By Staff
March 8th, 2017
BURLINGTON, ON
Seeing Program Accommodation Review Committee member Marianne Meed Ward standing beside Progressive Conservative Patrick Brown at the Provincial Legislature is a bit of a stretch – she has been a liberal since the day she was born and a Liberal for the past five years at least.
Ward 2 city Councillor and PARC member Marianne Meed Ward at Queen’s Park with Progressive Conservative opposition leader Patrick Brown.
Nevertheless Meed Ward took to the microphone and spoke passionately to have all the Program Accommodation Reviews taking place put on hold until the provincial government comes up with a process that works for the tax payers and not just the school boards.
Here is what CBC reported earlier today – there will be more to come on this.
The opposition Progressive Conservatives are calling for a province-wide moratorium on school closures, as parent groups in cities and small towns across Ontario lobby their school trustees to keep schools open.
PC Leader Patrick Brown made the call at Queen’s Park Tuesday, accompanied by parents and children whose schools are threatened with closure in places that range from Burlington to the small town of Paisley, near Kincardine.
“There is a crisis in rural Ontario, that has now grown to the cities, on school closures,” Brown told a news conference.
Although school closure decisions are made by local boards, Brown blames the provincial government.
“It’s a system the Liberals have set up that actually rewards a school board for closing schools,” he said. “They actually tell boards they’re not going to get any capital funding unless they close schools.”
Education Minister Mitzie Hunter is urging boards across the four English and French public and Catholic school systems to look for ways of sharing facilities with each other before resorting to closures
In Question Period, Premier Kathleen Wynne rejected what she called the “blunt instrument of a moratorium”.
More to come
Is it not obvious the Wynn gov’t is trying to fill its coffers and reduce the provincial deficit by selling off schools pre-election; schools which, by the way, occupy prime real estate and therefore will
fetch a handsome price in this over-inflated property market? It will bite us back in the mid- term if allowed to happen.
Apologies to Ms. McMahon for the misspelling of her name. Less haste, more speed.
Well the vote on Brown’s motion to place a moratorium on PARs was defeated. Ms. MacMahon was present (give her credit for that) but voted with the Government to defeat the motion. Her position should be remembered in 2018.
Good for Marianne Meed Ward for having the courage to break Liberal Party ranks and challenge the inanities of this pathetic provincial government. It is clearly evident these PAC reviews are seriously flawed. Let’s hope the Liberal government finally sees the light just as they did on escalating hydro rates and reverses direction on this program too.
As for Kathleen Wynne her leadership is seriously under siege and her government is sinking fast. Today’s National Post carries an article speculating on her possible successors. Like the next municipal election, the next provincial election can’t happen soon enough.
Should be an interesting meeting tonight. Mr Miller might have a last minute conflict….