Hey Teachers' Unions: Get back in the classroom, for the sake of the kids
Tuesday, at long last, it’s time for the kids to go back to school.
Or is it?
I have a hunch the kids want to go back; they want to see their friends; they want to both learn and socialize; they want some degree of normalcy to take root after months of lockdown lunacy. As for the teachers – or more accurately, the various teachers’ unions – well, that’s a different story, as always.
This is especially true here in the province of Ontario, which is home to perhaps the most militant leftist teachers’ unions in the entire dominion. For it looks like the union head honchos want a vacation that began in March to continue well into the fall – or even beyond.
Indeed, much Like other provinces, school in Ontario has been out since St. Patrick’s Day. And yet with Labour Day here, numerous Ontario teachers’ unions are telling the Doug Ford government, “Hey, what’s the big rush already? There’s a clear and present danger known as the Wuhan virus, don’tcha know?”
Hey, when it comes to the teachers’ unions, it’s all about the kids, you understand… which is why they so often go out on strike, always demanding more money and more benefits – but don’t let that fool you, folks – because even then, it’s all about the kids.
Yeah. The kids. Kids who are incredibly resilient to this virus. Check out the data when it comes to the number of persons under-20 who have died of the Wuhan virus: It’s zero.
Meanwhile the real danger demographic is the elderly, especially seniors in long term care facilities. In Canada, they make up a staggering 82 per cent of Wuhan virus fatalities.
That’s where our focus should be; that’s where our focus should always have been when it came to dealing with the Wuhan virus.
In any event, the idea of getting the kids back to school has the thumbs up from Dr. David Williams, Ontario’s chief medical officer. You’d think a chief medical officer might know a thing or two about… oh, medical issues. So, what is the real reason why the teachers’ unions – many of which are stacked with Marxists as opposed to medical professionals – are trying to delay back to school?
You see, prior to the pandemic crippling the economy and ruining lives, the Ontario teachers’ unions were at war with the Doug Ford Progressive Conservatives. Sure, the average teacher salary is $83,500 and the benefits are top-shelf and the pensions are gold-plated and then there’s that sweet two months’ worth of summer vacation. Sounds like a good gig, wouldn’t you say? But when it comes to these teachers’ unions and their incessant demands, all I can think of is the title of an old James Bond flick – the world is not enough.
In fact, last winter, I made it my mission to cover the various one-day teachers’ strikes to try and get the rank and file to articulate their positions. They typically failed to do so.
So, while many moons have passed since those wintertime one-day strikes, the teachers unions aren’t the sort to let a good crisis go to waste. That’s why four major teachers' unions – representing almost 200,000 teachers – are going to Ontario’s labour board, alleging that the province’s school reopening plan violates its own workplace safety laws. Yeah, they had months to get their you-know-what together but waited until the 11th hour to voice their concerns. Today’s lesson, class: the fine art of… sabotage.
Indeed, leftist teachers’ organizations absolutely loathe conservative governments. If they aren’t going to war over wages and benefits, then a virus – that doesn’t affect young healthy people – will make for a good excuse to stay home and collect money for nothing.
And so it is that this Labour Board challenge has precisely zero to do with safety and everything to do with resuming hostilities against Premier Doug Ford and the Minister of Education, Steven Lecce. The teachers’ unions loathe the Premier and loathe Lecce and heck, they loath conservative governments outright based on ideology alone.
Enough is enough. Get back to school. And to paraphrase a line from that famous Pink Floyd song: “Hey, teachers’ unions – leave them kids alone!”
- By Ezra Levant
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