Conservative Party Pulls Gay Pride Funding

In the heart of Toronto, one of the most famous annual events in Canada took place last year, the Gay Pride Parade, which has obtained fame nationwide for being a quite liberal and free spirited celebration of individual rights and sexuality. The Minister of Tourism, Diane Ablonczy, presented a $397,500 cheque to the event's organizers last year, and after pictures appeared online, a large number of compliants came from rural town in Canada, appauled that the Conservative Party of Canada would fund this event. Now, it is 2010, and Diane Ablonczy has had her authority taken away, and Industry Minister Tony Clement has now made it clear the the Gay Pride Parade will receive a whopping zero dollars. His reasoning, however, is that “this is a two-year stimulus program. In year one of this program, almost 75 per cent of the funding went to events in Canada's largest cities. In year two, we wanted to ensure that the money was spread out to some of the smaller cities so they were able to benefit as well. So Montreal got two. They got the Jazz Festival and Juste pour Rire. Toronto got two, Luminato and the Royal Fair. Edmonton got two. Vancouver got two. Winnipeg got two. There's only so much money to go around". The Liberal Party does not see it like this, and they think Canadians won't either. “Canadians see this for what it is, blatant discrimination and political pandering among the Conservative right-wing base.” The Liberals are also rightly questioning why, of all the festivals, Gay Pride should be cut. “Pride leaves a $100 million economic footprint, creates 650 jobs and generates $18 million in tax revenue. Why does ideology trump economics in this Conservative government?”. Hopefully the parade, being a famous and wildly enjoyed event within the LGBT community in Toronto and all across Canada, will still be able to run the same and bring a similar message about being open, and crushing homophobia within Toronto and abroad. To see the original article, click here.

Record Breaking Number of Schools to Close

Due to economic problems within the government, after the controversial closing of many public pools, Toronto School Board is faced with the challenge of having to close a whopping nine public schools this year, which has never before happened. These schools, of all the ones across Canada, are more than likely facing the axe because of lack of usage, even though one school, Kent Senior Public, once had the larget student body in Ontario. Strangely enough, the school board's decision to close these schools is not a government decision, but that of people, who felt funding for half empty schools was appauling. Parents in ten different neighbourhoods conclude that there are 110 half empty schools around Ontario, and that list has been lowered to 55 schools that could be abolished. Most schools that are closing are Junior Highs, so any schools that end at Grade 6 will now be forced to accomodate grades 7 and 8, or face being shut down. Hopefully this issue sorts itself out, and that too many students don't face issues if their school shuts down.

I would say that it is important to use government spending properly, but considering we have fundeed many other projects of equal or less importance, I think this is a little bit odd. Students in impoverished areas, like the poorest area in Scarborough and their school, Pringdale Gardens, are going to face major issues if their school closes. I really hope the government knows what they are doing, because money right now doesn't mean anything if the people of the future cannot receive a proper education. The original article can be found here.