Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s parental rights announcement has surely generated a lot of debate. Not only will Alberta require schools to obtain parental consent before changing the names or pronouns of students under the age of 16, but teachers will also have to...
Education
The Dark Sequel to a History of Indoctrination
Last year, I wrote a feature titled “From Western Traditions to Political Indoctrination: A Cultural History of Education.” The six-part series covered developments in North American education from faith-based 17th-century schoolhouses to the woke indoctrination mills...
Weaponizing Plagiarism Will Help Restore Faith In Academic Institutions
Do we really want dishonest people driving research that has real-world consequences for the rest of us?
In Canada, School Board Members With Traditional Values Get Tormented Out Of Elected Office
Francine Champagne and Monique LaGrange were forced out of their elected positions after expressing views counter to the woke mob.
Featured News
Weaponizing the Law
The indictment of former U.S. president Donald Trump for crimes invented by his political opponents is the most egregious example yet seen of the weaponizing of the law. The United States is now full of examples. However, in Canada, we also see the law being...
“Looking At” Seizing Control Over Western Canada’s Natural Resources
OTTAWA, REGINA - Last week, two things happened that could have profound impacts on natural resources development in Saskatchewan. One is a hint the federal government might want to take control of natural resources away from the provinces, and the other is the...
Students Deserve Action, Not More Excuses
Student academic achievement is heading downhill in every single province in Canada. That’s what the latest Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) report shows. Over the last twenty years, there has been a steady decline in the math, reading, and...
Problems With Teacher Certification Go Beyond the Education Bureaucracy
Want to become a public-school teacher? If so, you need a teaching certificate from Manitoba Education’s certification unit. Provincial regulations state that prospective teachers must hold a Bachelor of Education degree from a recognized university. This requirement...
Maybe the Residential Schools Should Just Have Been Better?
Most of the attention on the subject of indigenous education in the last three decades has been on residential schools. But other aspects of this important topic have been ignored. Quite simply, the real tragedy of indigenous education is not that some indigenous...
Leaders on the Frontier – Parents Seeking Common Sense Education – With Michael Zwaagstra
Big Topics & Big Ideas
Regular Folks Are Pushing Back Against ‘Illiberal Liberalism’
Relationships between “the few and the many” have seldom been more fraught with resentment and distrust. Common men and women are being pushed around by self-centered liberal patricians who are wilfully indifferent to traditional customs and values. According to...
Some Non-Partisan Education Advice for the New Government
Earlier this month, Manitobans elected a new provincial government. As a result, NDP leader Wab Kinew will soon be sworn in as Manitoba’s twenty-fifth premier. No doubt premier-designate Kinew intends to make significant changes to education policy. So here is some...
Place Parents First In Education Says Former Teacher And Premier
On questions of government, politics and education, Canadians would be foolish to ignore Brian Peckford. The Newfoundland school teacher became a Progressive Conservative MLA in 1972. He was premier from 1979 to 1989 and a key part of the federal-provincial...
Cultural Transformation: From The Classroom To The Public Square
A popular quote asserts, “The philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next.” Schooling has never been a neutral enterprise. Disputes over the control of education and what children should learn have been with us for...
Previous Newfoundland PC Leader Says Party Wrong To Oppose Million-Person March
Sometimes political parties misinterpret an issue and end up making the wrong stand. Unfortunately for them, bad policy is usually bad politics, too. This is especially so when such waywardness offends the party’s support base. Enter the Progressive Conservative Party...