Saturday, June 07, 2014

This Day In Snookland: When Mr. Fassbender Says 'Jump', Look Who Says...


...How High?


First, the 'call':

The B.C. Public School Employers Association has applied to the Labour Relations Board to designate Grade 10 to 12 exams and report cards for secondary students as essential services.

Earlier this week, Education Minister Peter Fassbender promised parents that exams and final marks would go ahead, but he said he wasn’t sure how he would make it happen.

Friday’s letter of application to vary the existing essential service order asks the board to designate supervising and marking exams and recording final marks as essential services...




Next, within hours, the 'response':




Surprised?

If you've been reading Norm Farrell you shouldn't be.


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Meanwhile, in the 'credit-where-credit-is-due' department, it looks like Mr. Mason's latest 'source' has has given him a couple of things to read (that actually matter). As such he stops the 'he said/she said' codswallop for a moment and takes a stand (again, on something that actually matters) ....here.



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11 comments:

Unknown said...

I wonder how many nanoseconds it would take for Baldrey to be hired by the BC Liberals should GlobalBC ever give him the boot?

RossK said...

Even a quantum clock may not be able to measure the infintesimal timespan involved.

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Norm Farrell said...

In this labour dispute, the Liberal government strategy is quite transparent, which is unusual considering the multi-billion dollar LNG negotiations stay behind closed doors, attracting zero interest of the Liberal's media allies. Transparent because their talking points gather immediate pro-media attention.

So, the teachers union has little money. Partly because they were unable to dip into taxpayers' funds to conduct 12 years of litigation while the government, which can make the dip, used and uses every strategy to drag out the proceedings and keep them from becoming definitive.

It is worth noting that in the BCTF's second successful trial related to class composition, the Supreme Court judge awarded damages of $2 million and costs on scale C, the highest scale and an indicator of the judge's view of the losing side's conduct. Of course, government appealed the action and the trial judge's findings were stayed, pending appeal, by a single Appeal Court judge, acting in Chambers. The stay was granted partly because "the balance of convenience favours a stay."

News that the BCTF has little money to further its current abour dispute was greeted with apparent glee by Liberal helpmates Baldrey, Palmer, Mason, et al. Glee, but no explanation of why the union lacked funds.

As I wrote at Northern Insight, some of these "journalists" have lost their cloaks of objectivity.

Lew said...

Unlikely Global would give Baldrey the boot. The current ménage a trois is working just fine for Baldrey, Global and the BC Libs.

Stephen Barker said...

What is interesting is what a thin skin he Baldrey has, as he really sees himself as a class journalist. We have reparteed by email and it has been quite testy and he seems to feel hurt when the vacousness and bias of his journalist is cited. He has a sense of entiitlement about being a propagandist as he knows better but entiitlement to be seen as a profound journalist as well. He thinks he is misunderstood.

e.a.f. said...

so what is the point of ?Baldrey's "tweeting twittie"? it wasn't an interview? Oh, I get it, its a cheap shot by an even cheaper former journalist on behalf of a very cheap government which thinks its o.k. to mine for money in pockets of kids who live 50% below the poverty line.

You gotta wonder how much the liebeans are paying the guy to "ask the question".

Like what is essential about a high school student "writing" finals. Its would be nice, I guess, but necessary? Teachers could just give the kids a pass or fail, based on their work. Oh, right the teachers may be on strike. So how does Fassbender expect to have papers graded? Maybe his fellow travellers in Ottawa will let him "import" temporary foreign workers.

To think people actually voted a fool like Fassbender into office.

RossK said...

Norm--

So...If one were looking for a real motive behind an appeal that they know they likely cannot win...Well, starving the bctf of strike funds before provoking a strike would be a pretty good one I would think.

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Lew--

I dunno...Foreign bureaus are not cheap.

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SB--

Others have mentioned this as well...Also seems that, if you don't have a few thousand followers on the twittmachine that your opinion is worth less than zero.

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eaf--

I reckon it was to demonstrate just 'how plugged in' the good Mr. Baldrey is.

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Lew said...

Foreign bureaus aren’t cheap, but everyone in the club has one, dahling. Just to keep up appearances, you know. De rigueur and all that.

It would be so embarrassing if Chrissy Gailus had to read PAB’s press releases on air without laundering them through the Bureau Chief to provide some street cred first.

Anonymous said...

Just found out my kid's year end concert has been cancelled due to the Employer's lockout.

Thanks Christy Clark for shitting on my child.

RossK said...

Lew--

Me still laughing!

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Really sorry to hear hear that Anon-Above.


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Anonymous said...

Two from 'The Tyee'

Regaining Respect for Education
Time to revisit and rethink just why we are subsidizing private schools. - by Crawford Kilian

Which MLAs Send Kids to Private Schools? We Asked

But few want to talk about it. Only 19 responded to our simple question. - by Katie Hyslop