As a former Chair of the Winnipeg School Division I am deeply aware of the harms that this would cause.
At the July 22nd meeting of Council this was my speech on the matter. “Why is it important that we oppose Bill 64 in the strongest possible terms today as city councillors?; because locally elected school boards are the first line of municipal government and should be maintained and supported, and I believe much is at stake”
Here are the things I noted in my speech the School Boards have accomplished:
- Cree & Ojibway program established at Isaac Brock School on Barratt Avenue
- Spanish Language at Earl Grey school
- French bilingual at Luxton on Polson Avenue to go with language programs Ukrainian, Hebrew.
- Expansion of all-day Kindergarten to support young families
- Increased autism supports
- Increased mental health supports anxiety supports specifically
- Funded Universal Accessible Playgrounds
- Created Indigenous Grad Coaches
- Enhanced Teacher Pathway Program with post-secondary.
- Addressed overcrowding in schools and oversaw school expansion programs
- Helped overturned the legislatures decision to not fun Kelvin Highschool Gym project
- Lisa Naylor created landmark transgender policy for the Winnipeg School division to ensure students and staff in the division could be addressed by the pronouns they choose.
“We are not alone in having racist and inequitable education past, present, and future. This bill I think is a racist future.”
My full speech at 6:27:00: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAxc03Ms2Ek&t=30715s
The speeches made by many of my Council Colleagues on this item are moving and I encourage you to take a few moments and watch them. The item is introduced at 6:20:00 in the video recording.