Your Feed from the Daye.

Thank you, thank you Toronto Centre

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Daye) — Sat, 14 Jun 2014 18:16:00 +0000

I'm the first to admit, "Mark Daye becoming the first elected Green MPP in Ontario's history" was a long shot.

But it's good to have goals.

Mark Daye,
Toronto Centre GPO Candidate 2014

On election day, I wanted to double my 2011 results when I was the choice of 1,123 Toronto Centre voters.

I'm proud to report that on election day 2014, 2,265 Toronto Centre residents made the choice for change:

- the choice to fix our school system and say it's time to end the discrimination and waste

- the choice for home retrofits instead of re-tooled nuclear power

- the choice to protect our prime farmland and drinking water

These are not fringe issues. These are good ideas. These are the issues that affect Ontarians every day.

Unfortunately, good ideas have a tough time in our broken electoral system that is dominated by fear rather than hope.

As we take a moment to catch our breath, I want to thank everyone who donated their time, talents and money to my campaign.

It all helps as we take this small success and continue to grow the Green Party in Toronto Centre and work for a better future for us all.

I hope you will continue on this journey with me.

Mark Daye,

Toronto Centre GPO Candidate 2014

Ontario Votes 2014 Why we need electoral reform in Ontario.

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Daye) — Fri, 13 Jun 2014 18:08:00 +0000

Fairness and Savings in Ontario’s Education System

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Daye) — Thu, 05 Jun 2014 18:08:00 +0000

With regard to:

Could Greens save $1 billion merging school boards?

Fairness and Savings in Ontario’s Education System

Reporter Donovan Vincent’s recent article (Could Greens save $1 billion…?”, June 4) “testing the claim” of the Green Party of Ontario to over $1 billion in annual savings by merging Ontario’s overlapping public and Catholic school systems was incomplete in that it did not really delve into arguments supporting the claim.

The “last massive amalgamation effort” that People for Education’s Annie Kidder spoke of in the article involved the 1998 merger of adjacent school boards, not overlapping ones. According to the report of the School Board Reduction Task Force that advised that exercise, nearly all of the 1296 responses to their interim report disagreed with the Task Force's mandate forbidding them from even considering the merger of overlapping public and Catholic school boards. Everyone without a vested interest in the status quo knew that this was where the most significant savings were to be found and the Task Force believed the sentiment was so strong it warranted special mention.

For clear evidence of the savings possible by merging the public and Catholic school systems, one need only look at the significant disparity in funding between school boards serving the same area.

In Ontario, almost without exception, smaller school boards with more geographically dispersed schools and students receive significantly higher funding on a per pupil basis (total funding divided by total enrolment) than their larger counterparts in the same area. This is not favoritism. This is the Ministry of Education recognizing that Ontario’s smaller school boards cannot realize the same economies and efficiencies as their larger counterparts and therefore need higher funding to offer a comparable quality of education.

In Green Party leader Mike Schreiner’s Guelph area riding, for example, the English Catholic, French Catholic, and French public school boards receive 6%, 35%, and 50% higher funding on a per pupil basis than the English public school board.

In education, costs are not solely determined by the number of students, but by the manner in which we chose to serve them. In Ontario, we chose a very costly way.

Would we tolerate two fire stations in every community – one to serve two of three houses on each street and the other to serve the remainder? Or two gas utilities with separate infrastructures? Of course not – yet we tolerate exactly this type of costly duplication and overlap in education every day.

Ontario school boards currently bus hundreds of thousands of children past their nearest publicly funded school each day to attend another one farther away – often in another community. Many children have never attended a school in their own community – even though their community may have a perfectly good publicly funded school. Who can deny that is costly? Who can deny that affects student quality of life and the environment?

With declining enrolment, surplus pupil places (empty seats) have ballooned from 120,000 in 2002-03, just before the Liberals took power, to over 416,000 today. A Greater Essex County District School Board spokesman recently pegged the cost of their surplus places at $1000 per year – a figure other trustees have told me they believe to be lower than actual. That figure implies at least “hundreds of millions” of dollars a year going to maintain empty space, which coincidentally was the phrase Education Minister Liz Sandals herself used to describe the order of sums involved. As a minimum, surplus pupil places should be reduced to at least 2002-03 levels when the student population was greater than today, implying a reduction of at least 300,000 pupil places and a savings of at least $300 million per year going forward.

A reduction of this magnitude implies hundreds of school closings. This can be done – but this can only be done without significant detrimental impact on Ontario neighbourhoods and communities if we merge the best of the public and Catholic school systems into one school system at the same time. The alternative is to close schools while condemning even more kids to needlessly long commutes to ever more distant schools.

Education Minister Liz Sandals has been promoting the even less sensible approach of bashing under-enrolled and still separate public and Catholic schools together in the same building with their separate but similar split grade classes and their separate but similar administrations intact. School will still close, but the Ontario educational landscape will be messier and more nonsensical than ever.

One other saving to be realized by the move to one school system would be the movement of at least some students to private religious schools. If only 2-5% of Catholic students were to move to private religious schools, additional savings of $140-350 million per year would be realized.

It is pretty clear the savings from a move to one school system are not “nickels and dimes”. It is time our cash-strapped, heavily indebted government got on with the task. If the financial benefits are not enough to sway them, then perhaps someday at least they might want to respect all Ontarians as equals before and under the law.

Canada has twice been censured by the UN Human Rights Committee for the religious discrimination whereby Ontario funds the religious schools of the Catholic faith exclusively. Ontario Superior Court Justice David Corbett recently (Oct 2013) described those censures as “a signal from the United Nations that s. 93 of the Canadian constitution [the section concerning Catholic school funding] offends international human rights norms.”

People for Education does some great work contributing to education related discourse in Ontario – except, strangely, when it comes to the issue of public and Catholic school board mergers. There, its arguments are little more than flimsy assertions that the savings would be insignificant. In the absence of evidence to support that claim, they should at least disclose the significant funding they receive from the government whose wasteful and discriminatory school system they defend.

Kathleen Wynne and other defenders of Ontario’s wasteful and discriminatory “school system as it exists” will have to come up with some compelling reasons for taking that position – if any can be found. Because I can assure them, this issue is not going away. As taxes mount, hydro rates soar, and our truly essential services go wanting for adequate funding, the calls to eliminate the completely unnecessary duplication and overlap in our school system will only grow louder and louder.

Leonard Baak
President, OneSchoolSystem.org, Ottawa
leonard@OneSchoolSystem.org

Leonard Baak is an Ottawa based software engineer who started OneSchoolSystem.org with two other Ottawa area parents in 2004 to push for the merger of Ontario’s public and Catholic school systems into one school system for each official language.

Mama Wynne shuts down Olivier

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Daye) — Wed, 28 May 2014 17:37:00 +0000

Morning North CBC Sudbury -

Sudbury Liberal candidate Andrew Olivier interview where he expressed support for merging the public and Catholic school systems.

Listen for yourself. Interesting his retraction came shortly after Kathleen Wynne visited his riding personally yesterday, isn't it?

So much for thinking for yourself!

http://www.cbc.ca/m/touch/canada/toronto/story/1.2655636

Mark Daye's Toronto

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Daye) — Wed, 28 May 2014 01:26:00 +0000

Local ketchup loves local potatoes!

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Daye) — Thu, 22 May 2014 14:35:00 +0000

(London): Mike Schreiner, leader of the Green Party of Ontario, says Green MPPs will take bold action to support Ontario’s food and beverage processing sector.

“Ontarians want the corn, peas, tomatoes, and strawberries grown here to be processed here,” says Schreiner. “Local food processing is key to keeping the family farm in business.”

The food and farming sector employs more than 740,000 people and contributes more than $40 billion to Ontario's economy. Ontario’s food and beverage processors alone generate $40 billion in revenue, create 125,000 jobs directly, and contribute $11 billion to Ontario’s GDP.

In the wake of the Heinz ketchup factory closing in Leamington in 2013 -- and in response to pressure from Green Party supporters and local food advocates -- the Liberal government announced some funds for food processing.

Unfortunately, the Heinz announcement was only one in a string of Ontario processing plant closures. In the past five years Ontario has lost a major sweet corn and pea canning factory in Exeter and a fruit canning plant near Niagara-on-the-Lake. Since 1998, the province has lost more than half of its small abattoirs.

“Greens will continue to push for a dedicated fund to support homegrown entrepreneurs to start and expand local food processing businesses,” says Schreiner. “Greens will also push for regulatory changes to make it easier for local producers to bring products to market.”

The GPO is calling for regulatory reforms that support small and medium scale food producers who must comply with rules written for large processing firms.

Mike Schreiner and the Green Party are committed to bringing honesty, integrity, and good public policy to Queen’s Park

Your Green MPP’s Plan of Action for 2014

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Daye) — Tue, 13 May 2014 14:25:00 +0000

HIGHLIGHTS
Mike Schreiner and the Green Party of Ontario want to get Ontario back on track.

Click here for the 2014 GPO Platform

We have a realistic, responsible plan for Ontario’s future.

In the next session of the legislature, your Green MPPs will demand that the government:

1. Raise the Employer Healthcare Tax exemption from $450,000 to $900,000 for businesses with payrolls of less than $5 million.

2. Implement dedicated revenue tools to raise $3 billion a year to build and operate the transit we need in Ontario.

3. Put $4 billion over four years into home energy retrofit credits.

4. Save $1.2 to $1.6 billion a year by moving to one public system with French and English public school boards.

5. Double the child tax benefit for half a million children living in families near the poverty line.

6. Endow a Social Innovation Fund to support social and economic innovation by young adults.

7. Permanently protect Ontario’s Class 1 farmland and source water regions.

8. Increase royalties and levies for mining, aggregates and water-taking.

9. Close loopholes in legislation that threaten your community and our natural heritage from harmful activities.

Each of the demands is costed, and we show you where the money is coming from.

None of our demands will rely on fairy dust or magic pots of money. None of our commitments will increase the deficit. None of our promises will quietly disappear once they’ve done the work of getting us elected.

All of our commitments will make Ontario a better place in which to live, work, and bring up your family.

Join us and help restore honesty, integrity, and good public policy to Queen’s Park.

Think Big and Expect Better: The Green Party of Ontario Releases Platform

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Daye) — Tue, 13 May 2014 12:03:00 +0000

Queen’s Park -- Mike Schreiner, leader of the Green Party of Ontario, released the party’s election platform today at Queen’s Park.

Schreiner is on a mission to bring honesty, integrity and good public policy to Queen’s Park.

“At the doorstep and in coffee shops, people tell me they are tired of the political status quo-- political games, boondoggles, broken promises, and secret deals,” says Schreiner. “We must expect better. Greens are committed to restoring honesty, integrity, and good public policy to Queen’s Park.”

The platform focuses on jobs, kids, and the environment.

It puts forward nine demands that will be made by Green MPPs elected in 2014. Each of the demands is costed and the source of revenue identified.

“Financial, social, and environmental accountability are at the heart of Green Party values,” says Deputy Leader Kevin O’Donnell. “This platform is visionary and responsible. It doesn’t borrow from our kids future by gutting public services or failing to fund important promises.”

The demands include bold and innovative solutions to pressing problems faced by the people of Ontario, like a real plan to save you money on energy bills, without costly gimmicks. They are also all concrete ways in which Green MPPs can contribute to creating a better future for us all.

“I want to make it clear to the people of Ontario: a Green vote can and will make a difference,” says Schreiner. “On issue after issue, we have shown leadership and brought about change for a better Ontario.”

June election leaves democratic initiatives to die

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Daye) — Tue, 06 May 2014 15:57:00 +0000

Guelph - Green Party of Ontario leader and Guelph candidate Mike Schreiner criticized the other party leaders for leaving democracy stranded in the rush to jump on the campaign bus.

“Catchy slogans, media stunts, and rally signs do not make good public policy,” says Schreiner. “Political games by the status quo parties at Queen’s Park killed legislation that would strengthen our democracy.”

Bill 83, known as the anti-SLAPP bill, would make it more difficult for vested interests with deep pockets to threaten critics with legal costs and delays.

The legislation was introduced nearly a year ago, but has been stalled by the tactics of corporate lobbyists and the failure of the status quo parties to cooperate.

“Political games forced citizens to take a back seat,” says Schreiner. “All parties said they supported anti-SLAPP legislation, but they failed to pass the bill. What a shame.”

Bill 166, the Toronto Ranked Ballot Elections Act, has also been abandoned by the election call. The bill would introduce needed electoral reform to eliminate the need for strategic voting, reduce negative campaigning, and ensure our preferences are more directly represented. It opens the door for proportional representation so that every vote counts.

Politicians of all stripes, business owners, social justice leaders, journalists, and artists have joined together in their support for municipal electoral reform.

“If we want to restore faith and bolster participation in politics, we need to fix the broken electoral system,” said Dave Meslin, a leader in the movement to revitalize our democracy. “We elect MPPs to work together in our interest, not to derail the legislature and waste the thousands of hours that have been invested in these important bills. The early election call only serves to feed cynicism about politics.”

Mike Schreiner issued calls to fast track these and other important bills.

The Green Party is on a mission to restore honesty, integrity, and good public policy to Queen’s Park.

Schreiner lauds Dolime decision, pledges to keep pushing to protect Guelph’s water

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Daye) — Mon, 05 May 2014 20:59:00 +0000

Guelph – Green Party leader and Guelph candidate Mike Schreiner applauds the decision of the Environmental Review Tribunal to allow an appeal by the City of the water-taking permit granted the owners of the Guelph Dolime Quarry.

“This is a significant victory for Guelph: let’s take a moment to celebrate everyone’s hard work that led to this decision,” said Schreiner. “But Guelph’s water is still not protected. I will continue to work with residents of Guelph to pressure the Ministry to protect our water.”

On Friday, the Environmental Review Tribunal granted the City leave to appeal the Ministry of the Environment decision to issue an “Amended Permit to Take Water” under the Ontario Water Resources Act to River Valley Developments for operations at the Guelph Dolime Quarry.

“Laws need to change,” adds Schreiner. “It’s outrageous that the City has to spend time and money protecting our water from the very Ministry that is supposed to protect water.”

Schreiner launched a public campaign to support the City of Guelph’s efforts to protect municipal water supplies from the Dolime quarry on April 30, 2013. He has collected over 2,500 petition signatures. On February 11, 2014, Schreiner was able to bring all four political party candidates in Guelph together for a news conference to support the City’s efforts.

“I’m committed to protecting our water by closing legal loopholes that fail to put people and communities first. It’s an example of how politics is broken,” says Schreiner. “People can use their vote in the June 12 provincial election to demand change by voting Green.”

Rally for democracy with Elizabeth May

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Daye) — Mon, 28 Apr 2014 22:18:00 +0000

With Canadian democracy at risk and broken politics at Queen's Park, the role of the citizen has never been more important.

Join Green Party of Canada leader Elizabeth May and Green Party of Ontario leader Mike Schreiner to learn about threats to Canadian democracy like the so-called "Fair Elections Act", the difference one MP is making, and how you can act for change.

Elizabeth May has been voted Hardest Working MP and Parliamentarian of the Year.

Where: Red Chevron Club, Banquet Hall

34 Elizabeth St, Guelph, ON, N1E 2X2

When: Friday, May 2 • 6:30 - 7:30 p.m.

Friday, May 2, 2014 - 18:30 - 19:30

Ontario's education system must support kids with special needs by making smarter priorities - See more at: http://www.gpo.ca/media-release/ontarios-education-system-must-support-kids-special-needs-making-smarter-priorities#sthash.6GucUSCn.dpuf

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Daye) — Mon, 28 Apr 2014 15:10:00 +0000

Queen's Park - Green Party of Ontario leader Mike Schreiner is calling for the Liberal government to immediately make funds available so that kids with special needs can go to school every day.

"It is unacceptable for the Liberals to fail kids with special needs when the money is there,” said Schreiner. “Right now we are wasting it on duplicate services and empty chairs. If Ontario ended school segregation and merged the public and Catholic boards, we could save more than $1 billion a year.”

According to a study conducted by People for Education, 49% of school principals have asked parents to keep children with special needs at home, mainly because schools are under-staffed.

In elementary schools there is only one special education teacher per 37 students with special needs. In high schools the number falls to one for every 74 students.

“I have to say I’m ashamed. How can we be failing these kids in this way?” said Schreiner. “I’m not even sure it’s legal,” he added. The Education Act requires that children attend school unless they are ill.

For many years, the GPO has called for the merger of the Catholic and public school boards into one English board and one French board. The cost savings of this merger could fund special education needs, protect communities from school closures, and address persistent human rights concerns.

- See more at: http://www.gpo.ca/media-release/ontarios-education-system-must-support-kids-special-needs-making-smarter-priorities#sthash.6GucUSCn.dpuf

CTV Investigates: Catholic School Funding | CTV Kitchener News Part 3 of 3

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Daye) — Fri, 11 Apr 2014 01:27:00 +0000

CTV Investigates: Catholic School Funding | CTV Kitchener News

In a special series, CTV's Frank Lynn is looking at the groups pushing to end public funding for Catholic schools in Ontario, those pushing to keep the schools open, and the arguments on both sides of the issue. Click on the video player to watch the series.

CTV Investigates: Catholic School Funding | CTV Kitchener News Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Daye) — Thu, 10 Apr 2014 15:51:00 +0000

Statement on Erazo decision.

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Daye) — Thu, 10 Apr 2014 15:44:00 +0000

TORONTO, ONTARIO - (April 9, 2014)

The Green Party of Ontario applauds the Ontario Superior Court’s decision to excuse Jonathan Erazo and other students from religious field trips and attending mass and other religious programs.

The ruling applies to students in grades 9 through 12, who are entitled to exemptions from religious education under Section 42(13) of the Education Act with parental permission. Publicly funded Catholic elementary schools legally retain the right to refuse admission to non-Catholic children and are not affected by the decision.

"This decision reflects the increasingly diverse and secular society of Ontario and is one more small step towards a fair and equitable school system that has the potential to be the best and most accepting in the world." said Toronto Centre Green Party Candidate, Mark Daye.

"Catholic schools are the only denominational schools that are fully funded by all Ontario taxpayers,” Daye added. “Catholic boards should adhere to the law of the land or find their own source of funding if they want to make Catholic teaching mandatory."

CTV Investigates: Catholic School Funding | CTV Kitchener News

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Daye) — Wed, 09 Apr 2014 18:47:00 +0000

CTV Investigates: Catholic School Funding | CTV Kitchener News

In a special series, CTV's Frank Lynn is looking at the groups pushing to end public funding for Catholic schools in Ontario, those pushing to keep the schools open, and the arguments on both sides of the issue.

Day of pink

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Daye) — Wed, 09 Apr 2014 18:04:00 +0000

Today is the International Day of Pink. It's a day to wear pink to show you're taking a stand against discrimination and bullying. It started in Nova Scotia in 2007, when a boy was being bullied for wearing a pink shirt. The next day, two of his classmates wore pink to show support, and convinced the rest of the school to do the same. A number of "pink" events are taking place at schools today across the GTA. http://www.dayofpink.org/

Infographic on discrimination in publicly funded schools

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Daye) — Mon, 31 Mar 2014 21:37:00 +0000

One school system will benefit all

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Daye) — Mon, 31 Mar 2014 17:42:00 +0000

The recent announcement by the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board, which recommends the closure of 11 schools in addition to those previously announced, has left students, parents, staff, board members and now even a few politicians feeling anxious about the future. The HWDSB has been forced to make some very difficult decisions in the face of declining population and schools that have too many empty seats. School closures are personal and painful; there can be no question that closures hurt neighbourhoods. But what is a public school board to do?

Full Story: One school system will benefit all

Ontario Education Comparison

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Daye) — Tue, 18 Mar 2014 23:35:00 +0000

Save Toronto's Waterfront!

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Daye) — Fri, 07 Mar 2014 18:51:00 +0000

Together, we will stop the jets on our waterfront – and last week’s public consultation in Scarborough was proof of that.

Scarborough’s Message to Councillors: Stop the Jets

Next: Executive Committee Meeting, March 25

Several hundred residents braved the cold to pack the Laurier Collegiate Institute, with an overwhelming majority rejecting Porter’s jet plans. A heartfelt thank-you to everyone who came out.

While Porter and the TPA performed their usual propaganda roadshow, NoJetsTO gave the straight talk about the dangers to Toronto’s waterfront.

Sadly, Councillors like Paul Ainslie seem oblivious to the damage jets on our waterfront with flight paths affecting Scarborough will have.

But Ainslie, Moeser and Crawford got the clear message that they will vote against the wishes of many of their constituents if they vote for the jets. Let’s hope that these gentlemen will wisen up.

City Councillors and their staff keep tabs on how many calls and emails they receive on an issue. So please keep calling and emailing them (click here to look up councillors’ contact info).

On Tuesday, March 25, the City’s Executive Committee will vote on the jet issue. We need you to show your opposition and ideally make a deputation. Please let us know if you can come by clicking here.

We know that the Toronto Port Authority has spent almost $2 million on advertising since last spring – with Porter certainly spending much more. As a grassroots organization, we are pushing back as much as we can with ads in local newspapers.

Help us put up ads in papers like NOW Magazine and local newspapers in places like Scarborough and North York. Please pitch in today.

Whether it’s through a donation, inviting our friends to sign the online petition or joining us at City Hall on March 25, we can all make a difference in this fight.

Thank you so much for all your help.

Best regards,

Anshul Kapoor
NoJetsTO Chair

NEB fails Ontario with Line 9B Approval

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Daye) — Fri, 07 Mar 2014 18:45:00 +0000

NEB fails Ontario with Line 9B Approval

Queen's Park - Green Party of Ontario Leader Mike Schreiner issued the following comment in response to National Energy Board’s conditional approval of Enbridge’s Line 9B proposal:

“The National Energy Board has failed the people of Ontario by approving Enbridge’s Line 9B. The health and well being of people and communities should be the government’s top priority, not the interests of big oil.

Pumping dirty oil through an aging pipeline not designed to handle such corrosive material is not in the public interest. It is dangerously irresponsible that the NEB did not at the very least require a hydrostatic test for leaks in the 38-year old pipeline or even require Enbridge to carry sufficient insurance.

The province of Ontario should have demanded an Environmental Assessment.

This decision is especially outrageous given Enbridge's poor spills and safety record. Enbridge is still trying to clean up its 2010 dirty oil spill that dumped 3 million litres of dilbit into Michigan’s Kalamazoo River. The clean up costs exceed $1 billion.

Now the NEB will allow Enbridge to pump 300,000 barrels of dirty oil through Ontario everyday. This decision threatens our water, farmland, economy and communities.

I’m deeply disappointed that Premier Wynne did not speak out forcefully against Line 9. Her October 2013 visit to Alberta, where she essentially endorsed the flow of dirty oil through Ontario, made it more difficult to raise serious objections to this risky project.

She failed to put the people of Ontario first. We should expect better from government leaders.”

- See more at: http://www.gpo.ca/statement/neb-fails-ontario-line-9b-approval#sthash.iIHBtIj6.dpuf

Ontario Municipal Board reform still polarizing

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Daye) — Thu, 06 Mar 2014 19:52:00 +0000

By Daniel Viola Canadian Property Management

Any talk of Ontario Municipal Board reform tends to be in extremes. Parties either describe it as the last line of defence against rampant NIMBYism and pandering politicians, or as an authoritarian, developer-friendly body bent on tearing down the decisions of democratically elected officials.

So it was surprising that the whole ‘us-versus-them’ mentality was largely absent from a round table discussion surrounding the topic on Feb. 25 at Ryerson University. But while the experts were able to have a frank and constructive discussion concerning the OMB, there was no consensus on what changes are necessary moving forward.

Full Article:Ontario Municipal Board reform still polarizing

Niagara Falls Green candidate calls for bee protection plan

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Daye) — Sat, 08 Feb 2014 01:30:00 +0000

Niagara Falls - Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner and Niagara Green candidate Clarke Bitter issued an all-party challenge today, urging candidates to address growing public concern over the dire plight of honeybees and other pollinators.

“The local economy of the Niagara region is dependent on pollination”, said Schreiner. “Apples, peaches, cherries, grapes and peppers – all of those crops, and many others, need the services honey bees provide. If we want to protect the future health of local food production and support local farmers in this region we need to protect pollinators.”

Bitter says given the importance of bees to the Niagara region, candidates should agree to debate the issue and be ready with the steps each party would pursue if successful in the Feb. 13th by-election.

The Green Party is calling for a ban on the use of neonicotinoid pesticides until peer reviewed scientific research can definitively determine that neonicotinoids do not harm bees.

"Ontario's beekeepers applaud the efforts of the Green Party. We hope that all parties will support a suspension of neonicotinoid insecticides. We need this for the protection of the pollinators that we all rely on for Niagara's fruit and vegetable production," said Dan Davidson, President, Ontario Beekeepers Association.

“My challenge to my fellow candidates is straightforward – what is your party’s bee protection plan and what will you do to protect beekeepers and support Niagara farmers who need pollinators to survive?” asks Bitter.

The Pest Management Regulatory Agency of Health Canada confirmed the link between widespread bee kills in 2012 and 2013 and the use of neonicotinoid pesticides on corn plantings in Ontario. Residues were found in 80% of the 240 bee kill locations and on 70% of the bees tested. Late last year the PMRA said – “Consequently, we have concluded that current agricultural practices related to the use of neonicotinoid treated corn and soybean seed are unsustainable.”

“The Premier continues to waffle on protecting bees while beekeepers experience unsustainable losses and farmers risk losing pollinators,” adds Schreiner. “The time for action is now, and voters can send a clear message for change by voting Green on February 13.”

Chapter and verse, Catholic school funding’s unfair

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Daye) — Sat, 25 Jan 2014 20:24:00 +0000

Chapter and verse, Catholic school funding’s unfair

KONRAD YAKABUSKI

The Globe and Mail

Published Thursday, Jan. 23 2014, 7:15 AM EST

Last updated Thursday, Jan. 23 2014, 7:22 AM EST

It’s not hard to understand why Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne would try to shut down another debate about the appropriateness of Catholic school funding before the discussion even starts. Revisiting the Confederation pact that grandfathered the “right” of Catholics to their own publicly funded schools has been a career-ending proposition for almost every Ontario politician who’s dared.

Sooner rather than later though, some courageous leader will have to convene Ontarians for a conversation about what kind of public education system best suits a province juggling with the twin challenges of religious diversity and scarce resources. This Premier is not there yet, though the case for Catholic school funding strains evermore under the weight of its own contradictions.

“Our government has been committed to the education system as it exists in Ontario,” Ms. Wynne insisted last week in the face of objections to a new promotional campaignlaunched by the Ontario Catholic School Trustees Association. The social media campaign – which invites parents to “explore the distinctive value” of Catholic education – underscored the competition for students (and per pupil funding) as schools grapple with declining enrolment.

Emptying schools have become the norm almost everywhere outside the bustling burbs. Despite a bump in enrolment owing to the implementation of full-day kindergarten, fewer kids start school each year than graduate from high school. In towns across the province, half-empty Catholic and public schools sit in close proximity to one another, each with its own overhead.

Why not merge the current four systems (English public, English Catholic, French public, French Catholic) into two linguistic-based ones? In 2012, a ratepayers group called the Federation of Urban Neighbourhoods estimated the savings at as much as $1.6-billion on a K-12 education budget of about $22-billion. Spending will rise this year to $24.1-billion.

The 2012 Drummond commission on streamlining Ontario public services might have been expected to explore the merger issue. But it hid behind the Constitution. That’s too bad, since the more credible estimate of savings it could have provided would have informed what remains an inevitable debate.

That said, the principal reason Ontario should do away with Catholic school funding is not financial. There is simply no longer a case to fully fund a sectarian education system whose teachings are at odds with the fundamental values of Ontario society. The Catholic system’s resistance to gay-straight alliances is emblematic of the kinds of conflicts that will multiply in our diversity-laden future.

Catholic schools face the impossible choice of diluting church doctrine to comply with evolving societal values, embodied in legislation such as the Accepting Schools Act, or flouting such laws altogether. Either way, they undermine the justification for continued funding.

No one is as aware of that more than Ms. Wynne. As Ontario’s education minister in 2007, this is what she said when her opponent proposed extending public funding to all faith-based schools: “They [Ontarians] do not want to see kids segregated from one another …We need an inclusive system that allows kids to learn together, to be together and understand each other.”

Still, she was no more ready to tackle Catholic funding then than she is now. She called the debate a “distraction” and ducked responsibility by invoking the Constitution. Plus ça change.

The Confederation pact that guaranteed Ontario Catholics their own schools is a relic of an era when religion was a proxy for language. Even before Confederation, when Upper and Lower Canada formed one province, Quebec’s English-Protestant minority joined with its French-Catholic majority to ensure the protection of Ontario’s Catholics at a time when sectarian conflict was rife.

In 1997, invoking evolving societal values and increasing non-Catholic immigration, Quebec easily obtained a constitutional amendment to replace its faith-based school boards with linguistic, secular ones. There is no reason Ontario could not do the same.

As the Canadian Civil Liberties Association has noted, the origin of Catholic school funding in Ontario lies in a mid-19th century desire to protect religious freedom and equality, as both concepts were then conceived. But the continued application of that constitutional compromise “only serves to erode those very principles today.”

Your Feed from the Daye.

Thank you, thank you Toronto Centre

I'm the first to admit, "Mark Daye becoming the first elected Green MPP in Ontario's history" was a long shot.

Ontario Votes 2014 Why we need electoral reform in Ontario.

Fairness and Savings in Ontario’s Education System

Could Greens save $1 billion merging school boards?

Mama Wynne shuts down Olivier

Mark Daye's Toronto

Local ketchup loves local potatoes!

Your Green MPP’s Plan of Action for 2014

HIGHLIGHTS Mike Schreiner and the Green Party of Ontario want to get Ontario back on track.

Think Big and Expect Better: The Green Party of Ontario Releases Platform

June election leaves democratic initiatives to die

Schreiner lauds Dolime decision, pledges to keep pushing to protect Guelph’s water

Rally for democracy with Elizabeth May

Ontario's education system must support kids with special needs by making smarter priorities - See more at: http://www.gpo.ca/media-release/ontarios-education-system-must-support-kids-special-needs-making-smarter-priorities#sthash.6GucUSCn.dpuf

CTV Investigates: Catholic School Funding | CTV Kitchener News Part 3 of 3

CTV Investigates: Catholic School Funding | CTV Kitchener News Part 2

Statement on Erazo decision.

CTV Investigates: Catholic School Funding | CTV Kitchener News

Day of pink

Infographic on discrimination in publicly funded schools

One school system will benefit all

Ontario Education Comparison

Save Toronto's Waterfront!

Scarborough’s Message to Councillors: Stop the Jets

NEB fails Ontario with Line 9B Approval

Ontario Municipal Board reform still polarizing

Niagara Falls Green candidate calls for bee protection plan

Chapter and verse, Catholic school funding’s unfair

HIGHLIGHTS
Mike Schreiner and the Green Party of Ontario want to get Ontario back on track.