Swimming lessons should become part of every child's education, says the federal minister of state responsible for public health.
Carolyn Bennett is calling for swim lessons to be part of the school curriculum and for the federal government to help fund the initiative.
"In this country that is covered in swater, it seems like it should be like reading and writing," Bennett said.
Ooookay, so what's next? Will Canadian taxpayers need to pay for all government school students to learn how to skate? (And what's "swater" anyway?)
4 comments:
You prefer Russia? Odd. I don't.
And yes, optional skating lessons would be a good thing in places where there is a lot of ice. But it's not as important as learning to swim, so you're less likely to drown.
Metta Spencer
The point that I was trying to make was that there is no end of things some government official may consider "good for us". The problem is, do we need an ever-growing nanny state such as we now have in Canada? Why should the government use my money to pay swimming teachers to train someone else's kids, for example? What about my responsibilities as a parent? Somehow we have got the notion in this country that the government should take care of us. I reject that completely. The government should govern, protect and mete out justice. Let us citizens live and die in peace without have the government trying to safeguard, regulate and correct our every step. This is what I appreciate about Russia (getting back to the title): the citizenry here have little or no expectations as to the government's care in their lives. If government workers dig a hole beneath a broken streetlamp, leave it uncovered and someone falls into it, too bad! You are responsible for where you walk! As harsh as that sounds to Canadians, Russians understand that to survive you have only yourself to rely on. When my grandparents came from Russia to Canada in the 20's, they had no help from the government and didn't expect it! Now we work over half the year paying the government so that they can teach somebody else's children to swim. Ridiculous!
My bad for dragging in the grandparents without telling the whole story. Good point, Rob. What I had simply meant was that my grandparents had no expectations about the government raising their children.
I contend that the government in Canada (and most other countries) continually oversteps its mandate by trying to be a nanny to the "commoners".
Give the responsibilty for training and yes, teaching children back to the parents. "Mother government" doesn't know best.
Leave. Us. Alone.
I believe what is lost is the ability to return responsibility to the people once it has been entrusted to the government. Yes, there are elections, party membership, boards and the like. But the fact remains that once the government has been given control of something it is next to impossible for the people to get it back. Look at the poor state of our health care system. Can anyone honestly say that some level of privatization would not benefit the citizenry? But the road to that place is going to be difficult.
It is good to remember the warning Samuel gave to the people of Israel when they wanted a king (1 Samuel 8:10-18).
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