The whole situation would be laughable, if it weren't so tragic.
It's hard to determine whether the education labour dispute is being orchestrated according to an incredibly intricate plan that defies understanding by ordinary minds.
It could be that it all started with an intricate plan- but nobody had the aptitude for making the plan work- so all sides have all gone each to their own, still more intricate Plan B, which subsequently has been superceded by a host of Plan Cs-
Or maybe it's just ineptitude. Either way, whatever the plans may have been, from the outset they all seemed aimed at just making everyone else look bad, instead of actually trying to solve some very real issues.
The worst of it is that nobody appears to be in control - which is more than a bit disconcerting, when the government itself is trying to assert a leadership stance.
Consider Premier Christy Clark's leadership so far - or more accurately, Education Minister George Abbott's leadership, as the premier seems mostly engaged in spewing mostly counterproductive rhetoric on talk shows instead of taking charge in the Legislature.
Abbott's Bill 22 - billed as "back-to-work" legislation before teachers even left their jobs - unsurprisingly increased teachers' resolve to escalate their job action to a full strike.
The BC Liberal government immediately put the onus on the Opposition to settle the strike that wasn't by allowing the bill to be passed without opposition- say what?
When the NDP didn't bite on that bait, the government finally closed off the debate to speed the bill's back-to-work effect- on teachers who were already back to work.
Huh?
Teachers left their classrooms, the NDP stalled, and the government finally added push to a bill aimed solely at provocation, and nothing is resolved.
All for the children.
