Mar. 01, 2004

By Alex J.Walling

Well, have you shoveled out yet?

And have you heard so many whiners in your life? I wish some would get a life.

First, and foremost comes Victor (I must keep my bars open at any cost) Syperek. What a character and this guy wants to be mayor of this city.

As Bill Cosby would say……….Right.

Surely you jest.

He and a few others were upset that the city called a ‘curfew’. Maybe somebody should tell this guy that we were in the very first ever ‘Halifax Civic Emergency’.

Will his business die if patrons don’t show up for a drink for a night or two?

I own a business on the boardwalk and got wiped out during hurricane Juan. No, I didn’t like it but accepted it and certainly didn’t expect people to come down risking their lives over downed trees and maybe still ‘live’ power polls.

Is providing access to your favourite brew that high up on this guy’s ‘to do list’?

And conversely are people so socially starved that they must head ‘downtown’ and impede work crews who are trying to clear roads and pathways for the safety of the citizens.

I mean is ‘having a drink’ at Syperek’s or other bars that important?

If so I suggest that our society is going downhill faster than the popularity of the Liberals.

Note to the Victor’s of the world: This city doesn’t exist so you can sell your product. And your product is not ‘a civic’ obligation and does not rank above the ‘first in the city of Halifax’ civic emergency.

One guy who calls it as he sees it is the City Of Halifax Communication manager John O’Brien.

I know the man from a few years of working together at MITV where he was probably the best assignment editor that I have worked for. He just either knows most people or can reach them.

These days he is reaching the citizens of Metro.

I like the way O’Brien deals with the media and the public. Ask him a question and you will get an answer that is straightforward.

A few years ago when there was a fire in a Bedford/Hammond Plains sub-division the city cleared or evacuated the homes.

Several people didn’t want to leave and they wanted to do what we see in the USA and that is stay with their homes at whatever peril.

O’Brien had a great line when the city forced some out of the subdivision: “Homes can be replaced people can’t”.

Straight forward and the line hits you like a linebacker from Saint Mary’s.

This time O’Brien’s classic during the ‘Blizzard of 04’ was “we are in a civic emergency. Going out for a meal and/or a drink does not fall under an emergency or life threatening.”

Good for you Mr. O’Brien. Maybe you can post that quote on the door of Victor S. and his bar buddies that seem to think the city only exist solely for them.

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Poor teachers, they may be getting a bad rap. It’s not the teachers who may be at fault but rather their P.R. people and the ‘perception’ of the president Brian (I must grieve everything) Forbes.

I don’t know how long it is going to take but someday these guys (Forbes and the other union heads) are going to wake up and realize they work for the province and their main concern is not in having a strong union but in educating our children.

If you didn’t get a chance to read it, there is a big story or opinion piece on Forbes in the Sunday Daily News. It’s entitled ‘Back off Brian”.

Right now we probably are close to having the most ignorant students in the country. We fail or are nearly at the bottom of the pile in math, reading skills, comprehension, etc.

And the answer from Forbes, most of the times, is ‘we need more money or our class size is too large’ and other mindless pap.

Kids should by the time they enter high school be able to read, spell, add and do basic math.

In so far as PD days. Let the teachers have them on their time. How about a few Saturdays or a few weekends?

How about meeting in July boys…or August or better still. Why not take them in the last week of August just prior to the start of a new school season?
Why not?

Let them use their time as they say it is for their benefit?

Halifax kids with Hurricane Juan and now this blizzard along with the days that the school buses didn’t start have missed a lot of time.

I want Forbes and his union buddies to come up with a solution as to how this time will be made up?

For a change quit moaning, groaning and complaining and become pro-active and have the union come up with the solution.

Teachers are getting paid for these days and our kids our missing out?

So, Mr. Forbes, instead of bluster why don’t you and your friends tell us how your going to make out for lost time?

What’s more important, your ‘collective agreement’ or the education of our kids?