Rants & Raves
We discuss bullying, rejections and more
RANT: For bullying. Disturbing details about bullying in the Cape Breton Post this week must have sent chills up the spine of parents with children in school. Incidents cited included name-calling, threats of rape, punches and more. And in every case parents expressed frustration that school officials were not doing enough to deal with the offenders. The Post did seek a response from multiple school board officials but, as is often the case with such stories, none returned calls. Yes, it’s a scary world out there at times. Just ask your children.
RANT: For school board rejections. The Cape Breton-Victoria Regional School Board’s refusal to support a proposal to keep the George D. Lewis School in Louisbourg open is difficult to fathom. A local group has worked extremely hard for more than a year to come up with an idea that would not only save the school but would go a long way toward revitalizing a community that could use some help. They’ve even got the provincial government offering financial support to help make it happen. But the school board has rejected the idea with chair Darren Googoo explaining that there wasn’t enough time “to negotiate a dollar amount to keep this school open.” He also mentioned the fiscal challenges the board faces and the need to deliver a balanced budget and we get that. But, aside from granting an extension or two, we never got the impression that the school board was ever willing to go the extra mile to help make this project happen. We think it’s a missed opportunity.
RAVE: For a ray of hope. Good to see Dr. Manoj Vohra named as the new president of Doctors Nova Scotia. Though a native of Halifax, where he scored his share of goals in the provincial senior and university soccer ranks some 30 years ago, Vohra has worked in rural and small town Nova Scotia for much of his career. As such he knows of what he speaks when he told the Cape Breton Post this week that physician recruitment and retention is the biggest challenge Cape Breton faces. He also says such decisions need to be made locally rather than off-island. The key now will be to persuade bureaucrats to listen rather than circle the wagons and protect their turf.
RAVE: For ‘Loonie Days.’ A recommendation by Cape Breton Regional Municipality council’s general committee to set all bus passenger fares at $1 between Canada Day and Sept. 1, and reroute some lines to serve places such as Louisbourg and Membertou sounds like a great idea. Hopefully council will agree and approve the plan at its next meeting.