Why not demand zero risk?

Potential new-look classrooms.

The countdown continues to Sept. 8, when all high schools in Ontario begin the fall 2020 semester, and about the same when elementary school children begin a staggered re-entry to class. But the jostling continues too. The premier and his ministers of education and health are on one side. And the rest of us sit on the other, trying to get a handle on the way learning will look and sound come Sept. 15 or thereabouts. Then, on Tuesday, Christine Elliott responded to a question from a reporter at the government’s daily media conference.

“Why can’t the Ontario government mandate class size at 15 students?” the reporter asked. (more…)

Deregulation poisons the system

An Ontario  community pays the price for deregulation.

Anyone younger than 20 or 25 will not know this, but two decades ago this spring, the hospital in a small Ontario town suddenly faced a crisis. On May 17, 2000, seven children from a town school arrived at the hospital complaining of cramps and diarrhoea. The next day, 20 students were reported absent from another school in the same town, and on the day following, 33 more youngsters were absent from class.

It didn’t take long for area hospitals to see a trend of patients suffering from gastroenteritis symptoms. When townspeople suggested that the local public utilities commission (PUC) water protection system might be the cause, they got a terse response.

“The town’s drinking water is okay,” said two PUC officials. (more…)