Letters to the Editor: November 9, 2024

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Don’t blame COVID

The article Bad behaviour booms at board (Oct. 25) implied more irresponsible use of funds by administrators, but apparently we are now looking at student behaviour which has deteriorated even as the administration rewarded itself with huge pay raises. This has nothing to do with COVID-19 when London has four times the provincial average for suspensions and COVID was not confined to London.

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The bad student behaviour is the result of bad decisions made by board administrators along with the focus on inclusion and individual rights that have led to a total disregard for the rights of the majority to be educated in a safe and civilized environment.

They ended behaviour classes where pupils were taught how to behave in a learning environment and most were able to integrate back into their home schools after a year or two. Today, those same students would each have a full time education assistant in their home schools but learning acceptable behaviour would depend on the skills of their EA and an already overwhelmed classroom teacher.

Secondary schools provided similar alternative learning environments for students whose behaviour issues were not compatible with a regular school environment. Where are these classes now that we need them more than ever?

Also missing are the classes for the academically challenged students.

Apparently, the board has decided that inclusion outweighs costs, both financially and for the learning of everyone. We also seem to have accepted that parents of students with behaviour and/or academic challenges make the decision as to their child’s learning environment and the parents of the other students have no say no matter how adversely their children are affected.

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A.E. Brady, Middlesex Centre

Remembering dad

My dad and namesake, a First World War veteran of Canada’s 4th battalion, took me to visit two army buddies. There was so much camaraderie after surviving France’s brutal trench warfare. They mentioned the battle of Vimy Ridge and salvos of artillery fire prior to advancing on enemy lines. When a lull occurred, Germans might be heard tunneling to blow up a key military position. Canadian veterans were praised worldwide for their bravery when defending our democracy.

Honour them on Remembrance Day by wearing a poppy. Lest we forget.

Peter J. Middlemore Sr., Windsor

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Take a field trip

The recent spate of rubber-stamping several massive developments in the vicinity of Oxford Street and Wonderland Road by council begs the question: Have councillors lost touch with reality?

The area was designated as a transit village as part of BRT planning and retains the designation for planning and zoning approvals despite subsequent cancellation of the western leg of the system. At the same time, council has rejected the glaringly obvious requirement to improve and expand the road systems for both Wonderland and Oxford due to the self-declared climate emergency. They, thereby have ensured increasing volumes of vehicles will spend more time on increasingly congested roads leading to increased carbon emissions in order to curb carbon emissions.

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I would invite council to go for a short drive at Oxford and Wonderland between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. any weekday. Then, think about the reality of residents you are elected to serve who live, work and commute through this area. You may find that reality is very different from traffic impact reports, staff recommendations and ephemeral emergencies in an insulated council chamber.

Jefferson Smith, London

EMDC failing us

Why is it when a person breaks the law, they are arrested and go to jail, paying the price for their crime, but if the government violates people’s freedoms and rights, the inmates pay the price for their “broken system.” The system was never broken; it was built this way.

Apparently, if you work for Purolator and live across the street from the jail, it takes more than six weeks and a phone call to remind the staff to process the mail before an inmate receives messages from the outside world.

Many of the inmates struggle with childhood trauma, leading them down a path of self destruction, addictions and mental health problems and somehow it makes it easier to justify locking them down for a week at a time without phone calls or, by law, at least 45A minutes a day of fresh air and natural light.

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It must be pretty horrendous at EMDC for there to still be a shortage of staff for such a prolonged length of time. They get paid well with benefits, they don’t even have to abide by the law and can treat inmates worse than an animal.

Why should parents or loved ones of an inmate have to go a week without hearing from them and then, have their weekly visit cancelled because nobody wants to work at EMDC. The least they could do is have somebody process the mail so some light can be shed on inmates in their darkest days.

No wonder inmates get violent and crazy and want to kill themselves. Any human being would if they were locked in a tiny cage, with no fresh air or light, not even a kind word from a loved one on the phone and more than six weeks to receive any words from anyone.

Lindsay Tomkins, London

Donate $200

I understand Doug Ford’s reasoning behind the $200 tax refund cheques, but there are better uses for the $3 billion this is estimated to cost. Premier Ford’s reasoning, that this money, in the hands of the consumer, will go back into the economy, is laudable. It makes more sense, however, to give money to those who truly need it and less to those who don’t.

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The government knows every taxpayer’s income and can direct the funds accordingly. This is not likely to happen, so I would implore those who don’t need an extra $200 to consider donating to a worthy cause such as food banks or homeless shelters where it will actually make a difference.

You may even qualify for a charitable tax receipt. How ironic is that?

Steve Matthews, London

Heroes honoured

Remembering the Royal Rifles of Canada Regiment, the Winnipeg Grenadiers Regiment and their canine mascot, the Newfoundland labrador Sergeant Gander who served in Hong Kong.

Sergeant John Osborn, of the Winnipeg Grenadiers, was awarded a Victoria Cross (posthumously) for his heroism and bravery during the Battle of Lye Mun, Dec. 18, 1941.

Sgt. Gander of the Royal Rifles of Canada Regiment was awarded the Dickin’s Medal for Bravery (posthumously) (equivalent of the Victoria Cross) for saving a group of wounded Canadians from a grenade attack during the Battle of Lye Mun Dec. 18, 1941.

Sgt. Gander is the first dog in Canada to receive this award.

Sallie Hammond, Secretary, Malayan Volunteers Group, CANADA/USA

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