[fredthecat]

its been over a year now, and the schools are "indefinitely" closed AGAIN. i know lots of places have had lockdowns like this, but here in ontario i think the teachers have worked about 4 months since march 2020, while getting full or near-full pay the entire time and endlessly b****ing about how they aren't respected enough and stuff.

before covid they had gone on strike and were constantly threatening to go on strike as a political tactic to harass the political party their union is not antagonistic to.

it's so tiring, i don't know why i should have to pay taxes to pay them.

[Wilbur]

I don't know what you're talking about, teachers have been working their butts off this entire time. They've had to retool their entire lesson plans. If you look at a teachers actual schedule, the time they're allotted for this is typically less than 1 hour a day and includes their grading time, office hours, and wellness checks on students. They've got parents checking in even more, scrutinizing every move they make. They're required to check in on every student personally daily, which used to be as easy as stopping by their desk but now requires scheduling with every student. I don't know how much teachers get paid in Canada, but here they start at $40k annually. There are plenty of teachers who have second jobs. It's not an easy job.

[pete b]

Anyone who knows a teacher knows they work far more hours than classroom hours. They also have pretty strong educational requirements to be hired and so have to take out lots of loans. I don’t know a lot of teachers but most I know have a second job either something like construction over the summer or waiting tables weekends.
I don’t think they go on strike to harass political parties, whatever that means, they go on strike for better pay, benefits, and working conditions like any other union.
Covid has been really tough on them too, and remember, lots of them are parents trying to get their work done on zoom and take care of their kids at the same time.

[denny]

Teachers deserve many times what they make.  I say that as someone who has no kids in school.  IMO some of the best use of my tax money.

[dmtaylor]

I don't know much about Canadian politics, but this sounds just like the broken 2-party system we have in the USA.  Both sides are horrible to one another, leaving the centrists with selecting the lesser of two evils... yet there's no lesser answer.

[hopfenundmalz]

My wife is a retired teacher. She worked as hard as I did.

[Richard]

You can't blame the teachers for the spread of COVID-19. If you want things to go back to normal you need to get EVERYONE to do the obvious, but inconvenient, things it takes to stop the spread of the virus.

I hope Canada can get this under control because I have reservations for a vacation there at the end of August.

[HopDen]

MI,NY,NJ,PA&FL have the highest case count currently. 4 out of 5 all have democrat governors. 4 out of 5 had some of the strictest lockdowns in the country. Lockdowns do not work. Restrictions do not work. Masks barely work. 85% of hospitalizations for covid were obese people and/or other co-morbidities. Covid deaths were inflated and or falsified by health care systems for monetary gain. The vaccine is a pilot test that has yet to be fully vetted for safety regardless of what the "experts" tell us. Only time will tell with that and I hope I'm wrong on the vaccine issue.

As far as the teachers are concerned, they work far more hours than they are paid. The challenges they have faced for the past year have been extraordinary but, our children out of school for a year has been devastating for their development both socially, cognitively and mentally. It also has been extraordinarily difficult for two parent homes where both parents work and even worse so for single parents who also work.

I think these lockdowns and restrictions will only continue for as long as citizens allow their government to implement such draconian measures.

I am sure that this statement will not sit well with some of you and that is to be expected and is accepted by me. We are free to our own thoughts but when we lose that ability to think for ourselves instead of government oligarchs and bureaucrats thinking for us, we have lost that freedom altogether.

[Richard]

What do you think does work? Do you have any ideas on how to stop the spread of a highly contagious virus?

[HopDen]

Has humanity ever been able to stop a virus? Dr Fauci has been involved with trying to eradicate the AIDS virus since the 80's to no avail although there have been great breakthrough therapies. What about the common cold? Thats a virus. Polio is a virus and we had that completely wiped out but it is still with us even with the polio vaccine when fanatics refuse the vaccine.  I don't know what the answers are but I do know that restricting our freedoms isn't working either.

[kramerog]

I do know that Russian misinformation is working.

[majorvices]

Alright probably best just to lock this down. Going no where and discussing politics here isn't going to do anyone any good.