Klein and Oberg just as irresponsible as deadbeat dads

 There’s an old saying that where there’s a will there’s a way.

But when it comes to the teachers’ strike that’s currently sweeping across the province, it looks like our provincial government doesn’t have the will to do much of anything.

Instead of looking for solutions, Premier Klein and Learning Minister Lyle Oberg have descended into naming calling and game playing.

Their favorite game is to say the cupboard is bare. "There just isn’t any money," says Ralph with all the sincerity he can muster.

Isn’t that interesting?

Somehow there was money for more than a billion dollars in tax cuts for corporations and wealthy individuals over the past two years.

There was also money for a fat raise for MLAs and for a few billion dollars in energy rebates conveniently timed to arrive before the last election.

But when it comes to ensuring that our kids have the best possible education, then there’s no money.

The problem here is not that the government is broke – it’s that their priorities are messed up.

In many ways, this government is like a deadbeat dad who blows all his cash on cars, parties and vacations, then pleads poverty when it comes to child support. We call the deadbeat dad irresponsible for ignoring the needs of his kids. But our government has been equally irresponsible in its handling of our tax dollars.

They were irresponsible when they stripped school boards of their taxing powers. They were irresponsible when they froze education funding to fight a debt dragon that never really existed. And, most recently, they were irresponsible when they put a torpedo in public revenue with the flat tax and other tax give-aways. In effect they’ve undermined their own ability to provide the kind of quality services the public wants and deserves.

Unfortunately, based on what we’ve seen so far in this strike, it seems the government, like so many other deadbeat dads, doesn’t have the will to change.

That’s where the public comes in. The only way that this government is going to live up to its responsibilities and invest what’s needed in education is if the public demands that they do.

The ATA says $40 million is all that’s needed to satisfy their concerns about quality and fairness. That translates into about a dollar per pupil per day.

Given the size of Alberta’s budget – and the general wealth and prosperity of our province – surely we can mobilize enough support for the teachers that the government will see the wisdom of moving off its rigid position.

Where there is a will there is a way.