{"id":8815,"date":"2014-03-19T08:50:59","date_gmt":"2014-03-19T15:50:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/?p=8815"},"modified":"2014-03-18T13:09:50","modified_gmt":"2014-03-18T20:09:50","slug":"politically-speaking-alberta-should-get-head-out-of-sands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/2014\/03\/19\/politically-speaking-alberta-should-get-head-out-of-sands\/","title":{"rendered":"Politically Speaking<\/em>: Alberta should get head out of sands"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the past, I\u2019ve used this column to poke fun at our Albertan neighbours. It\u2019s all done in love, and always directed at policy and not people. After all, BC and Alberta have a lot of things in common. I mean, I\u2019m pretty sure Alberta PM Alison Redford is Christy Clark\u2019s mom.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve never drank the Kool-Aid on oil sands hate, believing it\u2019s something we all have to have a more civil discussion about. Maybe there\u2019s good in the oil sands, maybe not. But we need to approach the topic as rational adults, with at least a basic understanding of both sides.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the Alberta government does not seem to agree with me on that.<\/p>\n

This week the Edmonton Public School Board decided that oil sands giants Suncor, Syncrude, and Cenovus were suitable groups to invite for consultation on curriculum for students from kindergarten to grade 3.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d like to know who thought that was a good idea. The angle that\u2019s being sold is getting kids interested in science and development. I might buy that if I saw a few environmental science firms on the invite list.<\/p>\n

But in Alberta there\u2019s only one path to scientific progress and that\u2019s working for oil and gas. Give me a break. It\u2019s the same story the coal companies sold kids in the US after helping write curriculum down there, providing what Alberta NDP education critic Deron Bilous called \u201ca completely one-sided view speaking only of the benefits.\u201d<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s face it: kids in kindergarten and grade 3 will believe pretty much anything you tell them. They\u2019re already getting bombarded with advertising on TV, billboards, and mobile apps.<\/p>\n

Shouldn\u2019t the classroom be a place where they can get away from all that?<\/p>\n

As cliche as it is to say, we should let kids be kids; there\u2019s nowhere that\u2019s truer than at school. I don\u2019t envision a dystopian future where children are force-fed pro-\u201cjob sands\u201d propaganda at school.<\/p>\n

But I do wonder if oil and gas can\u2019t keep their dirty bitumen fingers off my future kids\u2019 education?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the past, I\u2019ve used this column to poke fun at our Albertan neighbours. It\u2019s all done in love, and always directed at policy and not people. After all, BC and Alberta have a lot of things in common. I mean, I\u2019m pretty sure Alberta PM Alison Redford is Christy Clark\u2019s mom. I\u2019ve never drank […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,124],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8815","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-columns","category-march-19-2014"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t