with messages such as: 'Enough is enough!' and 'No true democracy without true justice.' Gbagbo and Thiam joined forces earlier this year to challenge incumbent President Alassane Ouattara. The 83-year-old leader announced last month that he would seek a fourth presidential term. His candidacy is contested after he changed the constitution in 2016 to remove presidential term limits. 'We are millions saying YES to Gbagbo and Thiam' said another banner in the crowd. 'We don't want a fourth term, and we want the electoral roll revised, that's what we are asking for,' said Sagesse Divine, an activist who participated in Saturday's march. 'We want all candidates' names included, and we want to go to the elections in peace, that's all we want.' There was no immediate comments from Ivorian authorities. Thiam, president of the Democratic Party of Ivory Coast, won the party's primary in an uncontested vote in April. Seen as Ouattara's main rival, he has been barred from running on the grounds that he was still a French citizen at the time he declared his candidacy, even though he later renounced his French nationality. Ivorian law bans dual nationals from running for president. Elections in Ivory Coast have usually been fraught with tension and violence. When Ouattara announced his bid for a third term, several people were killed in election violence. Ouattara is the latest among a growing number of leaders in West Africa who remain in power by changing constitutional term limits. Ouattara justified his decision to run again by saying that the Ivory Coast is facing unprecedented security, economic and monetary challenges that require experience to manage them effectively. Over the past decade, groups linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group have been spreading from the Sahel region into wealthier West African coastal states, such as Ivory Coast, Togo and Benin.
Winnipeg Free Press
12 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Retiring and relocating? Take a holistic approach
NEW YORK (AP) — Debra Taylor has had a busy year or so: She's going through a divorce while in the process of retiring — and she's moving to Portugal from Southern California with one of her daughters. After deciding her next home would be outside the U.S., she narrowed down her choices based on tax burdens (Spain was out with its wealth taxes), climate (no Costa Rica, too hot) and ease of travel within Europe, one of her favorite parts of the world. She then toured Portugal with a relocation company, Expatsi, and found her new home, Aveiro. It's a striking city on the country's west coast with lovely canals that earned it the nickname the Venice of Portugal. It's all logistics from there. Taylor signed a year lease on an apartment (a requirement for moving forward), hired the company Viv Europe to navigate bureaucracies and paperwork, signed up for the necessary FBI background check and has an appointment in late September to move ahead with visas. Her youngest child gave her the idea to leave the country. 'After our current president was elected, my 18-year-old transgender daughter came to me and said, 'I want to get out of this country ASAP,'' Taylor recalled. 'That was just fine with me.' Her oldest daughter, who's 20, will stay in the U.S. to complete college. 'None of this means I have to live there forever,' Taylor said. 'I'll use this as my jumping-off point to do more deeper dives, explore the rest of the region. I want to buy a place, but I'm not going to do that until I'm living there and spend more time in different communities.' According to aging and relocation experts, Taylor has made the right decisions. Relocating for retirement The number of people who relocate upon retirement fluctuates, based on such factors as politics, home affordability and cost-of-living rates. While older adults are less likely to move than younger populations, more than 3 million people age 65 and older relocated within the U.S. in the five years before the coronavirus pandemic, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. As for moving abroad, U.S. politics is now the No. 1 reason cited by people who use Expatsi, the company's co-founder Jen Barnett said. 'The one downside is that a lot of countries retirees are interested in don't want retirees, and that is to say wealthy, English-speaking countries, because they want laborers,' Barnett said. While most U.S. retirees stay put in existing homes and locales, those who want to age in place face mounting challenges, said AARP Vice President Rodney Harrell, who focuses on housing and livable communities. Challenges include rising rents or mortgages, costs for home modifications, and a lack of community support services like adequate health care, reliable utilities and safe environments. 'One of the biggest challenges that we have is making sure that we take the future us into account, and not just look at our needs today,' Harrell said. 'Are we driving today? Is our income where it is? Is our spouse and myself healthy right now? How able are we to walk around and use steps, etc.? Things can change.' All of the above is crucial as the U.S. heads into a gray bubble. 'We're going to have more people over 65 than under 18 by 2034. For the first time in U.S. history, we have more older adults than children,' Harrell said. It's not just about weather or grandkids Do you want mountains, an ocean, to be closer to grandkids? Would you like a university town or city, a particular religious institution? Harrell suggests setting clear priorities when planning a relocation. And they should go well beyond those specifications. Taking housing costs into consideration is generally universal, he said, but he urged a more subtle consideration. 'What are the neighbors like? Is it an active community, if that's what you want. Do people keep to themselves more? That social connection is really important, too,' Harrell said. The AARP's livability index scores neighborhoods and communities across the U.S. for the services and amenities that impact older people. It's easily searchable by address, city, state or ZIP code. 'Think about all of the things that you might want collectively, and know that there's no perfect place,' Harrell said. 'Once you have those things in mind, you'll get to the best possible outcome. Every place has trade-offs.' If being close to children and grandchildren is high on the list, set clear expectations about how involved you want to be in such things as child care, said retirement transition planner Elizabeth Zelinka Parsons. Also, chat with adult children before making a move to determine how settled they are themselves. Casey Bowers and her husband, Dave Bowers, recently relocated to Ericeira, northwest of Lisbon on Portugal's beachy Silver Coast. They love it, but it's not all ocean and sun. 'We have three adult children and their partners, and one grandbaby with another on the way,' Casey said. 'We're very close to our children. Learning the grocery store, getting new cellphones, those are just procedural things, but being away from family — that's the hardest part.' Sarah Friedell O'Connell, a retirement coach in Boston, looks at relocation this way: 'You're going to get a lot of hours back when you stop your full-time job. What are you going to do with that time?' Take a good look at your lifestyle As a wealth manager, Chad Harmer has helped dozens of retirees relocate, from Ontario, Canada, to Arizona's High Desert, from the Boston suburbs to the Carolinas. And he's dealt with some 'boomerang' moves back home after grandchildren arrived. 'Start with a 'lifestyle audit,' not a tax table,' he said. 'I ask clients to write a perfect Thursday five years from now. Where are they walking? Who are they meeting for coffee? How long is the drive to the grandkids? That exercise surfaces climate preferences, social networks, volunteer hobbies and healthcare priorities long before we argue over property tax millage rates.' Monday Mornings The latest local business news and a lookahead to the coming week. He also recommended budgeting for hidden inflators — such as higher insurance premiums in disaster-prone areas and frequent flights to see family — and considering less obvious weather complications, like pollen levels. Parsons, who wrote 'Encore: A High Achiever's Guide to Thriving in Retirement,' is a staunch supporter of taking a short-term rental before deciding on a permanent move. 'It's tempting to retire where you vacation, but that may not be the greatest idea,' she said. Harmer's rule of thumb: When 80 % of your desired daily routine is achievable in a new location for at least 80 % of the year, you're in the right ZIP code. 'Anything less and you're probably chasing an Instagram fantasy rather than a retirement reality,' he said.
Calgary Herald
20 hours ago
- Calgary Herald
United Church calls on provincial government, 'while we worship together, trans bodies are being broken'
Clergy members donned rainbow vestments alongside their classic white collars Friday morning, as hundreds of United Church members gathered in downtown Calgary to issue a formal apology to the LBGTQ+ community. Article content Members from all across Canada packed the pews, leaned on bannisters, and crowded upper balconies. A pride flag hung on a pole above the congregation. Article content Article content Article content The apology, several years in the making, came in the form of a full church service. Leaders of the church spoke formally, sang their acceptance in call and response with the crowd, read from scripture in four different languages, and prayed for changes in the hearts of Alberta lawmakers. Article content Article content The formal apology was a segment of the United Church's General Council, an event inviting members of the church from across Canada to come together every three years. Commissioners from the 16 regional councils are brought to vote on important church matters: budgets, official stances on Palestine, and formal apologies like this one. Article content United Church Moderator Rev. Carmen Lansdowne spoke the officially composed apology, one of her last acts in the position before a new moderator is elected this weekend. Article content Article content 'We, the United Church of Canada, express our deepest apologies to all those, who have experienced homophobia, transphobia, and biphobia within the United Church of Canada,' Lansdowne said. Article content 'We are sorry,' replied the congregation, in unison. Article content Lansdowne went on to describe overt examples of this discrimination, 'such as loss of income, harassment, being denied access to church leadership, and threats to personal safety.' She further made clear that complacency in the face of discrimination was just as relevant as those more explicit examples. Article content The service was conducted in a variety of different languages, without pausing to translate back into one or the other. Sermons and speeches alternated between English and French. Two readings of scripture were spoken solely in Japanese. The last song of the service, titled Bambalela, alternated between English, French, and Zulu. Article content One piece of scripture was read entirely though sign language, displayed to the crowd through a slideshow on televisions, while the room was otherwise quiet. Article content The formal apology had been in progress for several years. United Church General Secretary Rev. Michael Blair said that the discussion first began in 2009. A decade later, a report 'indicated that a formal apology be made,' he said. 'In 2023, the general council committed to offering an apology to the 2S and LGBTQIA+ community.' Article content After the composed apology, the service culminated with several prayers. The Lord's Prayer, prayers espousing heartbreak and sorrow 'for what we never had, and all that our lives and the church could have been,' and prayers directly aimed at the Alberta provincial government. Article content 'We pray for a healing and changing of hearts of those in power, who would enact laws here in Alberta to deny the gender affirming care, that puts trans youth at risk,' the speaker said. Article content Article content Last year, the Alberta government passed legislation that sought to ban doctors from providing treatment such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy to those under the age of 16 and enacted a total ban on gender-reassignment surgery for minors in the province. Article content In June, an injunction was granted against the rule changes around health care in the province. On July 25, the government appealed that injunction. Article content 'We pray for freedom for school libraries and teachers to provide the books for children in their care without government interference,' they said. 'We pray for the freedom for trans girls to play the sport of their choice.
