Money matters

Turnout was light on Monday night, but there were plenty of questions about the future of education in the city as public and Catholic school board trustee candidates had their first opportunity to dialogue with voters since the campaign began.

Regardless of affiliation, provincial funding of education in Ontario was at the top of the list of concerns of the eight candidates who participated in Monday’s forum, staged in front of about 30 people at the Lakehead Labour Centre.

A total of 22 people are seeking trustee positions with the two boards.

It’s not going to be easy to convince the province to spend more on education, said William Cella, one of 12 candidates on the Catholic board ballot.

“All governments now are in a deficit mode and are trying to pay the bills. As you know, they’re asking for different sectors of the economy to freeze their wages, and I think this is going to be our biggest concern,” Cella said.

Don Cattani said the government’s current spending trend is going to come to an end in rapid fashion, especially if there’s a change in power at Queen’s Park.

“We know another (Mike) Harris government is coming. It could come in two years, it could come in five years. And when that happens, all of the angst will follow, when they again attack trustees, teachers, and even students under the guise of helping,” Cattani said. I think that’s what you’ve got to be wary of is a change of government provincially.”

Jeff Howie, the third and final Catholic board candidate in attendance at the forum, said his biggest concern relates to money, and what he sees as a lack of it dedicated to special-needs students and Aboriginal and international learners.

“I (also) see educational technology as being an issue, and how we get the proper technology in the classroom,” he said.

Longtime public board trustee Karen Wilson said fiscal cuts do not properly serve the educational needs of special students, impact the rest of the student body and make life difficult for teachers.

“We don’t want high numbers of students in our classrooms and we then to have their textbooks,” Wilson said.

For fellow candidate Lori Lukinuk, a two-time trustee, it’s full-day kindergarten, implemented this fall at several Thunder Bay schools and hundreds across the province, that will have school boards scrambling to find more money.

“The ministry’s goal is to have it in place in all schools by 2015 and I think that’s going to be a huge challenge, especially here in the North,” she said.

Marg Arnone said budget woes worry her, to the point she’s concerned a two-tier education system could arise if the Liberals are ousted next year.

“I think my biggest challenge will be preventing the privatization of the educational system. Having worked in the health-care system for so many years, I’m well aware of the devastation when this happens. If we are facing, God forbid, a slash-and-burn type of government, then we will be facing that kind of issue,” Arnone said.

Like the rest of the candidates, Pat Johansen listed funding as the No. 1 concern, adding that it’s particularly worrisome when as it relates to special-needs programs.

Not to be left out, former teacher and school administrator Jack Playford said a lack of resources harms the educational effort and forces schools to fight for every dollar they get, often at the expense of other schools.

“When the water hole shrinks, all the animals all start to look at each other differently. I think we’re all at the verge of being there. And that translates into morale, morale, morale. If all we talk about is money, money, money, going into contract, what the issues are going to be, what the limitations are going to be, the effects are huge morale issues for everybody in the system,” Playford said.

The Thunder Bay District Labour Council will hold a similar forum on Tuesday night for ward candidates. At-large candidates will be in the spotlight on Wednesday and the six mayor candidates have been invited to speak on Thursday.