The city of Prince George speaks in favour of inclusive classrooms. The school board? Not so much
And hail, hail Danny Bell
The city of Prince George posted this image to its social media channels yesterday, along with this message:
Given the planned gatherings of groups who intend to share polarizing views about Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) education on the front lawn of City Hall, it is necessary to remind our citizens of our City’s core values of inclusivity and integrity.
We support our residents to be who they are and we value their protected human rights. This gathering may cause some of our residents and staff to feel unsafe in our community and we emphasize our unwavering support for you to belong, be included, and be safe in our community just as you are. We do not support anyone who articulates perspectives that are discriminatory or any acts that jeopardize a safe and caring community.
Likewise, premier David Eby had this to say:
School must be a place where all students, staff and families belong and feel safe, and where respect is shown for each other’s differences. It has been upsetting to see misinformation and disinformation used to attack some of our most vulnerable children and youth.
I have some messages I wish to share with school communities. To every teacher and support staff: You are my heroes. Your dedication to your students is inspiring. Thank you for all you do for my children and all of the children in the province
(it goes on).
Leader of the opposition, Kevin Falcon, responded to a post from one of his MLAs voicing full support for SOGI123, writing “B.C. United will always support inclusive schools where all students, parents, and teachers feel heard and respected!”
Various school boards, teacher groups, unions, etc across the province made similar proclamations.
You know who didn’t?
Our local School District 57 board.
You know who the chair of that board is?
Rachael Weber.
You know what’s she’s done in the time since she was elected* to school board?
Joined the B.C. Conservative Party as a candidate.
You know how the B.C. Conservative Party feels about this?
B.C. Conservative leader John Rustad said social issues such as gender identity should be fully removed from public schools, which should get back to focusing on academic subjects.
I’ll note that neither Rustad nor Weber were elected on these sorts of platforms by voters. But Rustad was, at least, chosen by members of the B.C. Conservatives to be the leader of the party in part because of his views, whereas Rachel Weber — as I’ve written in here many times before — was not. I used the asterisk on the word elected above, because Weber ran in Mackenzie and has received a total of 76 votes in two elections, multitudes less than anyone would need in order to get elected in Prince George — more on that here). And despite her desire to jump into provincial politics as a social conservative, she continues to serve as the spokesperson for the entirety of the other elected members of the school board. And I continue to wonder how long will the other school board members be comfortable with her being their representative?Again, they don’t owe her anything. They were elected as individuals and all of them save the representative for the Robson Valley received far more votes than Weber ever did and she was chosen as board chair before some of her views on hot-button topics became public:
The school board chair's social media feed warns of a new world order, vaccine implants, 'wokeness' and doctors sterilizing children
So yesterday, CKPG reporter Caden Fanshaw posted: Stumbled upon this today... Some recent likes from @SD57PG Board of Education Chair Rachael Weber on LinkedIn. Make what you will of this. @ckpgnews Here are those posts, closer up. (Note: I visted her LinkedIn profile myself to verify these were there — they were, but now her profile seems to be either de…
And to be clear — I have no idea if the fact that the school district is not voicing support of the classroom curriculum that has the support of the city, the province, the provincial opposition, and the teachers working in the classroom — because of Weber or not. But the board is choosing to be silent. Meanwhile, the organizers of the anti-SOGI campaign in Prince George include a man who failed to get elected and says he has heard stories of children identifying as cats in the classroom, a long-debunked story that somehow has spread all across North America and just keeps coming up again and again.
And what of the other board members? Newly elected Sarah Holland has voiced her support, noting she can’t speak for the board, and the other newly elected member Shar McRory changed her profile pic on Facebook to be the “No place for hate” rainbow map of B.C. that’s become the symbol of the anti-anti protest movement. Erica McLean and Craig Brennan, who both said they supported SOGI during the campaign have not, to my knowledge, made a statement in favour of it, and Corey Antrim, who didn’t really answer the question when asked, has not either (source on those stances).
Honestly, I’m getting a little tired of writing some version of this again and again but idk, a lot has happened at the school board level over the last year and still these other elected represntatives are just choosing to say nothing — whether it’s the firing of the superintendent, the resignation of two of their fellow board members, the fact that the person they chose to represent the district has been revealed to believe in conspiracy theories about a new world order, or today’s marches. They can certainly choose to never speak to the public about how they view these things as individuals and keep on deferring to the board chair, but as the public we should also take note of the fact that this has been their strategy.
Hail, hail Danny Bell
If you’ve attended a concert in Prince George over the last decade, odds are pretty decent Danny Bell has been involved — as a lead singer, a backing musician for another person’s efforts, the sound guy, the promoter or some combination of all those things and more. He’s just been named this year’s community arts council artist-in-residence and there are few people who could be more deserving given that he is responsible for, conservatively, at least ten per cent of the local arts scene. Here’s his latest album.
Quick news:
On wildfires, the Union of B.C. Municipalities heard that we’re going to have to figure out how to adapt and B.C. United has some ideas on how.
MyPGNow has learned that while Save-On is leaving Parkwood, Save-On parent company, Pattison Foods, has renewed its lease for the location. Here’s a screenshot of the other companies they own:
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"B.C. Conservative leader John Rustad said social issues such as gender identity should be fully removed from public schools"
Yes, because we all know how when we were in school, we were all genderless robots and none of us ever interacted with the diversity of other students in the classroom or hallways, like a microcosm of society. *insert eye roll at Rustad*
This argument is getting old. Do better, Rustad.
also, thanks for the news about Save On Foods and their lease! As much as an "Everything Wine" sounds so intriguing, I really hope we get a lower cost grocery to give people in the core options other than their local 7-11 to buy food. <3