Recently I was thinking how Christy Clark appeared to be doing a pretty good job as premier of our province.
Then I was floored when she was doing a sound bite on the news blaming the teachers' union and our teachers for the current strike situation.
What a shame to hear how it was the teachers who are causing the strike to occur and prolong.
It seems that the premier has forgotten that it was her Liberal government who tore up the previous contract and it is the Liberal government who is now stalling the decision of the teachers to make another bogus contract by bargaining while the government is appealing the court's decision to pay for the ramifications of tearing up the contract in question.
Overflowing class sizes, not enough help for special needs children in our classrooms and previous decisions by government to make cuts to funding for education are at the centre of the issues at risk for further deterioration.
The teachers are saying enough is enough.
Good for them, and hopefully good for our children and students.
I work in the post-secondary education system and our sector is now being targeted for more cuts.
Every time we go into bargaining for a new contract we have had to go to a strike vote and have a day of action in order to get our requests to be heard (except for when the Olympics were coming, then the government wanted a quick deal with increases that didn't even amount to the cost of living and inflation).
Who is expected to pay the increases in federal and provincial taxes each year? Who is expected to but money back into the economy and pay for the increases in fuel, food, housing and other basic needs? ... We are.
How can we do it if each year we are expected to take nothing and give more - no massive bonuses and raises here.
We expect our government and premier to be honourable, and to be accountable to the people of British Columbia.
It is a sad day to see our premier blaming others for something that the government's past and current actions have caused.
Is it too much to ask that restitution be done and that the government not do a political smoke screen and get down to improving funding for public education, not deteriorating it further?
Bethany Haffner
Prince George
