I read this letter when Lisa Cunnian posted this yesterday on BC Voters Supporting Teachers' Facebook page and we weren't sure if it would be published in The Vancouver Sun or not...
Yesterday at 5:25pm
My dad, a retired research scientist for the Ministry of Forests, sent this letter to the Vancouver Sun. I don't think it's been published yet, so I thought I'd share it here.
Why is it that the BC government's attitude toward fiscal expenditures for public education differs so vastly from that regarding wildfire suppression? On Sept. 2, Education Minister Peter Fassbender was quoted in the Vancouver Sun as saying "...we are not going to put our fiscal plan in this province into deficit to meet the unrealistic demands of the BCTF." His stance seems rather inconsistent with that recently voiced by Steve Thomson, BC Minister of Forests, who was recently asked how the government would pay for the 2014 wildfire suppression costs that have skyrocketed to $250 million - four times the budgeted amount. His answer was that there will be enough to cover the firefighting costs whatever the final amount will be. In other words, the government is prepared to spend whatever is necessary on fire suppression according to the need. It seems ludicrous to me that our government is willing to spend freely to put wildfires out, yet remains stubbornly unwilling to spend more money on an appallingly underfunded public education system that will benefit the children, and future leaders, of this province. Where's the logic?
Rob Brockley
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
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