Our Virtual Forum on Bill 64 - and a link to the full You Tube video of the Forum

Our Virtual Forum on Bill 64 held on Sunday April 18 was a success with almost 150 people attending. A big thank you to all our panelists – John Weins, Wendy Bloomfield, Ben Carr, Judy Klassen and Cindy Lamoureux.

John Wiens, former Dean of Education at the University of Manitoba, expressed the concern that Bill 64 represents a major centralization of power in fewer and fewer hands and these hands will be further and further away from people who understand the local school situation. Wendy Bloomfield, Chair of the Seine River School Board, called Bill 64, the Education De-Modernization Act, explaining that the measures proposed will not benefit student learning, will lead to greater inequities in Education and will undermine the fundamental right to a democratic (elected school boards) process. Ben Carr, Chair Principal of the Maples Met School, talked of the importance of schools being rooted in the community and that schools need to set kids up for success. He reviewed aspects of Bill 64 where the results achieved will likely to the opposite of this. Judy Klassen, former MLA for Kewatinook and former Interim Leader and Education critic for the Manitoba Liberals talked of the need for attention to Indigenous Schools and expressed her own fear of the negative impact of Bill 64 on Indigenous schools and on Indigenous students. Cindy Lamoureux, MLA for Tyndall Park and Education Critic for the Manitoba Liberals provided an overview and summary and talked about her concern that Bill 64 may actually discourage parental participation in schools.

A full You Tube video of the Forum is available at this link: https://youtu.be/vJKtwkYugbc

An online petition in opposition to Bill 64 is at this link petition: https://www.change.org/p/winnipeg-calling-for-a-referendum-on-bill-64-education-reform/psf/promote_or_share

To join the campaign to raise awareness and help Manitobans realize the problems that Bill 64 will create, you can order a sign. Click on this link for more information on getting a sign: http://jongerrardsreport.blogspot.com/2021/04/say-no-to-bill-64.html

Thank you for your interest in the future of education in Manitoba.

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