Month: March 2017

A few days ago I published a blog outlining how parents that send their children to private or charter schools are, in fact, subsidizing public schools. So why is the Progressivist Left saying otherwise?

Here’s a clue. It’s a quotation from a CBC news article published a year ago, after the Edmonton Public School Board voted in favor of a motion asking the provincial government to withdraw, all funding from private schools.

“Public funds should go to public purposes,” said Michael Janz, chair of the Edmonton Public School Board, who tabled the motion at a meeting this week.

“We believe public education should be the first choice for all Albertans, so it does not make sense for us to see a system that’s providing a public subsidy for a private choice.”

Can you believe that? He said: “We believe…”  And by the way, it doesn’t matter what you believe.

The problem is that Mr. Janz’ arrogant assertion flies directly in the face of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. That declaration states clearly that parents have a “prior right” to choose their children’s education. That means that parent’s wishes come ahead of those of politicians and school boards. Why even ahead of that of Mr. Janz!

But a reader pointed out that I’d missed an even bigger point, when it comes to financial subsidies.

Private schools receive no transportation or school construction funds from the province. In total, the province spends about $13,000 for each public school student, and about $5000 for each private school student.

So for every student that goes to a private school, the government saves a whopping $8000 which must be made up by the supporters and parents of alternative school students. That $8000 actually goes to subsidize the so-called public school system.

So once again, tell me who is subsidizing whom? The Progressivist Left is lying, (I know, that’s not news), but let’s not let them get away with it.

On another education issue; if you are concerned about the fact that the NDP government’s gay straight alliance initiative is being implemented and manipulated by radical LGBT activists, please read & this petition from Teresa Ng of Informed Albertans. And please forward it.

Next week, more about the Notley government’s sexual education agenda for your children, kindergarten through high school. Until recently it included pornography, until public pressure forced them to take it down. Working together does bring change!

Will you stand up for your children, and for your parental rights?

Many thanks!

Dave Reesor

Let’s Do It Ourselves

While Meritha and I have always enjoyed movies, I wouldn’t say we’ve been avid moviegoers. But about two and half years ago, we subscribed to Netflix, and since then we’ve tried to shut down business by about 8 PM, several evenings a week, and watch a movie.

It’s great! I mean who can argue with 10 bucks a month for both of us – and sometimes a couple of our friends – to watch 8 or 10 movies a month? Add to that, if you know about me and popcorn, you’ll understand that those savings alone amount to hundreds of dollars a year. And besides that, I’m a 73-year-old guy and the bathroom is 25 feet away and I have a PAUSE button.

When we used to go to movies we’d often patronize theaters like the Plaza and the Globe, and catch foreign-language movies. We’ve gotten into the same habit with Netflix. I think we started off with a movie set in France called, My Summer in Provence. We’ve now been all over the world, and enjoyed experiencing the geography and scenery and culture and cooking methods from numerous countries in Europe, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East.

You can get used to subtitles. Actually, we’ve watched movies set in supposedly English-speaking locations like Scotland, and parts of England and Wales, and believe me, the subtitles are just as necessary as they are for films set in Iceland or Tunisia or Hong Kong.

We’re fans of Korean and Taiwanese films, but recently watched our first film from mainland China called: “Coming Home.” The setting is Communist China, during and at the end of the Cultural Revolution.

The settings are realistically drab, so drab in fact, that after we’d watched the first 10 minutes or so, we debated continuing. But we did, and it became more engrossing as it went along.

It’s a story about humanity, and loyalty and perseverance in the face of the insanity and depravity of Mao’s Cultural Revolution, and it’s probably one of the 20 best movies we’ve ever watched.

So that’s how we’re fighting Hollywood. We spend very little money at theaters, and we mostly watch foreign films at home.

I suspect that the movie establishment around the world leans towards left-wing causes, just like they do in Hollywood. But as far as I know, none of them have ever private-jetted into Alberta – one of the cleanest provinces in the country, in one of the cleanest countries in the world – to hypocritically dump on our oil industry and our pipelines.

So besides the global education, and cheap popcorn, Netflix has been better for my blood pressure. If anyone is interested, I can provide a list of some of the films we have particularly enjoyed.

Best to each of you!

Dave