September 2007 |
I’ve been in South Africa for almost a week, and am currently in Stellenbosch (near Capetown). We will be returning to Capetown tomorrow and staying there a couple of days before moving on to Johannesburg. I have had little time to write anything, and internet access where I am staying is prohibitively expensive. The purpose of the visit is to attend a conference on globalization, and to meet with unions and social movements from South Africa and other parts of southern Africa. The conference has been very interesting and enlightening. Participants represent labour unions and other social movements from many countries in southern Africa, and I’ve learned a great deal about issues here. Learning about the South African experience has been especially interesting. There is great dissatisfaction with the ANC (African National Congress) government of Thabo Mbeki, which has become very neo-liberal in its orientation. Those who looked to the ANC to work to resolve the socio-economic issues left in the wake of apartheid have been left to feel deserted, but have no other political alternatives. Instead, there has been a tremendous rise of new social movements, many based on specific issues and/or communities. Listening to the stories of the people involved with these movements has been very emotional, and the energy they bring to the issues is awe-inspiring. I’ll write more about some of these stories when I get back to Canada. |
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I’m on a trip to South Africa and Mozambique, though London, England. The trip is in part related to my work but is also in part a holiday. I thought I’d try to write something for the blog as often as possible about the trip. I am unlikely to have good internet access throughout the trip, so I’ll backdate posts as I’m able to make them. Tonight I’m in London, England. It has been a long day, leaving home at 3am and crossing 5 time zones before arriving here around 9pm local time. After a meeting with people from a union in the UK tomorrow and some sightseeing, I’ll be on an 11 hour overnight flight to Capetown South Africa. |
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The Ontario Progressive Conservative Party has promised to extend public funding to all religious schools if they are elected. I think this is a terrific announcement, though perhaps not for the reasons one might expect. My reason? It will almost certainly ensure the Conservatives aren't elected. And that's a good thing. It isn't that I oppose the extension of funding to more religious schools as Tory proposes, I oppose the funding of any religious schools (including the current funding of the Catholic school system in Ontario). To put it differently: There is nothing special about Catholic schools, and we either need to extend funding to all religious schools or end funding of the Catholic system. Tory just picked the wrong solution. I will give Tory this: His solution is better than the status quo (that is, the selective funding of one particular religion). But let's not aim for second best. It isn't that I have anything against religion, or the teaching of religious principles and doctrines. Every parent has the right to teach their children about the faith they believe (or to create places to do it institutionally). It is just that the public education system isn't the place to do it. One of the great things about Canada (and Ontario) is that we have no state religion - all faiths and ideas are welcome here. But faith is a private matter, and should not be publicly supported or funded. The Green Party of Ontario, in its platform, has indicated it would end funding to the Catholic system. Good for them. It won't encourage me to vote Green, but good for them nonetheless. Somebody needs to say it. Having said that, the arguments I've heard the Greens making are about cost efficiencies rather than principles. Oh, and I've just watched an interview with John Tory on the local television station, and he appeared not to have even the slightest idea how many public schools there are in Ontario. Now, to be perfectly clear, neither do I. But I'm not the leader of a political party with a key election platform about the funding of education. What else doesn't John Tory know about education? |
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