School is worth more than the sum of its parts because the life lessons go beyond text books and exams. Some of the most valuable insights don’t even earn a grade or gold star – yet they offer priceless knowledge that can guide (or haunt) you forever.
We all have memories from our youth that bubble up from time to time that remind us how the building blocks of our moral foundations were formed. You learn right from wrong by watching people do right or wrong and seeing what happens as a result.
Students in Ontario will get a front-row seat about how the world works, for good and bad, as education support workers and the government face-off over their next employment contract.
Every generation of students get a taste of what organized labour in a public service industry go through. We’ve all seen the strike lines and been bombed with both labour and government rhetoric. Students suffer the shrapnel while caught in the crossfire yet also reap the benefits as time marches onward.
It’s a bit different this time as the Ontario Government threatens to override collective bargaining rights and dictate terms with a “notwithstanding” trump card. I’m sure it’s already being discussed in university political science classes as a case study in authoritarianism. What’s the “notwithstanding” clause? It’s a provincial option to protect itself (for up to five years) from having to justify anti-strike legislation that overrides the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
It’s much like the federal government using the Emergencies Act last February – except there will be no inquiry as oversight to see if the government acted properly. In another way, there are parallels to how Premier Doug Ford is avoiding testimony at the Emergencies Act Inquiry – using a technicality to avoid accountability.
Naturally, this is a crossroad for organized labour in Ontario and throughout Canada. If provincial governments feel comfortable forcing a contract on the least-paid support staff at schools in the midst of hyperinflation, when and where would such strong-arm tactics end? If pandemic fatigue is good enough excuse to trample on constitutional protections, there is little security and certainty available in any public service contract.
Despite everyone wishing there would be fewer disruptions and consistent in-school education this year, this might be one of those watershed life-lesson moments. Do you stand for the rights of individual and collective freedoms or do you embrace authoritarianism?
My Coffee with Canucks podcast this week touched on the issue of early life lessons. Participating in the discussion was Johanne Brousseau, who lost a close North Bay mayoral election last week, and Pat Madill Stamp, a pottery teacher and writer.
We, of course, sifted through some of Brousseau’s campaign experiences and the political education that was provided. The subject of media coverage came up as well with several examples cited and discussed. Stamp noted potential similarities to how Liberal Monique Smith was treated, including some insights from myself who was on The Nugget front lines throughout her first campaign and time at Queen’s Park.
As part of the podcast, I played for them a recording of Sylvia Ross, 84, who was the deputy manager of the North Bay Airport back in the day. Despite provincial and national laurels, she is now known as the neighbour of mayor-elect Peter Chirico, with Ross contending that the public should benefit from the 66-foot strip of road allowance between their properties.
Ross tells the story of being a young student when her teacher, Mr. Brown, lost his temper on another student. She was the only one in the class who dared raise her hand when witnesses were sought and it provided a lesson for all involved – including her future husband who never forgot her example of bravery in the face of the more powerful.
Stamp told a story about when she was in Grade 2 in Windsor, before moving to North Bay, which illustrated that sometimes justice isn’t done properly – yet it also becomes a lifelong lesson of how not to deal with disputes. And it makes you wonder how a student, who wasn’t treated fairly, processed that experience and how it may have impacted their future.
Brousseau followed with lessons she noted during her life – one recently and another years ago – which emboldens her to stand up and speak out. As she said, you might not be racist yourself but it’s just as bad when sit back and say nothing when others practice prejudice in public or private. (For additional segments of the interview, see the channel here).
It boils down to a singular truth – the only way to test a person’s character is to give them an option between courage and convenience. And the only way to study for such an exam is to watch how others (those with power and those without it) deal or don't deal with conflicts.
Dave Dale is a veteran journalist and columnist who has covered the North Bay area for more than 30 years. Reader responses meant as Letters to the Editor can be sent to [email protected]. To contact the writer directly, email: [email protected] or check out his website www.smalltowntimes.ca
