For the first time in my life I felt the need to vote. Oh, I've always voted, but this time it actually had meaning for me.
Just before 7:00 PM last night, me and the Mrs. walked into the gymnasium of a PUBLIC SCHOOL (now that is symbolic), and saw a security person and 4 people sitting behind desks. We were the only voters in the joint.
I went first, and voted for our Liberal candidate, and I also voted to keep the current system on the referendum issue.
I put my votes in the ballot box and then whispered to my wife who to vote for. She agreed with me 100% on the faith funding issue but she doesn't pay much attention to Party names. We didn't discuss the referendum issue, but I told her to check the first box on that ballot (she usually goes along with anything I say as long as it has nothing to do with sex).
When walking out of the school, even though I had a pretty good idea that the Liberals would get a majority win, and I knew my vote wouldn't matter as far as getting the Liberals to win and the PC's to lose, I actually felt proud and even a little euphoric.
I told my wife as we seated ourselves in the car that we just sent a message to future politicians to not even think about blurring the line that separates church and state.
Yes, I realize we still fund Catholics schools, but at least now it will be much easier to fade out that funding in the next 20 years perhaps. If Tory won, it would be impossible.
Every time I heard Tory say that it is a matter of fairness, my bullshit detector went ballistic. There were three options: the status quo, fund all faith based schools, or fund no faith based schools.
The majority of Ontarians felt the latter was the most fair, but Tory didn't give that as an option.
When voting for a realistic candidate (one with a chance to win), I had two choices: the status quo (the Liberals) or fund all faith based schools (the PCs). Oh, I know that Tory backed down a week ago and said he would have a free vote after a test period, but I just didn't trust him and didn't feel the need to trust him because he didn't back down on what he wanted to do which is fund all faith based schools. I didn't even want this to even be an option in the future.
I did email the PC candidate in my riding a couple of weeks ago to tell him he lost both mine and my wife's vote because of Tory. He emailed me back defending the platform...blah blah blah, bring the 53,000 kids into the public system...I replied telling him that wasn't my major concern. My main concern is separation of church and state, and I also realize that we were not talking just 53,000 kids because what would stop a large amount of kids in the near future from going to faith based schools. Yes, it would create a lot more segregation and take a lot more kids out of the secular system eventually(I don't know why this wasn't made to be a big issue by rival candidates. It makes me wonder just how smart? politicians really are not to be able to see this. Lawyer James Morton figured it out though). I didn't get another email back.
Next, we need a referendum to phase out Catholic school funding in Ontario. We are now closer to that reality.
This was the first time I ever voted Liberal. Dalton got lucky.
ReplyDeleteI voted for the Liberals once before.
ReplyDeleteIn my early 20's, because I liked their voting ad signs more than I like the signs of the other parties.
I agree with what you say and voted the same way you did except I listened to my wife. That said it’s pretty obvious that God didn’t want to win in Ontario. Either that or this election is just more proof that Satan rules Canada.
ReplyDeleteI guess I wouldn't be happy about my tax money going to teach fairy tales either.
ReplyDeleteEducation is for facts Church is for myths and superstitions
I always figured that it was okay to fund faith-based schools-- as long as they were required to teach the same things as the public schools. You know, sex education besides abstinence-only, evolution, etc. If they wanted to throw in religious classes too, that's their prerogative, but I'd have no problem funding a faith-based school as long as they followed an approved curriculum.
ReplyDeleteBasiorana, I am against it for so many reasons.
ReplyDelete1) Just because they follow a curriculum doesn't mean they can't teach creation science in other classes. Not with tax money...sorry.
2) The expense of funding such schools. In Ontario, Catholics got grandfathered in and the overwhelming majority of Catholics send their children to those schools. What is to stop the overwhelming percentage of Mormons, Jews, Baptists, Scientologists, etc. from doing the same? And who is going to pay to put up all these schools and police them to make sure they aren't falling away from the curriculum?
3) Segregation. Kids, especially at early age should be with other ethnicities and culture and religions if possible. It is a matter of giving them a chance to become more tolerant of others. Being tolerant in theory isn't as good as the real thing.
4) Separation of Church and State. We shouldn't fund churches and we shouldn't fund religious doctrine taught in schools.