OTTAWA UNRESPONSIVE TO JAMES BAY 1ST NATIONS 1968

A TRUE STORY ABOUT ATTAWAPISKAT AND KASHECHEWAN

In 1968, I made my first trip to Attawapiskat and Kashechewan. Indian Affairs staff in Moose Factory told me that those communities had no respect for education and that they never insisted that their children show up at school. They said the attendance stats were always deplorable.

I decided to do some research on the attendance while visiting these schools.

What I learned is that classrooms were almost empty in September and early October and the same was true for late May and June.

During those periods, entire families went out to the James Bay coast either to hunt geese or to fish - traditional food gathering, and part of traditional life and livelihood.

The only children attending school during those weeks were those who stayed with grandparents or other families that did not hunt or fish.

The interesting fact was that the attendance levels during the late October to mid May period were higher than the average in the city of Toronto, and just as high as any southern Ontario school I knew about.

Thus, most children in these communities  were getting about 7 months of schooling, three months less than most other children.

In meeting with the chiefs and councils of each community, I asked them what they would think of our changing the school year so that the school would remain open in July and August when everyone was at home. They were very excited about that idea, because of the extra two months of schooling. But they also pointed out that it would be good to have more supervision during the summer since that is the period when some children drown in the fast flowing rivers that flow right past their community.

I met with the teachers involved and they all agreed to the unusual school year configuration.

Let me remind you that there was another large group of children in these communities who were not receiving any schooling because there was no room for them in the school.

I proposed to my regional office that we build temporary classrooms right away and hire more teachers to accommodate the children up to 9 years of age who had never been enrolled in school. Also I urged that plans be put in place to build permanent schools to accommodate present and future needs.

I also proposed the adjusted school year to give children an extra two months of education.

The senior bureaucrats in Ottawa agreed to the temporary schools and to the planning for "permanent" schools......

BUT - only on condition that we retain the traditional September to June school year.

I was never able to get any of those bureaucrats to admit who made that very insensitive decision or the reasons for that decision. These schools were not subject to provincial regulations; they were federal schools which could have been adapted to meet local needs.

Brock Vodden

IdleNoMore campaign reaches Malaysia

The World is Watching How We Treat Indigenous People

AFTER 145 YEARS MANY ABORIGINAL PEOPLE REMAIN VICTIMS OF GOVERNMENT MEDDLING, TREATY VIOLATIONS, AND APATHY

General Manager of the Rasa Ria Resort in Malaysia, his wife, representatives of Sabah tribes ,and  resort staff have joined the #IdleNoMore movement seeking to improve the lot of First Nations people in many parts of Canada.

The New Face of Blyth

  BLYTH HAS BECOME EVEN MORE OF A DESTINATION

The biggest recent change I notice in Blyth is the number of non-Blyth residents on the street, going into the business places, stopping for coffee and biscuit, stopping for lunch.

And I am not talking about the theatre season. I'm talking about September through to the present.

Now I am not one of those people who dislike strangers. When I see guests in Blyth that I have never seen before, I celebrate. I celebrate also because these new visitors come in all age groups, from many language groups, from many racial groups. 

And best of all, we are welcoming them all as never before.

We have The Corner Café, Maple and Moose, Stitches with a Twist, Pianovations, the Gift Cupboard, an Art Studio, Part II Bistro, Queens Bakery, The Miniature Museum, Blyth Inn, Davara Studio, as well as a great grocery store: Scrimgeours, an MPP office and a noted architect - John Rutledge.

We have other businesses and services as well.

My son was visiting here from Nova Scotia, and was looking for very special strings for his ukulele that he could not find in Halifax, and found them in our Pianovations store. He was some impressed!

Time for Leadership, Mr. Harper

CHIEF SPENCE HAS A COMPELLING ARGUMENT

In case my previous letter was too lengthy for your staff to read, here is the short version.

In 1968 I made my first visit to Attawapiskat on the coast of James Bay. I found about 20 children who could not attend school because there was no room for them in the one-room school. I persuaded Indian Affairs to build a temporary classroom immediately, hire another teacher, and put plans in motion to build a new school of appropriate size and quality.

A few days ago, we learned from Attawapiskat residents that the same condition exists today. Kids are again prevented from education for lack of space in the school.

That's just one reason why you need to talk, in person, to Chief Spence. The Minister of Aboriginal Affairs is a nice harmless man, but he's not up to the task presented by this situation.

Please, do your duty.

Brock Vodden

Letter to PM Harper re Attawapiskat

AN OPEN LETTER ON ABORIGINAL AFFAIRS TO

PRIME MINISTER HARPER

January 1, 2013

Right Honourable Steven Harper
Prime Minster of Canada

What greater legacy could a Prime Minister of Canada leave than to have held that position at the time that solutions are found to reverse the tragic conditions of so many First Nations communities like Attawapiskat on James Bay?

There is a window of opportunity for the Prime Minister of Canada to begin a truly historic intervention in the lives of Canada’s First Nations People, and at the same time the initiation of a new and wholesome relationship between aboriginal and non-aboriginal peoples of this land. The Prime Minister must meet with Chief Spence. It will not diminish his stature. On the contrary ....

ATTAWAPISKAT

The utter lack of progress in this sad history was driven home to me a few nights ago during a TV news report on Attawapiskat. The topic was a young boy’s decision to quit school in Grade 8. Someone said that his dropping out would create a place for another child who could not go to school because there was no space available to him in the school.

This condition shocked many people, I am sure, but it hit me with extra force. In 1968 when I was appointed District School Superintendent for Northeastern Ontario (Department of Indian and Northern Affairs), I visited Attawapiskat and found many children up to nine years of age who had never spent a day in school. Why? It was because there was no room in the little one room school for them.

Here we are 44 years later and the very same, totally unacceptable condition exists in that community. Where else in Canada, or in the developed world, would people tolerate the denial of education to children because there was no room for them in the existing school system? When a child is born, we have several years to plan for that child’s accommodation in a school setting. That kind of planning is done routinely all across Canada. Why is it not being done in places like Attawapiskat?

In 1968, I requested funds to build immediately a temporary classroom beside the old overcrowded Attawapiskat school, and also that Ottawa immediately find the funds to plan and build a new permanent school in that community. There were no funds in the Ontario Region for those projects. My boss in the Toronto Region took my demands to Ottawa the very next day, and both requests were agreed to.

By the way, I found exactly the same conditions in Kashechewan which is just a few miles south of Attawapiskat near the coast of James Bay.

I moved on to a different job the following year, but understood that the temporary classrooms were built and that eventually new permanent schools were built in both communities.

I learned later that it was one comment that I made to my boss that pressed him and the director in Ottawa into action. I said that I hoped that a reporter from the Toronto papers did not go to Attawapiskat on a school day and see dozens of children up to nine years of age wandering around, denied an education. My boss said that neither he nor his assistant were able to sleep that night from thinking about that reporter. I would have been more impressed had they been sleepless because of the children.

The “new” schools that were built back then, now need replacement again, but as usual, the planning is lagging behind the need.

OTHER DISCOVERIES IN THE JAMES BAY REGION IN 1968-69

Boy With Epilepsy

A fourteen year-old boy attending the school in Moose Factory (south tip of James Bay) is taking twelve or more seizures a day. He has to wear an old type football helmet to protect his head when he falls. My staff had taken him to the federal hospital which is almost next door to the school, but they refused to admit him or to treat him. Few readers will believe the reason. Epilepsy, according to the federal Department of Health and Welfare who ran the hospital, is a mental state rather than a physical state, which makes this boy’s condition a provincial matter.

That hospital at that time had entire wards that were fully equipped and staffed with no patients, full range of medical staff and all kinds of fiscal resources, all unavailable to this young man.

Boy with Severe Behavioural Problems

This 13 year old boy was in the care of the Fort Albany Residential School on James Bay. He had the worst kind of home history: abandoned by the father in the care of a seriously demented mother, who had taken an axe to all of the boats and canoes belonging to the residents of their community. The child had serious anger problems, throwing chairs at people, threatening teachers with knives, and a new interest in setting fires inside the institution.

Staff referred the child to the Moose Factory hospital, but service was denied for the same reason as above.

The problem was the boy’s mental state which makes his case a provincial matter.

I managed to get these boys transferred to the seriously overcrowded provincial hospital in North Bay, but it took many days of negotiation. Their medical people were sympathetic, but resented the attitude of the federal health people who should have had a much better understanding of the environmental issues as well as the medical and social aspects of the situations.

A Teacher Goes Manic

One of the teachers in one of the James Bay area schools who was new to life in the north was overcome, we thought, by culture shock. He began running around the community, ranting, and threatening to injure himself and others. Two RCMP officers were dispatched up there from Moose Factory. They chased the person in a jeep, caught the person and with help managed to get him into a retraining jacket, and seated him in the jeep. The person managed to put his feet through the windscreen of the vehicle. The officers accompanied the person back to Moose Factory, took him to the Department of Health hospital where he was refused admission or treatment, because, why else, his illness was a provincial matter. (We later learned that this individual was prone to episodes like this when living in Toronto, but that medical history was not available when he was hired.)

THE ELLIOTT LAKE PROJECT

It is interesting to note that this project, The Elliott Lake Relocation Project, launched by the Government of Canada in 1967, has disappeared from the annals of Canadian, Ontario and even Elliott Lake history.

The rationale for this project has never been clearly recorded in any public document. Here is my attempt to reconstruct the genesis in as objective a manner as possible.

Elliott Lake as a community was founded on the basis of a discovery of uranium in the area. A town was built by the mining company resulting in a flourishing community of modern, well-built homes. As the bottom fell out of the uranium market, the population dropped overnight, leaving street after street of vacant houses.

A member of parliament, name and riding unknown to me, arose in the House of Commons to propose a new program to make use of these houses and this under-used community. His proposal may have been similar to the following paraphrase:

“Mister Speaker, we have in Elliott Lake a community of vacant but well-appointed houses in a fully serviced community. At the same time, we have in the northern part of Ontario thousands of aboriginal families with no employment, no income save from welfare, limited job skills, and few prospects for ever breaking out of this cycle of poverty. I respectfully suggest to the Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs the establishment of a pilot relocation program which would bring young aboriginal families down to Elliott Lake, they could live in these fine houses, receive practical job training to prepare the young husbands for jobs available in mainstream Canada, the wives could receive training in home-making skills, and the children could receive educational opportunities in the local schools.”

The Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs apparently took the suggestion to heart and ordered the Ontario Region office to set up this pilot program at once. The word “pilot” is very significant here. It suggested that the program was to serve as an experiment to test ideas for future policy considerations, an opportunity to learn whether this concept would really be beneficial to the participants in terms of livelihood and family living.

In the fall of  1966, a team of recruiters travelled to most if not all of the reserves across Northern Ontario to offer young families this unusual opportunity. Their goal was to garner 20 families who were prepared to commit themselves to this program.

I knew very little about this program until later, since I was working in the education branch of Indian Affairs and the Elliott Lake was in the Sudbury Agency branch. In 1968 I was appointed to the Superintendent of Education branch with an office in Sudbury. A few months later, I was made responsible for the Elliott Lake project.

I met with staff and requested all the documentation to help me understand the goals and objectives of the project as well as the operational aspects. The files in our Sudbury office provided nothing but invoices, payment vouchers, complaint letters, work orders for repairs of windows, doors, plumbing, TV sets, etc. – all administrivia, but no background documentation. The staff had never seen any documentation defining the goals and objectives of the project, although these matters had been implicit in some of the discussions.

I went to Toronto and asked the responsible officer for background documents such as the design of the pilot project, the goals, evaluation criteria. He said that he was not allowed to show these to me. I could not believe that they were making me to be responsible for a program with no background information. I badgered this person as only I can badger. He finally agreed to allow me to read some files in his office, but only on condition that I make no copies and record no notes.

The real shock was that there was no experimental design or objectives. This was a pilot project in name only. It was nothing more than a scheme to utilize the empty houses in Elliott Lake. There was a hint in the very suggestion of the project that the answer for aboriginal people is to be assimilated into mainstream Canadian society, but it was not blatantly stated.

I know of one family that benefited from the project and my wife and I are still in touch with some members of that family. There probably were others who gained something, but all families that I know of returned to living in their original community. I also knew of many terrible family breakdowns which resulted from insufficient selection criteria, and lack of support for the program. The program had one super counsellor who worked day and night to help the participants, but she could in no way make up for the lack of resources coming from the government which had never had any real interest in discovering meaningful ways to assist First Nation people to take control for their future.

WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO OUR DAUGHTER?

I attended a meeting with the people of the Ogoki Reserve in 1968. Ogoki is a very remote community on the Albany River, but it was noted for its highly entrepreneurial families who shared a large clientele of hunters and fishermen from Canada and the United States.

When the meeting concluded, a young couple whose daughter had been injured about a month earlier came to me asking me if I could get some information about the 14 year-old daughter. She had been chopping wood, when she accidently and completely severed one of her great toes. A message over the radio telephone brought a plane to take the child to hospital, but that was the last they had heard of the little girl. They did not know what hospital she had been taken to (Geraldton or Sioux Lookout), whether she had recovered or not, and when they might expect her return. They asked me to find the answers and get the message back to them.

 That evening I got to Geraldton about 9:00 p.m. and went directly to that hospital. The young patient was there. The nurse was shocked to learn that her parents had had no information about their daughter. She took me to the child’s room. She looked frightened wondering who this strange person might be, but when I told her that I had talked to her parents that day, I got a broad smile. The hospital had decided that she would be released in a very few days. We got word to the parents next day, and I am sure that they were relieved.

 The point of this story is the thoughtlessness of the bureaucracy in leaving these parents in limbo for all those weeks. While I am sure that there was no staff member with a clause in his/her job description to “notify parents of injured children” there could have been someone caring enough to perform that small but so important task.

CONCLUSION

These are just a small sample of the kinds of things taking place between the federal government and First Nations people some 40 years ago. They appear to be remarkably similar to what is happening today.

Many First Nations communities have avoided or have overcome these difficulties usually as a result of strong leadership within the community and usually with wise use of external support, government or otherwise.

I implore you to meet with Chief Spence immediately. Your offer of sending the Minister is an insult. I am sure he is a nice, well-intentioned gentleman, but he is not personally or symbolically the right person for this task.

One thing I learned from my work in that field is that each community is unique even thought we use the same terminology to identify them: First Nations, aboriginal, reserves, etc. Each community has a unique set of issues, resources, possibilities, and potentials. You need policies and high level goals at the government level, but on the ground you must have people who can work with the specific situation and with the people of that community to come up with comprehensive solutions that will work in that specific situation. They will learn from this, but the next community will be a whole new set of circumstances.

H. Brock Vodden B.A., B.Ed., M.Ed.

EDUCATION: ONCE ONTARIO'S PRIDE, NOW OUR SHAME

POLITICAL MEDDLING IN EDUCATION HAS DESTROYED OUR SYSTEM

The strength of our Ontario system prior to the 1970's was based on wise guidance from the Ministry, trusting local educators to adapt sound principles to local circumstances, local governance to ensure that the school and the community work harmoniously to serve the children, their families, and the community well.

Since the 1970s, the education system has been stolen from the community, taken over by the trade union mentality adopted by the teachers' federations (all about money, what is professionalism, anyway?), and big government acting like the bosses of trade unions.

The final stroke has been taken with the legislature, with the Liberals and the PCs combining  to wipe out the final vestige of local governance, and the NDPers taking the side of the trade union activists. Nobody is left to give a damn for the children, the communities, the quality of the education system. Many school boards are taking their lessons from the government and ignoring the views and needs of the community. The communities care a lot but they have pretty well given up any hope of the return of sanity to the school scene.

Dalton McGuinty and the Liberals should be charged with being AWOL, but who is going to replace them? Can we really expect any thing different from the PCs who jumped into bed with Dalton on this latest grab for total centralized control of schooling? Can we expect anything different from the NDP who are on the big labour side?

It is a sad state of affairs. I hope someone comes up with a solution, but I don't think we can expect any solution from the Ontario legislature without a major change in the quality of political leadership, leadership that can put the education bureaucrats in their place.

Brock Vodden

NO APOLOGY REQUIRED

It has been suggested by my constant critics in the Wingham Free Press, that I should apologize to the Avon Maitland District School Board for my revelations of their ill-advised decisions to close the schools of several Huron County villages. They also demand that I apologize to  a member of the AMDSB Communications Department for comments I made about him.

As usual the WFP demands are pure nonsense.

AMDSB closed the only school in our community for no legitimate educational purpose. The new school is being built as a monument to the Huron County school board members to match the new school Perth members got last year and children had to be thrown out of their home town schools to feed this monster.

What sense does it make to build a new 24 room school in an area that is reported to have too many schools and not enough children?

Blyth Public School and several others have been sacrificed for the new school. The school board cheated on the ARC process in order give a false appearance of community consultation. 

A petition signed by 631 people, presented by our MPP, Lisa Thompson to the Ontario legislature, indicates the fact that Blyth citizens were totally opposed to what their school board did to them.

As councillor for the Blyth Ward, it would be a dereliction of duty  if I were not speaking out on this topic. An apology would be inappropriate.

ABOUT THE AMDSB COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR

In a radio interview on CKNX I stated the known fact that Blyth was not properly represented in the ARC process. Later the school board's director of communications accused me of not telling the truth. He clearly stated that every ARC meeting was advertised in the local papers and that Blyth was, in fact , properly represented.

Neither claim was true.

The fact is that only the second meeting  was advertised in the Citizen; the other 5 meetings were not advertised at all.
The fact is that only two of the ARC meetings were advertised in the Wingham Advance-Times; the others were not advertised  at all.

The ministry guidelines stipulated that  a broad cross-section of the community must be involved, including business representatives and municipal reps. Ask Steve Howe the names of the business and municipal reps were for Blyth and he will have no answer. If there is any apology due it should be from him for accusing me of lying. I am the one, the only one,  who spoke the truth.

Brock Vodden

Look Who's Chair of Avon Maitland School Board

The newly elected chair of our local school board (Avon Maitland) happens to be the person who, in theory at least, represents our community. Well, when it came to the decision of whether to close Blyth Public School, she voted in favour of the closure.

So we really can't say that she ever represented our community. (She reportedly said afterwards that she didn't know that we wanted to keep our school. Classy response, Colleen!).

Now that she has gained this position of power, there is no telling what she might do to us.

At least she won't be able to close our school, because, thanks to her and her buddies, we don't have any schools left for her to close.

Brock Vodden

BLYTH'S QUEEN'S HOTEL PIC RESTORED

This Hotel stood at the north east corner of Queen and King Streets in Blyth up to about 1920

Mike Wofford, a descendant of the Kelly family that owned this hotel, had this picture restored professionally.

Does anyone have the same picture with names or other information? We believe this to be a Kelly family wedding.

For information, please contact me by commenting on this blog posting or email to hbvodden@ezlink.on.ca

Brock Vodden

BLYTH HISTORY ON DISPLAY

On October 12 and 13 a Huron County event called Doors Open took place. Buildings of many sorts were open to the public to visit, hear presentations, observe activities, taste the food, etc. Displays were open from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. each day.

Blyth Memorial Hall was one of the Huron County sites. Members of the Blyth Festival Board and Staff  were providing guided tours through the Memorial hall and the Festival Theatre facilities. In addition, Janis and Brock Vodden were invited to place a display of their Repository of Blyth History in the Bainton Gallery adjacent to the Memorial Hall.

We set up about 10 or 12 tables of display material as a sampling of the collection. It was arranged so that people were not only able to walk around and look at pictures and objects, but they could sit down with large binders of material on a topic of interest, and read, take notes, ask questions, and have copies made.

Below are just a few snapshots of the display.

A few artifacts that have been donated to the Repository of Blyth History.  At the centre is  an early portable typewriter that was a gift to A.E. Bradwin, who was editor and publisher of the Blyth Standard weekly from 1894 to 1906. The gift was received long after his leaving Blyth, but was sent to us by a great nephew, Bill Emigh of Victoria, B.C. The group picture at the back is the Blyth Football Team of 1906. On the right at the back is a newspaper photo of Emma Scrimgeour who was one of the great community builders of Blyth as a volunteer in countless organizations and as a talented correspondent to area newspapers such as the Stratford Beacon-Herald and the London Free Press.

Beside the Football Club photo is an engraved silver cup, presented to James  Emigh by the Blyth Baseball Club in 1889. James was manager-coach of the team. This cup was also sent to the Repository of Blyth History by Bill Emigh, James' great nephew. This cup survived at least one fire as well as serving as a play toy for generations of Emigh children in Ontario and Saskatchewan. Bill felt strongly that the cup wanted to return to its roots in Blyth.

This part of the Doors Open display includes as small portion of the materials that Brock and  Janis Vodden use  in connection with the Repository. On the far table are several long narrow boxes containing approximately 30,000 reference file cards. These cards contain information about people, places, events, buildings, in Blyth and surrounding area, as well as items with a Blyth connection. Many of them point to other sources for additional information. On the near table are just a few of the several hundred binders containing information about Blyth. During the Doors Open event many people spent a lot of time going through the books and cards that were of interest to them. In the background is a printer/copier for copying any materials requested by visitors. A laptop on the table contained 2600 obituaries which would be copied on request by any of the participants. Another laptop and projector on the left of that table provided a continuous slide show of hundreds of historic pictures of Blyth.

Paying AMDSB for Dumping our School

North Huron is coughing up $150,000 to help the school board pay for the extension of John Street to accommodate the new school in Wingham.

The extension of John Street was considered necessary from the beginning, but the school board felt that the municipality should cover the total cost of the street construction including all the underground infrastructure. North Huron's engineer consultant explained to them that the developer normally pays for all development costs. The board eventually accepted that decision, but launched a hard luck story that convinced North Huron council of the time to chip in $150,000.

The dream is that this money will be recouped when the next phase of development takes place in that area. Good luck!

It's a bit like the situation in some countries when someone is executed by a firing squad and the family has to pay for the bullet.

DOORS OPEN TO BLYTH HISTORY

Janis and Brock Vodden
Doors Open Display

Blyth Memorial Community Hall

REPOSITORY OF BLYTH HISTORY

DOORS OPEN AT MEMORIAL HALL

We will be displaying a major portion of our collection of Blyth history, images, and artifacts in the Bainton Gallery next to Blyth Memorial Hall.

Saturday and Sunday, October 13 and 14

10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. each day

Doors are open for the Blyth Memorial Hall at the above times, and in the Bainton Gallery a major part of our collection will be available for viewing and querying.

Our collection includes a huge amount of information about the families and individuals, places, events, stories, businesses, or organizations, mostly from the past and the recent past. As well we will have on display a few artifacts which have been donated to the Repository.

To be specific here are the things you can do when you join us.

See two automated slide presentations which will be alternated throughout the day:

AN ALBUM OF FAMILIES

IMAGES OF BLYTH 

Consult our collection of approximately 30,000 reference cards for information about people, businesses, etc. We will make copies of cards of interest to you, or make an appointment for you to explore the main collection.

Ask any questions you have about Blyth's past and we will try to give you answers on the spot, or look up the information later.

Inquire about obituaries in our collection. We will have about 2600 obituaries on computer on site. If we have what you are looking for, we'll print the obituary for you, or you can browse through the collection of obituaries which we have not had time to index.

Look through a number of binders of information, pictures, documents on topics such as schools, obituaries, and other topics.

Look at a few of the artifacts we will be putting on display.

We are very grateful for a few friends who have volunteered to assist us during the scheduled time, the setting up and tearing down time.

If you have any questions about the event please call us at 519-523-9393 or email us at hbvodden@ezlink.on.ca

PLEASE JOIN US!

OUR SCHOOL BEING AUCTIONED TODAY

Breaking News:

Just learned that the Blyth School was sold at auction for $210,000. I have no word as to who bought it.
==============================================

Today an on site auction is taking place to mark the end of over 150 years of education provided in our community of Blyth, Ontario.

Our school is being sacrificed to help pay for a new monster school which will actually not be completed for the next school year. The new school will be known as the Maitland River Elementary School . Although only a portion of our children will be attending this school; most will be bused south to the tiny village of Londesborough which is in the next municipality. Some classes will apparently be relegated to portables.

The decision to close our only school was taken by the Avon Maitland District School Board on which we have no active representation. School board members tend to support their own community and ignore all the others. The board is best described as a group of money-grubbing leeches.

The whole exercise began several years ago to address the issue of declining enrollment in our schools. The decision to build a monster school (24-rooms) in the midst of a situation which apparently already had too many schools and too few children, seems to defy logic.

Turns out that in this particular adventure, declining enrollments were not the issue at all. Board members from Huron County felt that since Perth County got a new school last year, their county should get a new school this year. Thus a completely unnecessary school is being built in Wingham as a multi-million dollar monument to a handful of school board members who really represent no one but themselves.

The board steals our school grabs the money and leaves the property up to chance as to whether the highest bidder will use the property for the betterment of this community or its degradation.

Remember when we used to refer to school board members as "trustees"?  

Brock Vodden

A Musical Joke

French Horn

I just learned that the French Horn is considered by many musicians to be one of the most difficult instruments to play - especially to play well.


Why is the French Horn known as the Divine Instrument?



Answer: A person blows in one end, and only God knows what sound is going to come out of the other end.

A little wisdom I picked up from the CBC Radio 2. Thank goodness for the CBC radio service giving us real music to listen to in Huron County.

A QUESTION FOR ENGLISH TEACHERS - AND OTHERS

Teaching of English Literature: WHAT ARE THE GOALS?

Many years ago i was a secondary school English teacher. Over a number of summers, I took graduate courses on a variety of education topics towards qualifying for the Master of education degree which I obtained in 1969.

One of the studies I undertook was to answer a question that had bothered me for some time.

"Are the official purposes of the teaching of English Literature in sync with the methodology and achievement measures employed by teachers and schools?"

I gathered what was said about the teaching of English Literature in the curriculum guidelines presented by the Ministry of Education of the time, along with various curriculum overviews prepared by secondary schools, along with a number of other official and semi-official publications available at the time in the mid 1960s. This collection, for the purposes of my study was the apparent objective of English Literature instruction in the secondary schools of Ontario at that time:

The following is my best attempt at remembering  the stated official purposes of English Lit.

The purpose of the English Literature program in our secondary schools is to help people achieve the following: developing in students the ability and the desire to appreciate and understand good literature; the development of good taste in literature; to develop in young people the habit of being lifelong readers who remain aware of all aspects of their world.

I interviewed a number of English Lit teachers to determine their instructional strategies and methods.

I also collected English Lit. curriculum descriptions from several schools, along with the English Lit. examinations, tests, and project assignments from teachers.

I also surveyed a large number of students from Grades 11 to 13 asking them to indicate what they felt were the main purposes behind the teaching of English Literature

What I discovered, in brief, was a very strong relationship between what the official Ministry pronouncements were on the purposes behind English Literature and the general statements by the school and the teachers as to their aims in English Lit.

However, there was a very distinct difference between all of that and the student perceptions of the subject's purposes, There was a similar disconnect between the stated purpose and the apparent objectives behind teaching practices and the examination contents.  The students seemed to draw their clues as to the purpose of  English Lit. from their exposure to examinations in the subject, rather than from general course or curriculum descriptions. They knew that their overall achievement was measured by their recall of teacher's valuation of the material studied, rote memory of content, names, arguments contained in the material studied. In other words, their ability to answer questions based on the opinions expressed by, or approved by, the teacher during the course, was the end goal of these courses.

At that time, I discovered a very inciteful two-volume book entitled "Taxonomy of Educational Objectives".

Volume One deals with the Cognitive Domain. Volume Two deals with the Affective Domain.

Published in 1956, this book is still regarded by many educators as the most influential book on the field education of all time. It should be read by teachers, instructors, educators of all types. the volumes are still available after more that 50 years. It helps to clarify what is meant by educational objectives by expressing them in terms of the intended  behavioural outcomes of students.

In this instance, it is helpful for English Literature teachers to re-think their goals and objectives as a basis for their curriculum design and as a means ot re-thinking what goals and objectives they are trying to develop or encourage in their students.

Brock Vodden

THE THEFT OF OUR BLYTH SCHOOL

Scene of the Crime

 The closing of Blyth Public School is a tragic affair, but it is the outcome of years of incompetent management by the Avon Maitland School Board, incompetent governance by the Ministry of Education under both the previous PC government and the current Liberal government. Mike Harris started the decline and Dalton McGuinty is working hard to outdo him.

The decline of public education in Huron County has been augmented by the increased involvement of faith-based education systems which have grown as a result of the loss of confidence many families have felt towards the public system as it exists in this county.

Public education, in my view, is the ideal basis for developing a solid, tolerant, fair, and progressive society. The fragmentation of education which has increased dramatically in recent decades, while consistent with legislation, has done a great deal of harm to our education system.

The sign announcing the coming auction.

Part of the problems stem from the progression of amalgamations of school boards from community-based boards to county boards to a two-county board, Avon Maitland District Board of Education, which covers both Huron and Perth counties: covers, but serves poorly. The effect of the enlarged "area of administration" has been that board members have lost all meaningful contact with most of the communities for which they are responsible. And the result of that is that communities like Blyth, Brussels, and Zurich have no representation at all. As that process plays itself out, board members end up representing no one but themselves and most citizens within the two counties have no one tending to their concerns, needs, interests, or welfare. Accountability to the people and community connection are diluted to the point of being undetectable.

At the same time, as elected boards lose touch with their constituencies the entire focus of power and decision-making falls to the senior staff of the school board, the Director of Education, and the various Superintendents and Managers. The system then is controlled by people who are unaccountable to the people of the counties.

Blyth Public School on the market

This situation is a complete denial of the fundamental principles of public education. It could be rendered tolerable if the elected board members have the capacity to value and respond to their entire constituency, and the administrators have the competency, wisdom and the ethical foundation to provide a sound and effective public education system.

Unfortunately, in our case, we have been unlucky on both counts with the quality of most board members and of administrators. The people of Huron County have been short-changed in terms of both governance and operations. We have been routinely misinformed about what it happening and why. Administration officials have become spin doctors as opposed to responsible public servants. Board members have to rely on sound bites provided by their hirelings.

The entire scenario related to school closures and the construction of the Maitland River Elementary School makes absolutely no sense from either an educational or fiscal point of view. The only explanation that makes any sense is that the board's primary and only goal was to build a large new school to serve as a monument to the present and recent board members and to create a symmetry with the new school recently opened in the Perth County side of the area (St. Marys). Several schools, including Blyth and East Wawanosh are being sacrificed to "justify" that multi-million dollar adventure.

A question that is still being asked is why the Blyth school is being closed while the Hullett Central School in Londesborough remains open. Also, why are the schools being closed even though the new school will not be completed for a year or more. The answer is MONEY.

Blyth school is considered to have greater real estate value than the Londesborough location. So Blyth loses because it has a slightly higher real estate value and therefor subject of a cash grab. The rush to close schools is simply a matter of getting the cash as quickly as possible to help pay for the Wingham monument.

The school board and its officials continually trot out the phrase "It's all for the children" to try to explain their bizarre actions and to cover up the unexplainable. That won't work in this case.

The salient actions of Avon Maitland DSB have nothing whatsoever to do with the children or with education quality. It's all about the names that will be on the plaque in the new school.

So Blyth Public School has been stolen from this community. Blyth cannot afford this loss. And the school board does not care because they do not represent us.

Blyth will survive as it always has through times of change.

Perhaps one of the long term benefits of this period of neglect and abuse by AMDSB will be that in the next election of 2014 we will take a lot more care to see that we have responsible candidates for school board positions and our votes will be determined by much more cogent thought than the last time.

Blyth Main Street circa 1910

Queen Street at King looking to the north

This is one of my favourite pictures of Blyth's main street.

The nearest building on the left is the former George Radford Construction building, but was a livery stable in the olden days. It was also home to Doc Perdue's veterinarian services. The store next to this building was a harness shop operated by a Mr. Carter. His wife had a dressmaker business on the second floor of this building.

Just past this block there is a mysterious, small wooden box-like structure which has a sloped top. It is just to the left of the sidewalk and appears to be raised a few inches from the ground. I have never been able to identify what this item is.

On the right-hand side of the picture in the foreground is the Queen's Hotel, operated at this time by the Mason Brothers.

The brick building next door is a house built by William Johnston, who operated a livery stable next door. We believe the person beside the stage coach is the driver of the Clinton-Wingham stage either hitching up as fresh team or unhitching the team to be replaced.

Note the sidewalks crossing the street to help the ladies keep their long skirts out of the mud. (Also to protect the men's boots?)

WE NEED THE OMBUDSMAN TO CONTROL OUR SCHOOL BOARD

WHEN WILL THE ONTARIO OMBUDSMAN BE ALLOWED TO INVESTIGATE SCHOOL BOARDS?

The people of Blyth did everything within their power to prevent the closure of their school. We lost the battle, but the field on which we fought was not a level one.

Avon Maitland District School Board, despite the fact that they had  major control advantages, violated many of the rules that could have made the contest somewhat more fair. Blyth was not fairly represented, ARC meetings were not properly advertised, the board did not recruit proper representatives. 

Unfortunately, the board's records have whitewashed the entire process. When I lodged a complaint to the Ontario Ombudsman I knew that he would not be allowed to investigate the school board, so my complaint went to the Ministry of Education, which is fair game for the Ombudsman's investigative powers.

The reply that I received from the ministry was based entirely on the Avon Maitland false and misleading reports. While that was quite frustrating, I realize now that even if the OO had found the ministry at fault, that would not change AMDSB's decision since the Education Act gives them the absolute power to close any school they choose regardless of how egregious the decision might be.

A truly representative school board would have asked the question: "Can Blyth afford to lose its only school?" The same would apply to Brussels and Zurich schools.

Apparently the perfidy of this board did not end with unnecessary closure of schools and the wasteful spending of undetermined millions spent on a totally unnecessary new school. There are rumours from reliable sources that $200,000 has been given to a couple (both retired school principals on full pension) to sort out, organize and dispense with all the movable assets from the closed schools.

Further evidence of the inability of this board's administration to plan for the near future has been noted. In the normal K to 8 schools, during the winter months, older children are always on hand to help the little ones to deal with their winter clothing and footwear at the beginning and ending of the school day. With the Turnberry "Campus" being totally dedicated to K-1 children, there will be no one but a handful of teachers to help with these duties.

A large portion of your tax dollars are going to pay the salaries of those who make decisions like that, and who seem to do everything they can think of to disadvantage places like Blyth, Brussels, and Zurich.

The Ontario Ombudsman, André Marin, has been actively pressing the Ontario government to allow his office to investigate the so-called "MUSH" group: municipalities, universities, schools, and hospitals. The pressure is mounting from the thousands of people who, like us, have legitimate complaints about errors, decisions, and bad policies of public service organizations.

It is a matter of justice and fairness for all citizens.

Brock Vodden

Insensitive Wingham Advertising

The people of Blyth who happened to be listening to "The One" radio station on a recent Thursday morning heard the following announcement:

"There are so many reasons to visit Wingham! Come and see all that it has to offer! 
Including the new public school, the terrific sports complex and the fantastic services offered at the High School and hospital!
Wingham is a wonderful place to start a business or locate your family! Take the short trip today and shop around main street.
You can win thousands of dollars in cash and prizes just by shopping!
Fill your "Dig our Town" passport to take part! More details online at www.northhuron.ca"

The fact that the North Huron website is referred to suggests that this ad came from our municipal office, and paid for with North Huron taxes.

It turns out that this message was crafted by someone in CKNX who is in charge of communication from the Wingham Business Alliance. That "someone"obviously has the sensitivity of a rhinoceros.

Here we are in Blyth mourning the loss of our only school and wondering how we are going to attract and retain young families. Then along comes this announcement which uses this utterly unjustifiable monster school to lure young families away from here. That is rubbing salt into a very deep wound.

The other attraction is the "terrific sports complex". This is an extravagance pretty much forced on the former town of Wingham by an overly optimistic manufacturer, and overly optimistic business people of Wingham. All three wards contribute to the operations of the complex, although only Wingham residents contribute to the debt for it.


Brock Vodden

BLYTH FROM A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE

A view of Dinsley Street from the Roof of Industry Hall

On the left side of this early 1900 photo you see part of the cement block structure of the current Blyth Inn. There are two attached frame structures and then a livery stable. This livery stable was later replaced by another structure at the north east corner of the property. At the eastern edge of the property we see an open shed. This is where guests could tie up their horse and store their buggy. This building remained standing. though unused. until about 1950.

In the right foreground we see the McKinnon & Co. sign. This is the same building that is now occupied by the Gift Cupboard. The second storey of McKinnon's store housed their millinery department.

In the distance on the left side of the photo, we can see St. Michael's Catholic Church which still had its spire. We can also see St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church near the centre background. This church in 1925  became a United Church of Canada. At the same time, the Queen Street Methodist Church became a United Church as well and for several years there were two United Churches in the village. Eventually the two congregations joined together in the former Presbyterian Church, and the continuing Presbyterians purchased  the Queen Street Church which is now home to the Blyth Christian Reform Church.

Brock Vodden