Famili MORE excerpts from the Ripping Yarns I Don’t Get It File: Doubtless less thick-head- ed types already have answers to the following, but IT don’t. So... Why has Ottawa gor it in for children and families? The quick answer is thar the pols on the Hill have got it in for most remnants of Canada's silent majority that are out of step with the well- organized armies of the politically correct. It’s old news that Ouawa considers the traditional fam- ily with one wage carner and one stay at home parent sec- ond in value to other family and near-family arrange- ments. : Tax laws contirm thar. And it might not be news to fathers — all having been tarred with the brush of deadbeat dads and wife beaters ~ that they are sec- ond-class citizens when it comes to child access follow- ing a family breakup. But more recent revela- tiens in the press again underscore Ottawa’s unbal- anced approach te family matters. Shared-parenting groups, who advocate the involve- ment of both parents in chil- dren’s lives following divorce, are rightly upset over Justice Minister Anne McLellan’s non-respunse to calls for Divorce Act amend- ments. On Monday, the minister announced that more con- sultation was needed before recommended changes to the act’s custody and access provisions could be enacted. This even though 48 recom- mendations had been com- piled by a parliamentary committee following close to 60 meetings over two years with over 500 people across the country. McLellan’s additional consultations could delay any changes for another three years, which in the geologi- cal process of government decision-making might as well be another three cen- turics. In applying the govern- ment consultation stall, McLellan’s political baffle- gab included statements about “focusing on minimiz- ing the negative impacts of yarns divorce on children.” But government inaction in this area runs counter to that statement. Custody fights leave no victors, only broken families and disentranchised parents. Usually fathers. The big losers are the children — strategic pawns in divorce wars who end up losing con- tact with one or both par- ents. Recent tragedies at U.S. and Canadian high schools underscore the need for chil- dren to have strong family and parental routs and posi- tive role models, without which they embrace the empty violence of television, video games, Hollywood bilge and the socially stunted experiences of fellow family- starved peers. We are a culture sadly inept at rearing children. Political dithering over changes that would put fam- ilies and children ahead of gender and politics is one reason why. aaa And while we are on the Hill, consider the Millennium Bureau of Canada and its Millennium Partnership Project. Sounds really co-operative and filled with good Canadian intentions, doesn’t it? And in a lot of cases it is, but on this issue West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast MP John Reynolds has con- tributed his own entry to the 1 Don’t Get It File. A recent instalment of his Reynolds Wrap column questions the value of vari- ous projects approved for federal funding under the $145 million millennium partnership program. A Y2K bug perhaps? How about a Y2K boondoggle. Reynolds points out, for example, that $13,614 has been approved under the program “to help students in Toronto create paper mache replicas of pigeons.” The (aiiiiee, Ol, Lube & Filter a 21 pt. Safety checi:, 15 rninutes - FAST! Includes up to 5 fires of 10w30 Quakerstate 1362 Marine Drive 980-9715 Mon-Sat 8;00am-6:00pm, Sun. 9:00am-5:00pm Expires May 26/99 draperies Serving the Lower Mai: preety & blinds (td. land for over 27 years www.sidrapesandblinds.com Custom Rods, Upholstery & Be reads (Ask abous our Seniors Discount) For Free Estimate call 922-4975 or 987-2966 Drapery Labour $13.50 per panel lined. Low Lew Paces birds are part of a millenni- um project tithed The Flight of the Passenger Pigeons. Other project titles wor- thy of investigation: National Tour of Women Are Persons ($133,000); Theme Park to Interpret Domestic Architecture in Quebeo ($69,477), and Sewing Our Future ($15,000). The millennium program has thus far approved 300 projects, most in the Canadian Far East, of course, The full list is posted on the Millennium Bureau's Internet wel site (www.miil- Jennium.ge.ca) if you're interested in secing how your money is being spent. Best viewed in a benevolent mood, however. Here's a Ripping Yarns millennium project sugges- tion: repay taxpayers all the money wasted on similar feel-good projects over the wypaa tibiae oe past century. As And last but not least: Why should we all be happy that, according to an April 30 news release trom B.C.'s education minister, “the number of students tak- ing the provincial exam for Punjabi as a second Anguage has doubled over the past year 0.7? In the press release, Education Minister Paul Ramsey applauds the increase. Ir shows, he says, “the ministry’s encourage- ment of inclusive education is having an impact.” On what? Learning a second fan- guage is a good thing. Can’t argue with that, but [always thought that learning both of Canada’s two official lan- guages was a priority. What's the benefit to the province or B.C. students in learning Punjabi as part of Sunday, May 16, 1999 — North Shore News ~ 7 their regular public school education? Surely most students who would consider enrolling in the course to pick up a cred- it would already be part of the Punjabi culture in some way. If they or anyone else has a burning desire ta explore Punjabi, they should do it at night schoo) at their own expense. Instead we are investing teacher time and provincial education dollars in develop- ing and offering language courses to people who already speak “inclusive” lan- guages. The North Vancouver District 44. school board, for example, is currently on track to offer Farsi in its high schools. The board previously approved the development of the curriculum, which is being presented for board approval this month. Good parenting takes heart Dear Editor: Re: G. Young’s April 18 letter, Literate parents raise literate children. A hard point to argue, but made easier to do so when combined with Ms. Young’s other points. I find her choice of exam- ples quite interesting. While citing that Handsworth ranked 18, the other school mentioned is Windsor, ranked at 125. Her point that the Handsworth catchment arca is more “homogenous” in population than that of Windsor’s comes close to ignorant discrimination. While I don’t have the “official” statistics of the edu- cation and financial levels of each area’s parents, ’'d wager that the “mix” Ms. Young talks about is North Shore- wide. You can Jook at an area ike Handsworth, for instance, and include people who are university-educated. Some not. Some who have saved scrupulously for their homes while working hard at their careers; careers that have come about cither through university education or a ded- icated work ethic. There are also some, who work hard ar their jobs, and T assume have a more than adequate income, who have cither inherited their parents’ homes or cer- tainly bought them at a below-market price. It’s odd that Ms. Young quotes Handsworth and Windsor “rankings.” Why no mention of Argyle, which ranked way up there at num- ber three? What of their sacio-eco- nomic mix? Here I thought that the criticisms of the Fraser Institute study were mainly in defence of the teachers. I for- got about clitism. Ms. Young’s other exam- ple of the Grade 6 students testing below a Grade 2 level is a sad fact of the “problem” being both the parents’ and the teachers’. A compatible, stringent course of action has to be undertaken by both parents and teachers to raise the kids’ levels. That’s something we all * Upholstery ¢ Blinds Only the look is expensive! JABOT Creative Window Coverings & Home Decorating Ideas West Van 922-4668 _ s know all too well. My ques- tion is chis: does every literate, “well-educated” parent who is also in a higher socio-eco- nomic area have a child who automatically gets good grades? And do all those parents put time and effore into their child’s education? Show a consistent interest. No, of course not. To gen- cralize based on money is unsound. And to sweep the education level of the parents into the mix is tantamount to hexing a person’s worth based solely on what their parents achieved, post-high school. Let’s not forget plain old, consistent, hands-on parent- ing which is the hardest job of all. Good parenting comes from the heart. Nothing “ranks” close to thar. Kelly A. Chutter North Vancouver iatier much in Otlawa Onee the curriculum is approved, local high schools could choose to offer Farsi as an elective next vear. Again, the value of the exercise, beyond appeasing vocal minorities, escapes me. Why not invest the time and money in improving the courses and resources for existing, curricula? Life is full of mysteries. 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