Mr. Mayor, councillors, members of the Chamber of Commerce of Morinville:
I am concerned by town council’s lack of stance on the issue of public education in our community. I recognize your belief that the concern is not within the purview of your scope of responsibility, but I would say to you that public education within the township is most certainly a town issue.
With the issue in question recently brought forward in The Globe and Mail, Calgary Herald, local news outlets like the Gazette, and Monday morning’s front page of the Edmonton Journal, I would put it to you that our quiet little skeleton is out of the closet and now has provincial, indeed, national exposure. The time has come for the council to get off the fence and voice your opinion on the matter to the public you serve and the elected bodies who serve you. You may not have authority but you certainly have influence.
In the last three years, where services are provided, I have spent the majority of my considerable disposable income within the limits of Morinville and St. Albert because I believe in supporting local business — from the new shingles on my roof, to the plumbing, new water heater, paint and flooring in my house, to the tools in my garage from the local hardware store. All of the fine, and in most cases outstanding, services I received from these businesses have been totally mitigated by the issues brought into my living room by my children from their public school.
To save others from similar stress and confusion, my future efforts within the media, on the sidewalk, and on bulletin boards of other nearby communities will be directed to making sure, very publicly, that any families considering relocating to this community are well aware of the notice on the bottom of the 2011 public school registration form, the ACSTA submission to the minister of education, and every bit of documentation that the members of the Morinville Parent Delegation diligently collected so that you could stoically and silently snub them at a recent council session before taking a private, closed-door meeting with the school board later in the week.
That would be quite the “Welcome to Morinville” booklet. I’m sure the surrounding communities’ realtors, grocers, and service providers will appreciate the extra business.
Pick your horse and hook the town’s cart to it, ladies and gentlemen. There is new industry coming to this region offering industry-level wages, and their hiring practices won’t be wholly-permeated with Catholic doctrine, philosophy and theology like our public schools are.
Thomas Kirsop, Morinville
