education

Friday September 8, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday September 8, 2018

Worries, praise follow Ontario government’s new free speech directive

Universities and colleges in Ottawa say they’ll work with the Ontario government to meet next year’s deadline for crafting free speech policies, as campus groups both laud and worry about the new directive.

August 24, 2018

The province announced last week that schools have until Jan. 1, 2019 to develop, implement and comply with policies that meet a minimum standard the government sets — or risk losing funding.

That standard is based on the University of Chicago Statement of Principles of Free Expression, which doesn’t allow for hate speech but precludes shielding students from ideas they might disagree with or find offensive.

There are fears, however, that the Progressive Conservative government’s new directive could blur the line between free speech and hate speech.

“There’s a limit as to where healthy debate becomes a little bit of an issue. Because as we’ve seen in the past, some of these things have led to students feeling unsafe, students feeling like they were targeted or hated,” said David Oladejo, president of Carleton University Students’ Association.

Oladejo said he welcomes clarification on university free speech policies, as long as they’re not vaguely worded and students don’t feel unsafe on campus.

He said he doesn’t believe there have been any incidents in recent years in which Carleton students have felt threatened by either groups or guest lecturers. (Source: CBC)

 

Friday August 24, 2018

August 24, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday August 24, 2018

Ontario government says it has an interim sex-ed curriculum elementary teachers must follow

February 14, 2018

The Ontario government has released an interim sex-ed curriculum for elementary school teachers to use this September, and Premier Doug Ford is suggesting there will be consequences if they don’t adhere to it.

The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) was quick to blast the plan, accusing the Ford government of creating chaos instead of addressing the real issues facing the public school system just weeks before classes resume.

The Progressive Conservative government issued a news release about the changes on Wednesday afternoon, while also announcing plans for what it called an “unprecedented” provincewide consultation process on education reform and a future parents’ bill of rights.

September 10, 2015

The Ford government has faced sharp criticism from a number of groups — including teachers’ unions, many parents and the Official Opposition — over its decision to scrap the modernized sex-ed curriculum brought in by the former Liberal government in 2015, which included information about online bullying, sexting and gender identity.

A group of human rights lawyers are also challenging the government’s decision in court on behalf of six families.

Neither Ford nor Education Minister Lisa Thompson took questions from reporters on Wednesday. (Source: CBC News) 

In offending readers, cartoon made its point

We are in the business of publishing content, not suppressing it, writes Paul Berton

Graeme MacKay’s editorial cartoon last weekend caused a predictable fuss.

When it was brought to my attention before publication, I laughed out loud, and immediately recognized it would be problematic.

Indeed, some readers called it vulgar, another was disgusted and saddened, and said the paper “has sunk to the level of a tabloid.” One writer didn’t like the fact that it seemed to mock Ontario Premier Doug Ford, and added that he didn’t like it either when MacKay made fun of “our president.”

Why did we print it?

I could talk about the freedom of the press, the unique ability of satire to get to essence of an issue, or the importance of reflecting different points of view, and I could remind you that a cartoonist’s views are not necessarily those of the newspaper,

although sometimes they are. In the case of The Spectator, MacKay’s views are his own.

Or we could have just killed the cartoon, arguing that any reference to a penis in connection with Ontario’s premier is inappropriate, even if it is in the context of a heated debate over the future of sex education in the province.

We could have decided our readers don’t need that kind of thing at breakfast, let alone lunch or dinner. But that too, is the heart of the matter — and the point of the cartoon.

Ultimately, we are in the business of publishing content, not suppressing it. There have been times in the past when I thought I should have prevented something from publication, but in retrospect, I regret far more often the things we didn’t print than those we did.

Besides, if we had spiked that cartoon, we would have denied many other readers the laugh that I and others experienced from it, and laughs these days are all too rare.

For not only did we receive complaints about the cartoon, we also received kudos in their wake. You can turn to today’s letters-to-the-editor for some evidence of that. It is human nature to complain, but compliments are much less common.

Such supporters realize a good cartoonist never takes the issue as seriously as those in the midst of it — politicians usually, but often anyone in authority. True, cartoons often say in pictures what some of us are too polite to say in words, but they also make us look in the mirror, point out obvious or sometimes hidden inanities, and poke fun at people who take themselves too earnestly.

Any newspaper editor who says an editorial cartoonist doesn’t cause her or him grief is probably lying. It has always an uncomfortable relationship, and indeed, some cartoonists have been fired for their views. It would be easier for newspaper editors if nobody ever called to complain, but then we’d be approaching irrelevance.

Fortunately, Spec readers care deeply about this news organization, many of you think of us as part of the family, and feel a personal connection. We appreciate that, and we encourage all complaints, considered arguments and feedback of any sort. (Source)

Paul Berton is editor-in-chief of The Hamilton Spectator and thespec.com. You can reach him at 905-526-3482 or pberton@thespec.com

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Saturday November 18, 2017

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday November 18, 2017

Will a lawsuit help Ontario students get their money back after college strike?

Frustrated and financially burdened students affected by the Ontario colleges strike are turning to the courts to try to get some cash back.

A class action was commenced on Tuesday that seeks to recover tuition money on behalf of the thousands of students at 24 colleges who have been out of class since mid-October.

Going down the lawsuit road could be a long and ultimately unsuccessful journey, but there could still be some benefits to it in the short term, say class action experts.

Pressure on the Ontario government to step in and force an end to the strike, now in its fifth week, ramped up Thursday when the latest contract offer from the College Employer Council was rejected by striking faculty, represented by the Ontario Public Service Employees Union.

Premier Kathleen Wynne met with representatives from both sides on Thursday afternoon, and several hours later her government announced it would introduce legislation to force them into binding arbitration and end the strike. The premier said she wants to see students back in class by Monday morning.

This will be the longest college strike in Ontario’s history, and students have been demanding tuition refunds since it began. A petition they started says full-time students are owed $30 per day of the strike based on the average tuition cost per semester. (Source: CBC) 

 

Wednesday November 8, 2017

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday November 8, 2017

Fourth week of Ontario college strike

The union representing striking Ontario college workers says students would soon be on their way back to classes, if the colleges hadn’t left the bargaining table this week.

The Ontario Public Sector Employees Union, representing the 12,000 college workers, held a press conference Tuesday afternoon — one day after colleges called for striking faculty to vote on a final contract offer.

Warren “Smokey” Thomas, president of OPSEU, said the union believed a deal was close after negotiations continued over the weekend.

“Then Monday morning, without any notice to us, the government dropped the bombshell of saying they were going to ask the Ministry of Labour to conduct a vote, which they get to do once during the bargaining cycle,” Thomas said to reporters at the Chelsea Hotel in downtown Toronto.  

The College Employer Council, which represents the province’s 24 colleges, asked Ontario’s Labour Relations Board Monday to schedule the vote. It also called on OPSEU to suspend the strike in the five to 10 days it will take to organize the vote.

“We made significant moves to address all of their issues,” said Sonia Del Missier, chair of the colleges’ bargaining team, on Monday. “That offer should have been accepted.”

At Tuesday’s press conference, the union maintained it would advise members to vote no.

“I thought we were close to a deal,” Thomas told reporters. (Source: CBC News)