Note what Paul Martin said then and what he says today!
The last time Paul Martin ran for Liberal leadership, he supported Senate reform:
"I support a Senate that is elected and equal - the same number of senators for each province." (MacLean's, 14 May 1990)
On June 22, 1990, Paul Martin said:
"Preston Manning will be relegated to hosting a phone-in show when we come through with an equal, elected, and effective Senate."
Now, Mr. Martin has changed his tune. He now has most recently been quoted saying that he's unwilling to tackle Senate reform because "it involves huge constitutional change". (Kingston: November, 2002)
. . . .The fact of the matter is that Paul Martin is already in control of the government, and is letting Jean Chretien run wild with patronage appointment to rewards Liberals, so that Martin wouldn't have to do the dirty work.
Commentary:
Paul Martin is a Liberal to the end! Depend on him? You jest!
COMPAS Poll
A recent poll conducted by COMPAS found that 63% of Progressive Conservative voters would support Alliance Leader Stephen Harper's 'Common Cause' initiative, calling for the Canadian Alliance and PCs to run a single slate of candidates in the next election. However, polled PC convention delegates contradict this.
CKNW Poll
Talk Radio 980CKNW in Vancouver polled voters to determine which individual would make the best Prime Minister of Canada.Take a look at these results:
67.31% (3,194) Stephen Harper 12.32% (585) John Manley
8.8% (418) Paul Martin ***Note this!***
2.55% (121) Sheila Copps
1.55% (74) Peter MacKay
7.48% (355) other
Total Votes: 4,745
(Reference for all three articles above: a news letter from the CA)
Common Sense Obliterated -- Minority Interests Have Hijacked Education
Trudeau Style Liberalism: The Result in One Province, NB
This is a cross-posting on another aspect of education that goes along with what was written yesterday on this site.
The Program for International Assessment (PISA) results revealed that students in New Brunswick are performing poorly relative to those in other provinces.
New Brunswick Report Card 2001 illustrates the shocking state of student achievement in this province. . . . New Brunswick did not need PISA data to show that the education system is not serving students’ learning needs.
The Scraba Report, titled Schools Teach - Parents & Communities Support -Children Learn - Everyone Benefits, has hit the education system of New Brunswick like a bomb shell. Elana Scraba was asked to research some of the differences between the education system in Alberta and that of New Brunswick with a view to explaining the differences in PISA results. The Report, prepared for the Minister in April [2002] and released [very much later] following study by the Department in December, analyzes a series of interviews with education officials and others in Alberta and New Brunswick. Scraba then extracts a series of themes from each set of interviews and does an anecdotal comparison of the two views of education.
While the Scraba Report deals with several themes, I shall just touch on the two which the Minister of Education chooses not to change: inclusion of special needs students--no matter their impact on the class--and the impact of French Immersion and Core French.
The fact of the matter is that, approximately 75% of the population of Canada cannot work in any position of importance(high salary, responsibility, etc.) with the Federal Government--and, increasingly, in businesses which contract with the government--unless they are bilingual. If not, forget other considerations of ability or merit -- so the child must speak French. New Brunswick streams off her best and brightest to the immersion program; this is especially true of families with ambition for their children and who wish to make certain their children's options are all open. Teachers in the English speaking non-immersion system advise parents to do this for the good of the child's future -- despite the fact that it decimates their own English classes of the best, most ambitious students. There is nothing wrong with knowing a second--or a third--language -- if Canadians so choose. However, this was imposed under the Trudeau Liberals and has expanded since. Parents have had no say by way of a referendum; indeed, Canadians have had no say in the expansion of the need for French. It is a child of Trudeau and Liberalism and now a large francophone lobby group holding the most powerful positions in federal and provincial civil service bureaucracies demands it. It is a great source of employment -- for francophones.
Parents are beginning to get really upset at what is happening with their children's education, especially in view of the number of special needs students, problem students and the spiralling discipline problems. However, these two programs will remain, despite the problems. Here is a sample of the problems that emanated from several meetings. These are quotations from The Scraba Report.
Inclusion of Special Needs Students
“In the name of inclusion - there is no action taken. Kindness gets confused with having expectations. Low expectations are accepted in the climate of being caring.”
“We have taken the notion of inclusion to an absurd level so children who are not functioning are not pulled aside.”
“People believe that if they take action that would address a kid’s learning they are breaking the “rules.” . . . .
Everybody mouths platitudes about how 'every child benefits from inclusion' -- but it is simply not true in the case of some--not all--students. Often the kindest student gets to 'befriend' (help, wait on, give the teacher a needed break, etc.) the special needs student.
“The problem is that the system tries to believe that all kids should get everything together. Teachers won’t and can’t move kids into grouping that will support the kids’ learning.”
Teachers' ability to do what is best is hampered by lack of flexibility and an authoritarian, top-down system.
“Inclusion has been pursued to the point of the ridiculous. Everybody all the time in the regular classroom. . . . "
“A Teacher’s Aid isn’t enough. We’re not meeting needs of special kids. Huge rise in autistic kids.” [Why?]
“There has to be more intervention in primary years. . . . "
“Resource teachers tell classroom teachers what to do with kids. Then they go on to another classroom, leaving the teacher with the problems of the whole class and the T.A’s [Teachers' Aides] as well. There is no pull out. District feels no power to change this.”
". . . teachers . . . have no training.”
“Inclusion: New Brunswick went whole hog without planning.”
“Hard-core behaviour disordered kids: we have to get these kids out of regular classes. . . . Parents are in denial. The school is the only source of respite care.” . . . . (The Scraba Report)
Despite parental displeasure, this program of inclusion will continue. There is a strong lobby for it and nobody is willing to take the political heat for changing things. Who wants to be labelled as discriminating against those with special needs? Now to the problems cited with the following program.
French Immersion and Core French
"There is a high restriction on the books available to Immersion kids and French books cost a lot.”
“There are learning problems that result from the Immersion program. Early Immersion discourages reading in children-it is too hard to find interesting stuff in French at reading/vocabulary level kids can handle. Books in French are very expensive. So there aren’t many. English reading is discouraged or ridiculed for kids in the immersion program.”
“Kids are in Immersion because the parents want the kids there. There is no help for reading problems. When the kids are finally moved out of Immersion [failed or encouraged to move to English], they have no language skills in either language, and many poor habits such as poor listening skills.”
“English Core has all of the discipline problems.”
Children with discipline problems are discouraged from entering French Immersion -- so guess who gets them?
“Even though legislation doesn’t allow for grouping, parents do this anyway through the French Immersion program.
-- The French Immersion program and teachers are separate from the English/core French.
-- Because the programs and teachers are separated, the students are separated as well.
-- Teachers believe the English program is a ghetto because the immersion program draws the top students leaving the weaker students and those with special needs in the English program.
-- The population in the English program is skewed left-students with behavioural problems and special needs are all in the English program.”
In fact, French Immersion and the francophone schools of the province, at least for a time, refused to implement the mainstreaming of special needs students -- long after the anglophone school were forced to implement it.I do not have up-to-date information on this at present. Students performing poorly are gently eased out of the Immersion program. Certainly, the statistics on class performance is going to be better if special needs students are not skewing them and if the teacher can concentrate on those who are able to learn.
“We could handle this problem if we had a class size cap for the Core French program [part of the English system] and a cap on the number of special needs kids in a class.”
I was invited as a guest speaker to a class with seven special needs students and to another where, during the whole presentation, one student moaned loudly. Hardly conducive to learning for the rest! Frankly, it drove me to distraction; finally, the TA removed the teenager.
“French Immersion put an enormous pressure on teachers who teach English subjects because there are more specials needs students in English classes. This has changed our attitude in the classroom.”
“It has created an elite grouping. It’s difficult to convince English teachers that there are difficult students in French Immersion. Immersion students do outperform English students and have fewer discipline problems.”
“I teach math and have the Core kids - 21 out of 31 on IEP’s [Individual Education Plans] & modification. This is common. It is overwhelming for teachers.” [and ridiculous to think any teacher could cope with it!]
“Majority of Immersion kids are in Immersion to stay out of Core.”
Families who try to control the social milieu of their children place them in French immersion partly because they will be socializing with the upwardly mobile, the ambitious, the ones they wish to steer their offspring toward. Peer influence is strong!
“Classes in the English program are not gender balanced, and this is definitely a stress on the system. Boys and girls have different learning styles. Now that we have provincial assessments, we have the data to support gender differences.”
Boys tend to be more rowdy, get into more hi jinks, and too often, are shunted into English classes because they have not performed as well as the girls their age -- although boys come into their own later and do fine.
“Immersion teachers chosen because of language level rather than teaching or subject skills. This causes problems for kids.”
The first consideration in hiring is ability to speak French -- not the teacher's academic excellence. . . .
French immersion has been an excellent source of work for French speakers. There is some criticism of the quality of their work in other subjects. (“French Immersion teachers know the [French] language, but not the subjects they have to teach.”) English teachers are a dime a dozen; many are supply or occasional teachers.
“De-facto streaming. [even though classes are not supposed to be streamed -- which refers to ability grouping] The Immersion program is the only place kids can go for decent program and classmates.” . . . .
”French Immersion is sold as the enrichment program. There is no real enrichment program.”
“French Immersion creates problems. Capable kids end up in Immersion.”
“In Core French, the second language is weak.”
“Early Immersion holds back really bright kids. They don’t have enough language for enrichment activities and the materials in French are not available.”
“Immersion dropouts have learned a whole bunch of bad habits, for example, poor listening. They don’t listen because they have not understood what is going on for several years in school. When they are pulled out of the program, they take this practiced non-listening into the Core class.” (The Scraba Report)
There is no point in my repeating what I wrote above; little--or nothing--changes. Once a new program is piloted, implementation is a certainty; all the stakeholders get behind it. Have you ever heard of a pilot program that failed? No? Do you ever wonder why? This is another example of social engineering that has been going on for years -- at least in the Maritimes. Someone else will have to speak for the rest of Canada.
Nota Bene: the Scraba Report dealt with several issues, but I chose to report on only two -- the two that parents and teachers mention the most, at least in my hearing.
