Addressing racism in Canada

"I am white." begins an article by Baynard Woods of South Carolina in the Washington Post.  Woods makes the point that the only way race can be addressed in America is if whites stop denying racism and act to stop it.  Other American commentators, including Jon Stewart, make similar points.  Take a moment to listen to Stewart.  It's well worth your time.

Jon Stewart

Like many of you, I have been pondering the Charleston, S.C. shooting and thinking about the issues of hatred and violence.  We have had shootings in Canada.  Montréal's École Polytechnique always comes to my mind -- 14 women students were gunned down by Marc Lépine for simply being who they were, women.  In Lépine's twisted mind, women attending the school were the embodiment of feminism and he saw the women students as usurping his entitled spot.  The engineering school and its women became a target for Lépine's hatred.

Similarly the Charleston shooter, Dylann Roof, has a sense of entitlement but for Roof, it springs from deep-seated racism rather than sexism.   South Carolina is a state that reeks of racism, from the Confederate flag flying over its legislature to the streets named for Confederate Civil War generals.  It shouldn't surprise anyone that in such a society, an alienated young man would blame his troubles on blacks or that he would act out his hatred in a building that helped launch the modern Civil Rights Movement, the Emanuel AME Church.

Why do I care?  After all, you might say, this is just in America.  Well not quite.  In Canada, our racism is directed toward aboriginal people.  Our police and army go after Native people -- think Ipperwash and Oka.  Even after the federal government's apology for residential schools, the findings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and now Manitoba's apology for the "Sixties Scoop", there are many First Nations children in foster care.  According to the 2011 National Household Survey, over ten times as many aboriginal children go into foster care compared to non-aboriginal children.  The reasons for this are complex but the discriminatory lack of educational resources and social service support in aboriginal communities and on reserves plays a large role.   Listen to the words of Dr. Cindy Blackstock.

If humanity is going to survive through the climate change crisis, we have to learn to put aside our differences.  It will take all of us, all of our hard work and creativity. Here are seven suggestions from the First Nations Child & Family Caring Society of Canada to help you get started.

Earlier this week, I had an opportunity to spend some time talking with two First Nations elders.  I took away two lessons from our conversation.  One is that First Nations people have a lot to teach us about living sustainably on this earth.  We all need to listen and learn this before it is too late.  The other is that we have much in common.  We love our children.  We want a good future for them.  We want to see our grandchildren grow up to become caring, healthy and happy adults.  If you live in Ottawa, you have an opportunity to begin a similar conversation today.  Go to the Summer Solstice Aboriginal Arts Festival in Vincent Massey Park.  It's free.

I rather like this photo of Pope Francis.  It seems wholly human yet inspirational and he appears to be suggesting that we can do it.  Perhaps I'll give the last word to His Holiness who recently said in his encyclical, Laudato Si´:

His Holiness, Pope Francis

"I urgently appeal, then, for a new dialogue about how we are shaping the future of our planet.  We need a conversation which includes everyone, since the environmental challenge we are undergoing, and its human roots, concern and affect us all."

The meaning of reconciliation

There's a perverse logic to Indian residential schools.  Settlers' farming methods are incompatible with hunting tradition as farming requires that animals be kept out of the fields.  There's a need to fence land, which means that it was no longer available to wild animals or hunters, and it was probably inevitable that disagreements would develop between settler communities and First Nations over land use.  The American Indian Wars of the late 18th and 19th centuries highlighted these conflicts.  For close to 100 years, the Canadian governing elite had seen the effects of these wars.

If you are going to take over land, why not do it through those who are most vulnerable and unable to defend it?   At the request of Sir John A. Macdonald, Conservative MP Nicholas Flood Davin wrote a report on residential schools.  He had toured schools that had been designed to assimilate American Indian children. We can credit these two politicians, Sir John A. and Davin, for this brilliant strategy -- first send First Nations and Metis children to industrial (residential) schools to assimilate them to a different way of life and then claim their traditional lands while avoiding the cost of war.  I am no expert and I know I am over-simplifying the situation but the logic of this rationale seems obvious.

The stories of the survivors of residential schools are truly heart-wrenching -- beatings, physical and psychological torture, sexual abuse, starvation, general deprivation, disease, loss of language and culture, loss of love and parenting skills, and soul-numbing loneliness.  According to CBC's The National, during the early years of residential schools, 50% of the children died.  DIED!  Perhaps the original intent hadn't been to wipe out aboriginal children, but how can it not be considered an act of genocide when the number of deaths in the schools became apparent and yet the programme continued?

Perhaps the term cultural genocide is a kindness that reduces the edge.  June Callwood, a hero of mine, died eight years ago this spring.  She called kindness her religion.  I have also found kindness to be typical of the First Nations people I have come to know over the last few years.

On Monday, I volunteered at the Commission's student activity day and I'm pleased to say that thousands of students participated.  The lunches were packed in brown bags decorated with drawings made by First Nations children. It's one example of a simple act of kindness.  My lunch bag said, "My mom, aunts and uncles are residential school survivors."  I get teary each time I look at it.  It moves me that survivors and their children made the effort to reach out to us through this very human gesture.

In an earlier post, A rabbit on the doorstep, I told the story of my mother's grandmother and her hardships in homesteading in Saskatchewan.  It was based on a history written by my great-grandmother that recounted how the kindness of nearby First Nations people kept her family alive.  But my great-grandmother's story was likely not unusual.  Perhaps you are here today because of the generosity of your ancestors' aboriginal neighbours?

My father's side is of Irish descent.  My grandfather carried coal to wealthier homes on Montreal's Mount Royal to help support his younger siblings.  And my father told me about signs in Montreal restaurant windows that stated, "No dogs or Irish here." I'm sure many of you identify with my story; life wasn't easy for immigrant families who came to Canada, still they could make a living.  Was it simply hard work that allowed my relatives and yours to prosper?   Hard work was a part of it but they had worked hard in the old country too.  What was different here?

The land on this side of the Atlantic was very fertile and not depleted by continuous cultivation. It had not been logged or mined and it was plentiful in resources.  The wealth of this land gave our ancestors an edge.  Much of it has not been ceded by treaty. Ethically perhaps even legally, it still belongs to the First Nations.  Our relatives may not have played a direct role in creating residential schools or in taking First Nations lands but they profited unknowingly from the proceeds of crime.  We have benefitted from this system of stolen land.

Unknowing no more!  I wept in the safe, comfortable confines of my home as I watched Justice Murray Sinclair present the Commission's recommendations.  I cannot choose to forget the pain I heard from residential school survivors.  Reconciliation is not something we do to simply make amends for residential schools. It's a gift we give ourselves, our children and future generations.  It's the opportunity to live together in common understanding and harmony.  It's not only the right thing to do, it's simply smart to look toward a common future by acknowledging both the history of wrongdoing and the many kindnesses given to our ancestors in times past.

Goodbye to Ecuador

I'm reaching the end of my travels with a word of caution.  If you want excitement in your life, travel in a Latin American country during Carnival!  It's a big holiday here. There are parades, bands and horses in the street. All the kids have squirt guns and you're bound to get a little wet, which isn't a bad thing on a hot day. Schools and many businesses are closed and people get together with family and friends ... and the buses are packed.

I set off from Baños early on Saturday morning. The first bus was full and I had to wait for another.  This should have been my first clue. In the meantime, I became friends with a great couple from Ohio. We had so much in common and we were all heading to Cuenca. Cuenca is a beautiful city towards the south.  It is Ecuador's third largest city and for good reason, it is called the Paris of Ecuador.  But I'm getting ahead of myself.

In Riobamba, we had to change buses. The only seats available to Cuenca that day would have had us arrive at 1:30 am.  Needless to say, we weren't too keen on that arrangement. My new friend, Carmen, came up with an excellent Plan B; we'd take a taxi to Cuenca and split it three ways. It cost me $45 to travel the 254 km of rugged mountains and beautiful valleys, less than what I pay to go to the airport in Ottawa. 

An older house in Cuenca

We travelled past the snow-covered peak of Chimborazo, Ecuador's highest mountain. Because of the earth's bulge at the equator, people who climb Chimborazo are closer to the sun than those who scale Everest. We travelled over foggy mountains passes, barely able to see more than ten feet. We drove past a blue-domed monastery perched precariously on a mountainside, and past roasting guinea pigs and roasted hanging pigs, in raincoats to protect them from the dampness.

After five hours on the road, my amicable companions and I reached our destination. Because of a mix-up in their reservation and because it was Carnival, my friends had nowhere to stay. Well as luck would have it, I had booked a room for three because it was one of the few rooms still available.  After a lovely dinner and a stroll around the lively central square, the three of us bedded down for the night.

Ecuadorian doll

The next morning, I went on a bus tour of the city. My seat mate was a lovely young woman from Guayaquil, Angel, who was visiting Cuenca with her family for the holiday. We enjoyed chatting and each other's company during the tour and toward the end, Angel gave me the cute doll in the photo.  I came back to the hotel to find that Carmen and her husband, Michael, had dropped off these gorgeous glads. For someone who isn't religious, I surely felt blessed.

Over the next couple of days, I walked the city and fell in love with Cuenca. I bumped into Carmen and Michael occasionally and on our last night together, we ate with two Norwegian women and a couple from Vermont.  There is something about travel that opens up the mind and our conversation was spirited and interesting.

On Friday, I'll come home to a very cold Ottawa with a very warm heart.  Tonight I am sitting in front of a roaring fire in the home of the great Latin American liberator, Simon Bolivar.  Travelling solo is not for everyone and I had my share of mishaps. But I never felt alone.  I encountered the most patient and kind Ecuadorians and met many wonderful people from around the globe. I have walked in the footsteps of history and know the human spirit endures.  It is alive and well in Ecuador.

The politics of Ecuador

The waterfall at Baños

Let's talk politics. Politics is important and I lament the cynicism that permeates much of our political discourse. Good government can make a difference in people's lives particularly for those who don't have much.  Ecuador is a democratic country and Rafael Correa was elected its president in 2006. His government has been re-elected twice.

The Correa government has brought economic stability to a situation that had been spiralling out of control. It has also focused on policies to improve health, education and the country's infrastructure. According to the World Bank, infant mortality has dropped in Ecuador at a rate faster than other countries in recent years, from 28 (per 1000 live births) in 2000 to 19 in 2013. The government has invested heavily in education including the creation of early childhood education/daycare centres that provide education and care to all Ecuadorian children. And everywhere I go, I see infrastructure construction.

Wall art in Cotacachi

There's something else -- people I talk to are optimistic about the future. Many of the people I've met are upbeat. From what I've seen, I support the Correa government. This must appear inconsistent given my views on fracking and Alberta oil sands development but I believe that there are factors that differentiate the Correa government from other governments such as, let's say Alberta's.

The Correa government tried to avoid oil development. A few years back, it asked the world to contribute to a fund so that it might forego oil extraction. The fund raised only $13M. They had hoped to raise $3.6B.

Of greater importance, oil revenues here have been used to raise up society as a whole. The Correa government has created the means through its support of education and infrastructure to move the country away from oil dependence and towards economic diversification.  This will give Ecuador greater economic stability while improving the prospects for the average Ecuadorian.

Even though I may be far away,  I can still pick up The National on my tablet. The CBC recently claimed that the rest of us are suffering from schadenfreude (taking pleasure from another's pain) when it comes to Alberta. I don't know about you but I'm feeling that Alberta missed a great opportunity to use its oil revenues to diversify its economy. During that period, Alberta also decreased its education budget. So short sighted!

The Ecuadorians I've met are friendly and understated, much like Canadians.  Let's hope they don't make our mistakes.

On the road to Cotacachi

I can't imagine how the European heaven of white clouds and white-winged angels could have won over Ecuador's Incan inhabitants. I'm at breakfast enjoying sweet locally-grown fruit while watching shimmering hummingbirds flit from feeder to feeder at Sachatamia Lodge, which I highly recommend, just east of Mindo.  The front desk sells a poster portraying 35 local species of hummingbirds. I was tempted to buy one until I looked at it closely.  Instead of sparkling emerald hummingbird foreheads, I see dull green.  Thick black lines are poor substitutes for graceful cobalt tails that are longer than bodies. I'll have to look elsewhere. Heaven's real angels should be properly portrayed!

Gardens in Mindo

The lodge rests in the Choco Andino biogeographical zone, an area of cloud forest that stretches from southern Colombia through a wide swath of western Ecuador. It is considered the most biodiverse region in the world.  It's not just the temperate climate and the amount of sunlight that does it, but the daily rain. Living in a cloud forest is like nothing else. Mirrors remain foggy all day. Paths are never dry even when covered with stones. And raindrops fall from tree leaves on sunny days.

On the bus back to Quito, a young boy and his mother sit in front.  A wooden ball rolls along the windowsill resting at my elbow, then rolls back.  This continues a few times until I give it a flick to make it roll little faster.  My young friend speeds it up too and we are off to the races until I grab it for a moment.  A sweet face peers at me in the window's reflection and I grin back.  We continue the game for sometime until I hand the ball to his mother who smiles at me.

There is something special about being an older woman travelling by yourself. You are not a threat to anyone and the guys leave you alone. I offer the seat next to me when the bus becomes crowded. An older woman sits down and talks to me like I'm a native Spanish speaker. I just catch the occasional word so I mostly nod in support and smile; bartender on a bus. Bring me your woes. Your secrets are most assuredly safe with me.

Cotacachi Mountain, Ecuador

I am allergic to mould and sensitive to its smell.  In a climate this wet, I expect to find it. But in the three days I was in Mindo, I didn't detect it anywhere. This became a bit of a quest and I started to look for it. Behind the drapes? No mould. Along the baseboards? Nope, no mould. In the bathrooms?  No mould at all!  Everything everywhere in the lodge is made from the same beautiful deep brown wood and all I can surmise is that it is resistant to mould. I mean anything that grows here would have to be. Still it's interesting and one can only wonder at the other marvellous secrets this forest holds.  Humanity's future cures awaiting our children's discovery ... provided the cloud forest remains.

My young friend and his mother have left the bus but one of the balls remains.  I hear it rattling around on the floor of the bus but I can't find it. It would have made a good souvenir. 

Mindo's Magic

The most wondrous sight greeted me this morning -- 20 different species of hummingbirds gathered around a feeder. Some are quite large, the size of sparrows. Others are smaller than ours, almost butterflies. Some are jet black, some are a mixture of blue and turquoise, and others are multi-hued.  I watch the hummingbird equivalent of a supermarket checkout, all waiting in line for a turn, wings outstretched and hovering. 

A few hummingbirds in Mindo

My son gave me some excellent advice, "Mom, stay outside town, in the cloud forest." There are some quaint, alpine-style hotels in town. I had coffee at one and it would have been nice to stay there. But sleeping in the cloud forest is *magical*.  There are the different cries of scores of birds.  One has the distinct sound of a gym teacher's whistle and I kept on looking for a running meet about to begin. As I was about to sleep, there was the peaceful sound of gentle rain on the roof.  And I awoke transfixed to gaze upon giant ferns,  the size of apple trees, dripping morning raindrops. There's a state of Zen that permeates this life and time drops away. 

After getting off the bus in Mindo yesterday, I spent an hour in a lovely coffeehouse/live music venue chatting with the owner, Luis, and a sweet young Danish couple.  Luis grew up in Quito, spent some of his adult years in Chicago, and decided to retire here. I can understand the attraction. He says that having the coffeehouse brings the world to him. 

I decided to go for a walk down to the river. Wearing pink pants was a real mistake and they were half-covered in orange and black mud before my return. The many beautiful flowers and birds are also a real distraction along the way but even if one's attention is focused, the path turns to soft mud closer to the river and it becomes difficult to remain upright on it's steep slopes. I fell twice. While the mud caused my spills, it also provided for soft landings and I noticed the evidence of many similar tumbles on my ascent. 

So the rain is lifting and I have had a nice breakfast. Off to explore a bit more of this tropical paradise ... in black pants!

Ecuador -- a land of diverse terrain and warm hearts

It's Wednesday and our third day at the childcare centre. Before I tell you about today, allow me to recount last night's adventure.  After a hard day's work, there's nothing like a little fun to recharge the batteries and so we set off to see Old Quito by night.

Quito, "Heritage of Mankind"

I was awestruck by its brilliant and majestic architecture. Quito is filled with beautiful cathedrals and public buildings, some dating back to the 16th century, and it was the first city to be declared an UNESCO World Heritage site. It has a very Parisian feel with replicas of the Notre Dame Basilica and the Arc de Triomphe gracing downtown squares but its narrow cobble-stoned streets and wrought iron balconies also give Quito a distinctly Spanish feel. The cloudiness of the night added to the ambiance by shrouding the top of El Panecillo and the statue of the Virgen de Quito. Still the twinkling of the lights on the mountainside completed the scene of graceful beauty that is Quito at night.

Volunteering offers an opportunity to go beyond the superficiality of fast-paced travel. It provides the chance to delve further and begin to appreciate the richness of cultures, histories and peoples of other lands ... as does working in a childcare centre.

Most of us have now worked in 2 or 3 classrooms. On the first day, I was with one of the classes of two-year-olds. On the second, it was with eight babies of 12 - 24 months. Today I think I worked with a class of 12 children. It was hard to keep track of the numbers for the blur of movement that characterizes healthy three-year-olds.

The children of this daycare live in a poorer neighbourhood but this is not apparent from their appearance. The staff, all lovingly called by the Spanish title of Tia or auntie, clearly love the children and are very knowledgeable. I am impressed by the good food served throughout the day as I am with the staff's dedication to practices of hygiene. Through providing good nutrition and by teaching hand washing and oral hygiene, these children will grow into healthy adults.

I could go on to describe the many small pleasures that filled today. There are moments with small hands reaching out for comfort, big eyes and wide smiles gazing upward, and there is a demonstration of the craft of masapan bread dough sculpting, but I will take just a moment to describe the English class instead.

As the day ends, some of the Tias sit down with us to learn English. We have broken up into three groups with a more formal lesson for the first 30 minutes followed by half an hour to learn a song. The Tias now know "The Hokey Pokey" and we hope to move on to "Old Macdonald" next week.

I am working with a lovely young woman on the English words for members of the family and on how to introduce people. We started out by using worksheets but today I pulled out my cell phone and showed her pictures of my family. My new friend reciprocated and we had a great time talking about our children, siblings, mothers and about where they live and what they do. I find myself looking forward to our classes and in the back of my mind, I toy with the idea of teaching English as a second language.

While you may think that volunteering is about giving, it is often much more about receiving. I am learning a lot in this beautiful land of Ecuador and for this I am truly grateful.

*********

This is the first of a series of letters I wrote while travelling a month in Ecuador.  I spent the first two weeks volunteering in a daycare centre in Caldéron, a suburb north of Quito, and the last two weeks touring the countryside.

A rabbit on the doorstep

As times change and responsibilities blur, the role of school trustee is becoming more a calling than an occupation. The lives of many new trustees may take a dramatic turn in the next few months as they grapple with issues around possible school closures and declining budgets.  It's not an easy job.  I wish them all the best.

The new faces of the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board
From left to right: Trustees Sandra Schwartz, Shirley Seward (chair), Theresa
Kavanagh, Donna Blackburn, Erica Braunovan, Christine Boothby (vice-chair),
 Keith Penny, Lynn Scott, Chris Ellis, Anita Olsen Harper, Shawn Menard,
Student Trustee Jerry Yao and Director of Education Jennifer Adams.
Trustee Mark Fisher's arm is to the left of Trustee Schwartz -- my apologies.

I didn't run for trustee again and I've been repeatedly asked about my future plans.  I have been considering volunteer work overseas and my immediate response was to say, "I've had enough of afflicting the comfortable for awhile.  I think I'll try my hand at comforting the afflicted."  This usually drew a laugh and afforded me an opportunity to escape further questioning.

Here's the honest answer but first I'll start with a story.  I am holding a copy of a 50-page handwritten manuscript.  It was written by my great-aunt Edith about her childhood over a century ago.  Edith, her sister and younger brother grew up on a homestead in Saskatchewan.  The eldest, my grandfather Charles, was sent to live with his grandparents at about the age of six and as a result, he escaped the most crushing aspects of homesteading life.  The family was very poor and Edith talks about going barefoot all summer and wearing felt shoes in the winter.  Clothes were made from bleached 10-cent flour sacks.  For the most part, school was a luxury the family couldn't afford.  Their mother tended a small garden. The girls with the old-fashioned names of Edith and Ethel fished as they were growing up, "With willow wood we smoked muskelonge (muskellunge), a large species of pike."

This history is fascinating to read but there are parts that have been omitted, probably because they were too painful to tell.  The first is about Ethel, who was considered the beauty of the family.  Ethel was murdered as a young woman but in those days, people didn't talk about rape or even murder. Reading between the lines, this tragic event coloured the rest of Edith's life and her mother's final days.  Nostalgia is built on a foundation of secrets and selective memory.

The other is that the family had to accept charity to survive.  Edith says that her mother was ashamed to accept charity and turned it down.  What she doesn't talk about is the charity they couldn't help but accept and that part of the story was unknown to me until a few months ago.

My mother was very interested in Anita Olsen Harper's recent run to become a school trustee.  Anita is a member of the Lac Seul First Nation of northern Ontario. My mother attended Anita's fundraising event and asked regularly about the campaign. Finally I asked, "Mom, what gives? You never expressed interest when I ran for trustee."

My mother responded that she was interested because local Aboriginal people had helped keep her grandmother's family alive during those harsh Saskatchewan winters. They left anonymous gifts of rabbits on the doorstep for the starving family.  My mother's support for Anita's campaign was her way of repaying a debt.

I thought about this during the last few months.  It wasn't just my great-grandmother's family who was saved through the generosity and kindness of their Aboriginal neighbours.  There are many similar stories.

For some reason, a good number of Americans read this blog.  For my American readers, I hope you had a good Thanksgiving.

Allow me to tell part of your Thanksgiving story:

"Americans commonly trace the Thanksgiving holiday to a 1621 celebration at the Plymouth Plantation... Squanto, a Patuxet Native American who resided with the Wampanoag tribe, taught the Pilgrims how to catch eel and grow corn and served as an interpreter for them. Squanto had learned English during his enslavement in England. The Wampanoag leader Massasoit had given food to the colonists during the first winter when supplies brought from England were insufficient."*

Canadians have similar stories.  The passage below is from the book Roughing it in the Bush.  It was written in 1854 by Suzanna Moodie, an Ottawa-area homesteader:

"For many a good meal I have been indebted to them (Indians), when I had nothing to give in return, when the pantry was empty, and "the hearthstone growing cold," as they term the want of provisions to cook at it. And their delicacy in conferring these favours was not the least admirable part of their conduct. John Nogan, who was much attached to us, would bring a fine bunch of ducks, and drop them at my feet "for the papouse," or leave a large muskinonge on the sill of the door, or place a quarter of venison just within it, and slip away without saying a word, thinking that receiving a present from a poor Indian might hurt our feelings, and he would spare us the mortification of returning thanks."

Here's a short video that illustrates the power of simple acts of kindness. Kindness can change lives.

How have governments shown appreciation to First Nations people for the acts of kindness that helped keep many of our ancestors alive? Recently I read an Toronto Star opinion piece characterizing Canada's treatment of Aboriginal peoples as genocide.  First early governments took indigenous lands and consigned Aboriginal people to reserves.  Then they kidnapped First Nations and Inuit children and sent them to residential schools where they were separated from their families and forbidden to speak their languages.   Even if they survived residential school abuse, these children often lived lives of misery.  The scars remained and many turned to alcohol.  Children raised in residential schools never learned to love and become good parents and their children now pay the price. And today, our government is failing to provide adequate schooling on reserves while maintaining the right of oil companies to install pipelines that cross remaining Aboriginal lands.

I know I am not alone when I say that I am deeply ashamed by my government's actions toward Aboriginal peoples.  Individuals can make a difference and I am pleased that my mother showed her appreciation by trying to repay her family's debt. We should all do the same!

To answer the question, becoming older doesn't mean retiring to a rocking chair.  If you're healthy, it can mean more freedom than in your youth.  For the most part, the kids have grown and left home. There's no need for ambitions or a career.

I am your mother and your grandmother.  I am that nameless, underestimated middle-aged woman who has plenty to say about climate change.  I am the mother scolding her politician-son for undermining our democracy.  I am the grandmother standing up for missing and murdered Aboriginal women.  I stand for life and with Mother Nature.  I stand with many, young and old.   Look over your shoulder, Mr. Harper.  We are the majority and we are not happy with this country's direction.

It's impossible to know the future and planning one's life with any certainty is a fool's errand.  Wherever there is need is where you will find me.  Carpe diem -- seize the day.

School trustee favourites in Ottawa and around Ontario

Given the lack of media coverage of school board elections, people are asking whom I would support.  Here are my favourites.  There are many good candidates out there and this list is not exhaustive.

In Ottawa, Christine Boothby in Zone 2 Kanata and Shawn Menard in Zone 9 Rideau-Vanier/Capital have been acclaimed.  Trustees Rob Campbell, Bronwyn Funiciello, Katie Holtzhauer and Jennifer McKenzie are not running again.

I am recommending the following candidates because I have worked with and know them or I generally agree with their approach:

• Donna Blackburn in Zone 3 Barrhaven/Knoxdale-Merivale, 
• Theresa Kavanagh in Zone 4 Bay, 
• Anita Olsen Harper in Zone 5 College, 
• Chris Ellis in Zone 6 Alta Vista/Rideau-Rockcliffe, 
• Curtis Bulatovich in Zone 7 Gloucester-Southgate/Osgoode/Gloucester South-Nepean,
• Erica Braunovan in Zone 10 Kitchissippi/Somerset, 
• Shirley Seward in Zone 11 River, 
• Michael Urminsky in Zone 12 Beacon Hill-Cyrville/Innes.

Elsewhere in Ontario, some trustees I have worked with are either not running this time around or have been acclaimed.  I have worked with many of the following candidates and have great deal of respect for the following trustees:

• Durham District School Board: Michael Barrett in Oshawa;
• Grand Erie District School Board:  Carol Ann Sloat in Brantford, Don Werden in Norfolk County;
• Greater Essex District School Board: Cheryl Lovell in Windsor, Julia Burgess in Kingsville, Essex, Harrow;
• Halton District School Board: Donna Danielli in Milton, Don Vrooman in Oakville;
• Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board: Todd White in Ward 5, Dawn Danko in Ward 7, Wes Hicks in Ward 8, Stefanie Sheils in Wards 9, 10, Alex Johnstone in Wards 11, 12;
• Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board: Cathy Abraham in Clarington;
• Keewatin-Patricia District School Board: Gerald Kleist in Ear Falls;
• Lakehead District School Board: George Saarinen, Marg Arnone;
• Rainbow District School Board: Tyler Campbell in Sudbury;
• Renfrew County District School Board: David Shields;
• Simcoe County District School Board: Michele Locke in Midland, Tay, Severn;
• Superior-Greenstone District School Board: Mark Mannisto in Greenstone;
• Toronto District School Board: Chris Glover in Ward 2, Howard Kaplan in Ward 5, Shelley Laskin in Ward 11, Mari Rutka in Ward 12, Cathy Dandy in Ward 15, Sheila Cary-Meagher in Ward 16, Jerry Chadwick in Ward 22;
• Upper Canada District School Board: Jeff McMillan in Ward 5, Arthur Buckland in Ward 9;
• Upper Grand District School Board: Mark Bailey in Guelph Wards 1, 5, Marty Fairbairn in Guelph Ward 6/Puslinch;
• Waterloo Region District School Board: Ted Martin in Kitchener, Kathi Smith in Kitchener, Kathleen Woodcock in Waterloo/Wilmot;
• York District School Board: Loralea Carruthers in East Gwillimbury/Whitchurch-Stouffville, Joel Hertz in Vaughan. 

Do your homework on the trustee candidates in your area.  It's All in Your Hands is a great site to find most of the information you'll need to make an informed choice. Education is important.  Vote today.  

The views expressed in this post are personal opinions only.

Vote! It matters.

If you think that education and school board elections aren't important, here are some words of wisdom from one of our newest citizens to set you straight.

The media coverage of school board contests has been woefully inadequate during the run-up to Monday's vote.  With responsibility for millions of children and thousands of employees province-wide, you would think people would want to pay attention to school boards.  What about all those taxpayer dollars too?  School board budgets are larger than those of many municipalities -- Ottawa public board's budget is just over $840 million and Toronto's is about $3 billion.  Still don't care?

Sometimes I hear that democracy is just too messy, too complicated to try and understand.  Really?  What would you think if I told you that this messiness makes democracy special as it allows us to come together to make the best decisions for our communities.

James Surowiecki's book, The Wisdom of Crowds, makes this case well.  Deliberated decisions made by a group are generally better than decisions made by an expert or even a group of experts.  Surowiecki cites scientific evidence to back this up.  I think his view is generally correct as I've seen it play out in the school boardroom on numerous occasions.

Let me give you a recent example.  Many of you would have heard about the troubling conditions in the Bell High School science labs.  Yes, they were bad.  I speak not just as a trustee but also as a former chemist.  Reagents were improperly stored due to a lack of proper storage facilities, safety equipment and infrastructure were lacking, and many of the lab benches were wobbly.  It was an accident waiting to happen.

School council parents and staff at the school had drawn attention to these problems for sometime but likely due to the school district's overall need for repairs and probably because of the pressures for the construction of kindergarten space, nothing had been done to address the failing infrastructure of school science labs for over a decade. Bell's labs were the worst but as it turned out, other school labs weren't in great shape either.

When staff didn't adequately respond to concern expressed by the local trustee, the board decided to act and unanimously passed a motion directing staff to prepare a report on the state of all science labs.  To its credit, staff recommended that $16 million be spent over five years to update all lab facilities within the OCDSB.

This is one reason why it's important to have democratic oversight within education.  It's complicated to educate children particularly within the modern context of a demanding curriculum, varied populations and cultures, and numerous student needs.  In a large rapidly changing institution, children can be overlooked and their educational requirements can go unmet.

In a real sense, school trustees are often the bridge between parents who rightfully have the best interest of their children at heart and school board staff who have to take into account the needs of all students.  We are the simultaneous interpreters -- the people in a booth who hear something in one language and translate for those who think and speak another.  We have our ear to the ground so that we appreciate the concerns of parents while we also try to understand the acronyms, regulations and constraints of education staff.

As elected officials, school trustees are often contacted by members of the public. People want their representative to give them advice or solve a problem.  This is an expectation parents have when they contact their trustee.  Many times I've been able to find a solution simply by knowing who to call and what to say.  This is also a part of the democratic process and it has been a joy to help families and students when I could.

I've written about trustees' work in another post, How to make an astronaut laugh.  By the way, Chris Hadfield will be speaking in Ottawa toward the end of November.  He is wonderful story teller!

Perhaps Michael Barrett, the President of the Ontario Public School Boards Association, sums up the role of trustees best in a recent article published in North Bay's Bay Today.  When it comes to education, we are the voice of the community. Trustees would not be able to do this if they were appointed by or beholden to another level of government.

Education is important.  Vote on Monday.  Do your homework on the trustee candidates in your area.  It's All in Your Hands is a great site to find most of the information you'll need to make an informed choice on Monday.

Who you elect to office can make a big difference for your school board.  Most candidates have websites where they can be contacted.  Ask questions of your candidates.  There are some exaggerating their experience, such as Jeremy Wittet who is running in my zone and claims to be a "former Ontario school board trustee."  About ten years ago, Mr. Wittet was a high-school student trustee, which is a valued but very different role.  Ask them why they want to be a school board trustee and then listen. Do they respond in a way that shows they have the best interests of children at heart?

People often ask who I support.  In Ottawa, Christine Boothby in Zone 2 Kanata and Shawn Menard in Zone 9 Rideau-Vanier/Capital have been acclaimed.  Trustees Rob Campbell, Bronwyn Funiciello,  Katie Holtzhauer and Jennifer McKenzie are not running again.  Over the years, they have put in many long hours in a job that can be thankless. They will be missed.

I recommend the following candidates because I respect and have worked with them or I generally agree with their approach:

• Donna Blackburn in Zone 3 Barrhaven/Knoxdale-Merivale, 
• Theresa Kavanagh in Zone 4 Bay, 
• Anita Olsen Harper in Zone 5 College, 
• Chris Ellis in Zone 6 Alta Vista/Rideau-Rockcliffe, 
• Curtis Bulatovich in Zone 7 Gloucester-Southgate/Osgoode/Gloucester South-Nepean, 
• Erica Braunovan in Zone 10 Kitchissippi/Somerset, 
• Shirley Seward in Zone 11 River, 
• Michael Urminsky in Zone 12 Beacon Hill-Cyrville/Innes.

Elsewhere in Ontario, there are many good candidates.  Some trustees I have worked with are either not running this time around or have been acclaimed.  I have worked with almost all the following candidates and have great deal of respect for the following trustees:

• Durham District School Board: Michael Barrett in Oshawa;
• Grand Erie District School Board:  Carol Ann Sloat in Brantford, Don Werden in Norfolk County;
• Greater Essex District School Board: Cheryl Lovell in Windsor, Julia Burgess in Kingsville, Essex, Harrow;
• Halton District School Board: Donna Danielli in Milton, Don Vrooman in Oakville;
• Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board: Todd White in Ward 5, Dawn Danko in Ward 7, Wes Hicks in Ward 8, Stefanie Sheils in Wards 9, 10, Alex Johnstone in Wards 11, 12;
• Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board: Cathy Abraham in Clarington;
• Keewatin-Patricia District School Board: Gerald Kleist in Ear Falls;
• Lakehead District School Board: George Saarinen, Marg Arnone;
• Rainbow District School Board: Tyler Campbell in Sudbury;
• Renfrew County District School Board: David Shields;
• Simcoe County District School Board: Michele Locke in Midland, Tay, Severn;
• Superior-Greenstone District School Board: Mark Mannisto in Greenstone;
• Toronto District School Board: Chris Glover in Ward 2, Howard Kaplan in Ward 5, Shelley Laskin in Ward 11, Mari Rutka in Ward 12, Cathy Dandy in Ward 15, Sheila Cary-Meagher in Ward 16, Jerry Chadwick in Ward 22;
• Upper Canada District School Board: Jeff McMillan in Ward 5, Arthur Buckland in Ward 9;
• Upper Grand District School Board: Mark Bailey in Guelph Wards 1, 5, Marty Fairbairn in Guelph Ward 6/Puslinch;
• Waterloo Region District School Board: Ted Martin in Kitchener, Kathi Smith in Kitchener, Kathleen Woodcock in Waterloo/Wilmot;
• York District School Board: Loralea Carruthers in East Gwillimbury/Whitchurch-Stouffville, Joel Hertz in Vaughan. 

This week, Sergent-at-Arms Kevin Vickers has been rightly hailed for his heroism in defending Parliament.  As recent events illustrate, democracy can be fragile.  If our Sergent-at-Arms can risk his life in defence of democracy, the least we can do is vote. And while you're at it, support education too by making an informed choice for your local school trustee.


The views expressed in this post are personal opinions only.

Ripples of thanks

Ripples permeate our world yet we are scarcely aware of them.  The ripples in space tell us about the universe and the big bang.  Electrical ripples and waves surround us but are rarely seen.  Still they are observable through the use of an oscilloscope and they help tell us about the nature of electricity.

From Charity Accelerator

Ripples possess an innate ability to interact with each other.  The dark rings in this photo are areas where the ripples act to nullify each other. The brighter ones are evidence of reinforcement. Human interaction can be much like these ripples.  At times we build each other up.  Other times we destroy each other.

This might be called karma, the sense of human causality to do good or perhaps not.  In some Hindu sects, there is the belief that karma determines future life.  Most religions have some type of belief that good begets good, whether it is with the Christian sense of charity, the Jewish belief in the mitzvah, or Islam's encouragement to do good works during the holy month of Ramadan.

I'm not one to believe in the religious sense but as I grow older, I see more examples of "karma" in the everyday.  Kindness that begets kindness.  Positive actions that encourage others.  Unlike the pond ripples, we rarely see the outcome of our actions but a few years back, I was fortunate to see it first hand.

A young man approached me at a charity event and said, "Remember me?"

I remembered his face but I'm really bad with names.  When he told me his story, I started to remember the details.  We had worked together on an Ethiopian famine relief event a decade earlier. At the time, he was an engineering student and I was working with an agency on campus ... and over the work, we had one long, ongoing debate.  His position was that the famine was caused by draught. I said that I thought it was due to the breakdown of societal and government institutions.

Then he said to me, "That debate made me very angry and I was determined to prove you wrong.  So after I graduated, I signed up to work with a charity in Africa and I have just recently returned.  I never would have thought to go without that discussion.  I worked there for a decade and it changed my life for the better in unimaginable ways. Thank you."

Chuckling at the memory, I realize he never did say which one of us had been right. But I can still see the scene in my mind's eye and remember the effect his words had on me.  I was dumbfounded as I hadn't realized until then how much we can and do affect others.  I had never observed the ripples.

For Erik

I feel this way again today.  I've always said that you meet the most wonderful people in this job.  I recently received a lovely thank you letter from a parent.  We have served together on the Special Education Advisory Committee for some time and her note with an attached article* touched me deeply.

She also mentioned that she enjoys reading this blog.  Hopefully without causing embarrassment, I want to say thank you too ... and thanks also to the many other caring hard-working parents I've met over the years.  I hope the ripple that is you may go out to inspire others for years to come.


* This article first appeared in Volume 11, Number 3, Summer 2014 issue of Autism Ontario's Autism Matters magazine. 


The views expressed in this post are personal opinions only.

How to make an astronaut laugh

Canadian astronaut, Chris Hadfield, gave a presentation to a meeting of the Canadian School Boards Association earlier this summer.  I had heard interviews with Commander Hadfield during his stay on the International Space Station and had come to think of Hadfield as a true believer – a bit of a cheerleader and a little over the top when it came to space travel.

Chris Hadfield belts out a song in space

But as it turned out, Chris Hadfield is a wonderful storyteller.  I listened and began to see the man behind the mission and the boy who dreamed of going into space.  Hadfield painted such a vivid picture of his experience.  I almost felt myself stuck to my chair by the immense force of lift off.  When Hadfield described his spacewalk, I floated through the blackness of space with the image of a moonless night down by the lake.  And with his description of re-entry, I imagined being in a car with bad shocks going down a dirt washboard road. 

Times ten – what we think is physical stress here on earth pales in comparison to the description of Hadfield’s journey.  From the tender age of nine, Chris Hadfield had yearned to go into space and he showed us a photo of himself aboard a spaceship fashioned from a Quaker Oats box.  Commander Hadfield spoke too about his years of training, in the air and below the sea, and how he spent ten years learning to speak Russian in preparation for his flight.

When asked about the highlights of his space travels, Chris Hadfield talks about various things but mostly about his opportunity to speak to thousands of school children.  Hadfield is an amazing science teacher to young and old alike!

Chris Hadfield’s accomplishments are possible when a child has the opportunity to follow his dreams.  Commander Hadfield reached the stars … or at least came a little closer than most of us.  For some reason, Hadfield’s passion wasn’t squashed in childhood. 

Sir Ken Robinson speaks about the importance of fostering creativity in school and caring educators talk at length about how this may be done.  Despite the talk, the standardization of pedagogy and curriculum seems to be increasing.  While there remains some creativity in teaching, there also seems to be a belief among some bureaucrats and senior politicians that the right method coupled with the right ingredients will magically improve learning in our schools.  While graduation rates are improving and there have been changes introduced that make a difference in better addressing children’s individual needs, many of the new programs haven’t delivered.  There are still far too many children falling through the cracks.

Chris Hadfield followed his dream from childhood.  Ironically in this time of abundant choices, most children and adults don’t have the opportunities or the inner knowledge to realize their ambitions.  Still we often just tell them throughout childhood, especially at convocations, to follow their dreams.

We live in a world of specialists.  Malcolm Gladwell in his book Outliers talks about “The 10,000-Hour Rule.”  In other words, in this era of accumulated knowledge and specialization, it takes roughly 10,000 hours of work or practice to become expert in most endeavours or professions.  Whoa Nelly, that’s a lot of hours!  No wonder kids need a dream and a great deal of passion to succeed.

What of the many without this burning ambition?  What about the kids in our specialized age who are generalists by temperament?  They’re not about to expend 10,000 hours to master a craft that doesn’t set them on fire.  What I would say then is to care about the person standing before you and bring integrity to your work.  These will help you find meaning in life.

As a generalist, I have had wonderful opportunities to work in various jobs over a lifetime.  As a school trustee, I have been able to bring this varied experience and knowledge to help influence schools and children’s lives.  While I want to encourage others to run for trustee, I won’t sugarcoat it.  Since the loss to direct local school taxation, there’s little formal power or remuneration attached to the position.  Most trustees are conscientious and it can be a lot of work.  It can also be frustrating, sometimes very frustrating, but there’s influence connected to the job that’s hard to beat. 

In an earlier post, I outlined the importance of assisting individual families and children by giving a little advice or making a phone call.  On a slightly larger scale, I was able to make an arrangement to sharpen 600 pairs of skates that were donated to a needy school.  Advocacy at pivotal points, being in the right place at the right time, helped roll out of the Pathways to Education and Empower Reading programs within our school board.  These two programs continue to work wonders for hundreds of students who struggle in school.

With two of my colleagues, we rewrote the school board’s special education policy to make it more responsive to the needs of children.  A number of trustees also worked to oppose the proposed alternative programme closure and the closure of Rideau High School, which if it had gone ahead, would have been severe blow to a needy community.

We helped develop a culture of equity at the OCDSB.  Recently our school board was among the first to address and support the educational rights of First Nations, Inuit and Metis students.  This is important both nationally and locally as more aboriginal families settle in Ottawa.

I'm in British Columbia right now and I've been hearing about the teachers' strike here. There has been 13 years of teacher labour unrest in B.C.  Trustees I've spoken to put the blame on the provincial government for the deadlock.  During last year’s teachers' unrest in Ontario, many trustees played the role of honest broker to prevent a reoccurrence of the B.C. experience.  School trustees through their work with the Ontario Public School Boards Association have influence in the development of new initiatives, such as mental health programs in schools, and OPSBA has the ultimate responsibility in financial matters to act as the employer in teacher and school board staff negotiations.

As I was saying, you meet the most interesting people in this work.  After the presentation, Chris Hadfield offered to sign his book, An Astronaut’s Guide to Life.  As an aside, ABC is developing a sit-com based on the book. The casting possibilities should be interesting. I can't imagine who will play Hadfield but perhaps we may see Bill Shatner in yet another role, this time as Hadfield's oddball uncle. 

I was in line for the book signing a really long time.  As I waited, I had an opportunity to listen to Chris Hadfield answer questions and I noticed that he put a lot of thought into it. When it was finally my turn, I said, “Commander Hadfield, these book signings must be nearly as gruelling as going into space.”

Chris Hadfield started to laugh, really laugh, but then he stopped abruptly, studied my face, and said, “Seriously?  No!”  As an astronaut and teacher, Hadfield didn’t want to appear to minimize the real difficulties inherent to space travel.  Then he saw the twinkle in my eye, realized I was pulling his leg, and we both started to laugh again.

Our approaches may be as different as distant galaxies but astronauts, school trustees, and many caring people find common ground in helping to educate children.   Look at the trustee candidates in your area and consider running for trustee yourself.  There's an online resource to help get you started, http://elections.ontarioschooltrustees.org/en/index.html.  The deadline for nominations is September 12.

Few jobs offer such a great opportunity to make a difference.  Over my eight years as a school trustee, I learned a good deal.  There were many occasions to meet and work with some very good and thoughtful people ... and a chance to laugh with a man who had travelled to the heavens.  Overall, the experience was out of this world!

The views expressed in this post are personal opinions only.