Bleeding Hearts

Ontario Today’s story revolves around two issues that profoundly impact taxpayers. It appears that journalists are advocating for the government to continue to fund the FNTI, a university designated for aboriginal graduate and postgraduate students. I wonder if CBC is a registered lobbyist and who will be responsible for this funding? No doubt it is a great cause. There is no question that a Nation (the Native Community) should be funding a specialized university. This school is an exclusive school setting. It is a center that gears its philosophy to meet the needs ot fhte aboriginal community, its potential clients. But why should all taxpayers fund a virtually private institution? Why can the money not come from Native Nations?

Taxpayers have donor fatigue and most are not in favour of another drain on short tax dollars. The Federal government is sending out flyers asking if we would be in favour of a 5% GST, rather than the current 7%. In our family we are not. We want to pay GST, taxing consumer goods which we are able to afford, to put money towards an infrastructure that improves our quality of life: health care, education, and other initiatives which other taxpayers seem to believe we can ill afford.

The next Ontario Today next story pertained to a case before the courts today. I am not sure who might be the target audience or is CBC intends to lobby the judge making the decision. Why put on the air one side in one party’s point of law? I can understand the case having taught during my work career. The fact is that the school board’s all have a policy keeping third parties out of the school and the classroom. One year I had two autistic children, 5 learning disabled children, a gifted child, one child with neurofibromatosis and I benefited from an EA for a half day every day. To add yet another child needing a specific program, and another adult in the classroom, would weigh heavily on an already burdened classroom teacher. We are in the field of education not therapy. This child belongs in a setting which best meets his needs and the needs of all the other children in the classroom.

Special education funding is meant to be dispersed equally and fairly amongst all special needs students. It is not meant to benefit particular children. This funding goes towards an EA in a classroom to support a clustering of special needs students. Again, taxpayers do not want to fund any more than is already being spent. This woman’s child is being taken care of in a center, a perfect setting for a special needs child with lower class sizes and better trained specialists.

I am tired of these sad stories with little in the way of background, presented by someone seemingly lobbying on their behalf with little education and training in the field. We can only have a sob story that does not take into account the needs of those involved professionally, as this case, in particular, is before the courts.