Social Policy in Ontario

This issue really offends me. Not because I think John A. Macdonald is a saint. He most certainly is not. It offends me because this is an example of faux activism. It’s about people claiming to be progressive who are not.

Changing school names is not going to help Indigenous Canadians in any meaningful way. If the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario (ETFO) wanted to do something meaningful, it should tell all MPs: “We want clean water on all reserves to be a national priority of the federal government. If you as MPs will champion this just and necessary cause, we as an organization will publicly back you.”

Instead, the ETFO is attempting to one-sidedly revisit history with inaccurate, insincere statements, making claims about the effects a school’s name has on Indigenous students, while presenting no evidence to substantiate the claims.

This is feel-good faux activism designed to make the members of the ETFO look like progressives without actually using their considerable political muscle to effect real and meaningful change.

For this, I give them a failing grade.

Owen Robinson, Oakville

https://www.thestar.com/opinion/letters_to_the_editors/2017/08/26/your-letters-reflecting-on-the-legacy-of-sir-john-a-macdonald.html