Leonard Baak, president, OneSchoolSystem.org
June 16, 2013
June 16, 2013
Canadian Tribute to Human Rights monument. I was strolling around in downtown Ottawa yesterday and it being a beautiful sunny day, I was in a very good mood. Then I stumbled across the Canadian Tribute to Human Rights monument, which reads "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights." Of course, then I couldn't help but feel a tad angry, as such high ideals are not a reality within the context of the Ontario school system -- where the members of the favoured Catholic sect of the Christian faith are uniquely honoured with rights not only denied to their fellow Ontarians, but that come at a significant cost to them as well.
Against all logic, public desire, and in defiance of modern human rights norms, Ontario still clings tightly to the legacy of 19th century Catholic-Protestant animosities. You can thank our Members of Provincial Parliament for that -- and the selfish vested interests who lobby them tirelessly to preserve their unwarranted, undeserved, and very costly privilege.
Someday soon the high ideals expressed on that monument will reflect what most Ontarians already believe and practice. I am confident of that. Sadly, some aren't there yet. One can still only dream of what could be and should be when strolling by that beautiful monument and reading the even more beautiful sentiment it expresses. Try to imagine Ontario as such a place -- then help us make it happen.
Against all logic, public desire, and in defiance of modern human rights norms, Ontario still clings tightly to the legacy of 19th century Catholic-Protestant animosities. You can thank our Members of Provincial Parliament for that -- and the selfish vested interests who lobby them tirelessly to preserve their unwarranted, undeserved, and very costly privilege.
Someday soon the high ideals expressed on that monument will reflect what most Ontarians already believe and practice. I am confident of that. Sadly, some aren't there yet. One can still only dream of what could be and should be when strolling by that beautiful monument and reading the even more beautiful sentiment it expresses. Try to imagine Ontario as such a place -- then help us make it happen.
"All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights."
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