Sir John A. Takes a Hit

The Ontario Elementary Teachers' Federation have decided that the name of our first Prime Minister, Sir John A. MacDonald should be removed from all schools. He, along with most of the Fathers of Confederation agreed with the creation of residential schools for our native population.

This is getting ridiculous!  We cannot judge past history by today's standards.  We will all agree that residential schools were a terrible failure and caused suffering and death to many, but those who set up those schools thought they were doing the best for our indigenous population!  I don't believe they were being vindictive!  Removing their names from history won't change the past and I think it will give Canadians a better chance of forgetting these horrible indecencies!

I do concede that the statues of Cornwallis in Nova Scotia be removed from places of prominence and put in museum grounds.  Cornwallis actually put a bounty on heads of indigenous people living there, but that was hundreds of years ago.  That fact cannot be erased from history but his statue is causing quite a bit of consternation in Halifax.  I say decide on a new location for his statue along with a sign describing reason for its move.  We must not lose this history!

We need to examine each situation like this with cool heads!  If we don't, this whole process can get really silly!  When you read the writings of Winston Churchill, it's not hard to notice that he was a chauvinist and a bit of a bigot!  Is he next on the hit list?

How about William Van Horne and the rest of those who built Canada's national railway!  They promoted the importation and exploitation of workers from China!  Shall we zap them?

Why stop there?  You do know that the Roman Emperors Julius Caesar and Caesar Augustus both promoted slavery and gladiator games fought to the death!  Will we soon be changing the names of the months of July and August?  That's how silly it could get!

The History of Education in Beiseker

As you know, Beiseker Community School is celebrating 100 years of education in the village in a couple of weeks.  As a tribute to this milestone, I am doing a series of blogs on the history of education in this area.  This is the first.  I hope you enjoy looking back.

If you would like a more detailed history, go to the Beiseker Station Museum or the school itself.  Most of the information for my thumbnail history was taken from the Beiseker history book; Beiseker's Golden Heritage, published in 1977 and a few other books on Alberta's history.

Alberta became a province in 1905, and shortly thereafter settlers began pouring in to build new farming communities throughout the southern part of the new province.  In that first twenty years, Alberta's population grew and grew.  The Province started to urge the new communities to set up their own school districts, both in the new communities and in the rural areas.

Rural school districts were usually designed around a township or portions of one or more townships.  The school was built in the approximate center of the new school district on a corner of land a farmer donated or sold to the new district.  The position of the school was important.  It was supposed to be placed such that all the students could ride or walk to school easily, no more than three miles.  A barn was built on the school property to house the students' horses and a "teacherage" was constructed to house the teacher.

Some teachers lived in the basement of the school house itself;  that was more common in Northern Alberta.

School districts often got their names either from the farmer or colonization company who gave up the land, the first chairman of the new district, or the name of the area based on a geographical feature.

Around Beiseker we had many such districts.  Some of the names of the districts around here are; Greenfield, Paddy Springs, Beeman, Scotia, Brushy Lake, and Silbernagel, among others.  These tiny school districts paid their teachers a few hundred dollars a year to teach the formative grades in those little one room schools. Supplies were short, times were tough, but these little districts started what I consider one of the best educational systems in the world! 

Many famous Albertans got their start in such a school.

Questions for the Candidates: Health, Education and Social Services

This last question is about 'HESS.'  In my view, every time our provincial government wants to tighten the belt, they start by reducing funding to Health, Education and Social Services!  Funding for these three areas is hard enough as it is, but tougher times make it almost impossible.

• Plans for new or upgraded health facilities are put on hold or dropped completely.
• Funds to school divisions are frozen or reduced even though student populations are ever-increasing.
• Health workers, social workers and teachers are asked to accept reduced or frozen salaries even though their jobs are becoming more difficult.
• Funding for new neighborhood school construction is years (sometimes decades!) behind the identified need for the facility. 

Question #5:  If your party forms Alberta's next government, how will it maintain needed funding to Health, Education, and Social Services while addressing these tough economic times?