September 3, 2014 at 9:22 PM
Dear Mr. Sturdy:
Thank you for your belated reply; better late than never, I suppose. Although I was pleased to receive any response at all from your office, I confess I am more than a little annoyed by the content of your note because I know very little more having read the message from your office than I did before.
- I already knew this is a “difficult time”—as I think did everyone in the province who is, was, or has a child of school age.
- I already knew this is “not easy for students, parents, or teachers.” (See above.)
- I already knew (or hoped) that “everyone in the Province and in the West Vancouver – Sea to Sky corridor hopes for resolution soon.”
To be frank, I do not know why your office bothers sending out this kind of pap.
What I did not know before–and what I still do not know—is what you think about the place of education in the province. If you were just a farmer from Pemberton, I would not press you repeatedly for your views. I would be interested, but if you demurred, I would not insist; that would be rude.
Yet you are no longer merely a farmer and a private citizen: you are the MLA for this riding. And, as an MLA, you represent me and my family, and all of the people of your riding in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. As an elected representative, you have a responsibility even a duty, to explain your views to your electorate.
As I have indicated several times previously, I have a particular interest in this question. I am the father of two children, ages seven and eleven, who ought to be going to school this week. The reason they are not going to school this week is that the provincial government—the government of your party—is locked in a struggle with the BCTF.
I asked—months ago—”what you, as a member of the Liberal Party, are doing to improve the situation.” I am still waiting to hear an answer. Back in May, when I first wrote to you, I declared, “I am not interested in platitudes,” and explained, “I really would like to know what you will do to solve the immediate problem of the teachers’ strike, and what you think the province ought to do to improve public education in BC in the future.” I would still like to know.
Ever the optimist, I await your considered reply.
Sincerely,
André Lambelet
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