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Two years later, CBC continues to be inconsistent on comments

It was a big beef of mine during the 2006 election. CBC’s lack of consistency when it came to commenting on their open forum sections (feel free to use the search feature at the top of this page to check it out, it came up often). Some areas were a free for all while at Jacques Poitras’ election blog, full names and hometowns were required for some, others were allowed to put in partial names while yours truly was asked by Mr. Poitras to come into CBC and provide ID before he would let me comment.

It was riddled with inconsistencies that even had a CBC employee blog into the situation and poke holes through Jacques’ "policy" so big you could drive a truck through it.

Today of course, one can go onto any CBC story, call yourself what you want and go on tangents (okay, maybe it’s gone too far).

Ah, but leave it to Mr. Poitras to add more confusion. On his new taxpayer funded blog following the PC leadership race, Poitras has written, "As with my Campaign Trail election blog in 2006, you must provide your full name to have your comment approved. Some other bloggers (emphasis-mine) see this as contrary to the spirit of blogs."

Forget the spirit of blogs, it’s contrary to CBC’s own policies or CBC’s comments section is contrary to CBC’s policies. They can’t both be right. Which is it?

Or is Jacques Poitras creating his own policy to try and prove himself right?

Dunno but by golly CBC pick one and make it clear to your listeners, viewers, readers, and ultimately owners so there is some consistency to your comments policy (if one even exists).

Crossposted - Spink About It

Andy Scott plays the role of the pot calling the kettle black

Frankly I think the 10 percenters are almost always not so cleverly disguised political party advertising and should be called what they are. If it’s not riding specific issues and what the MP is doing about it, than it’s political advertising and let the political party pay for it…not taxpayers.

What I got a kick out of was Fredericton Liberal MP Andy Scott feigning outrage over the issue. That guy is the master of sending out political spin jobs via taxpayer funded mail yet nary a mention of that in the media stories.

By the way, with a number of blogs calling it quits, it’s always nice to mention some new ones. The Blue Collar Manifesto looks like it will be an interesting read and CBC’s Jacques Poitras is back blogging the Tory leadership race. Since his foray into blogging during the 2006 New Brunswick election, CBC seems to have come up with some type of consistent policy involving commenting which yours truly pushed for. Given the free for all the CBC comments section has become (and CanadaEast too) I may have been in error. Some moderation might not be a bad thing. Regardless, Poitras remains the only journalist in New Brunswick I know who’s blogging, so best of luck.

Finally some big news coming on the New Brunswick blogging scene soon so stay tuned.

Crossposted - Spink About It

Survey says...bad news judgement

Stories like this don’t exactly help the Irving’s cause that their newspapers are impartial. I tend to think the Irvings putting their world headquarters in downtown Saint John would be a natural fit for the city (better here than Toronto) so when I saw the headline “An emphatic 'yes'” about their plan I thought the Telegraph Journal had conducted a poll of Saint Johners, especially given the first line.

“Most city-area residents surveyed over the weekend are urging common council to give its blessing to the sale of the Lantic Sugar site to Irving Oil Ltd. at fair market value when it deals with the contentious issue tonight.”

What does most city-area residents mean?

9...out of 12.

I know a couple of blogging commentators who may have a field day with this one to add to their “anyone who looks at an Irving store is part of a grand conspiracy” but this time they would have a point.

This is poor journalism at best and an agenda pushing ad disguised as a news story at worst.

I wouldn’t be surprised if most Saint Johners are for the development but surveying 12 people and passing it off as a news story?

Crossposted - Spink About It

Happy Acadian Day Brandon, Manitoba?

Acadian Day a National Holiday? I guess I can see a group wanting to advocate whatever their group is for but do they think this stuff through? Good grief there would be holidays for every group imaginable in this country.

I’m trying to imagine the Société Nationale de l'Acadie celebrating Loyalist Day and thinking that was a good idea for a National Holiday.

Please take the anti-French rants elsewhere. That’s not what this is about. I know plenty of Acadians who frown at the militant approach a few of the groups supposedly representing them takes and say it does nothing to help English-French relations except foster an us vs. them approach.

So let me add sincerely to Acadians, “Bonne Fête aujourd’hui”.

Spink About It

Is a little respect for the dead too much to ask?

Crazies to the left of me, nuts to the right.

Crossposted - Spink About It

Well, that should keep the Province out of court anyway

A whole bunch of changes made to the instruction of French to English students in New Brunswick.

Going in to this, Education Minister Kelly Lamrock stated he had two goals; to improve French language instruction for all children and to eliminate the streaming problem.

I think this will accomplish his first goal but I don’t see how it stops the streaming except delaying it until Grade 3. Still, it’s more than any other government has done in the past several decades to address the problems in the English system. It’s a start.

Spink About It

T.J. Burke – MIA

97 days and counting since the Liberals in essence shut down the Justice Minister’s blog because he told it like it was on property taxes.

Or as Gypsy Blog now calls the blog “Don’t Tell it Like it is”.

The “offensive” or as I like to call it “honest” blog has since been removed.

I can’t believe the media didn’t hold some Liberal bigwigs feet to the fire over this one. The minister has been muzzled because he wrote what his constituents were telling him and only a politician with their head firmly planted in the ground wouldn’t realize that’s how a lot of people feel.

Burke’s blog still exists though so I hold out hope he’ll make a return and stick to his guns.

Spink About It

Customers fight back at Bell and Telus over text message fee fiasco

Bell and Telus’s decision to charge 15 cents an incoming text message, even for messages that are wrong numbers or SPAM has gone over like a lead balloon with customers.

I actually called Bell and asked about the unfairness in all this.

Get the response.

The company that owns telephones and runs the Internet refuses to deal with its customers over this issue by phone or by e-mail. You need to write them a letter and mail it.

Here’s the address to save you the frustration of the phone call that will get you nowhere;

Bell Executive Officer

Client Relations Advisor

5099 Creekbank Road East Tower

Mississauga, Ontario L4W 5N2

Here’s some good news though. The braintrust at both companies may be attempting to ignore their customers but they’ll have more trouble ignoring this.

Go get them gang and sign me up or alternatively Bell and Telus why not use some common sense and come up with a fair practice? Naw, that would mean admitting you were wrong. Can’t have that can we?

Crossposted - Spink About It

I guess that’s why they call it the blues

Finally a voice of reason in the whole Elton John ticket “fiasco”.

The media, most notably the Moncton Times and Transcript have been lamenting the past few days about the poor people who couldn’t buy tickets to John’s upcoming Maritime shows.

A tainted system is to blame for people not getting tickets, they cried.

Scalpers are to blame for them not getting tickets, they cried.

Finally fellow blogger Brian Cormier (who scored a couple of tickets on the Moncton ticket website) said exactly what the main problem was on CBC this morning. Elton John is popular and a lot of people want to go see his show. In fact more people than there are seats. Way more.

Elton John could fill the Magnetic Hill concert site with ease so there was no way a few venues with less than 10,000 seats each were going to be able to meet the demand.

To those who didn’t get a ticket, better luck next time. To the media, how about a few more Brian Cormiers stating the obvious. Might not be as sexy a story but it’s a lot more factual.

Crossposted - Spink About It

Keep EFI for two to three more years

When New Brunswick Education Minister Kelly Lamrock announced he would address problems in the English school system, I said "Finally!" The problems such as streaming and poor results have been talked about in quiet hushes for years. All parents knew there were issues. Children were being placed in Early French immersion often as a way to avoid what was at least perceived as a horribly broken English language school system. No one wanted to stick their children with the "slow" or the "bad" kids. Since addressing this was considered a political hot potato or "poking the language bear", as some would put it, government after government stuck their heads in the sand instead of fessing up that there was a problem and it needed to be addressed.

So I find myself a bit at odds when thinking about what might work (stress the word might, no one has a proven solution, just some ideas that might improve the odds) because as I've written before subjecting even one more year of children to a system known to be broken seems irresponsible.

But so does rushing ahead with something that might not work at all and enough questions have been raised by opponents (and a court order I might add) to lend one to think that some reflection is required particularly with the Minister allowing less than a month before school starts to implement changes.

One key stumbling block has been the consistent message from the parents and special interest groups fighting to keep EFI...choice. Clearly that hurdle needs to be addressed.

Here are a few ideas to address some of the issues.

- French as a subject needs to be mandatory from K-12 just like English and Math.
- Keep the Grade 5 intensive French program. If math or science is taught though, teach them in English. These are still English kids after all and they are going to use those terms in life in English. That's just the way it is.
- Add another intensive French component in a later grade to offer a bit of an upgrade. -Create social situations in which the kids can actually use French in a way that is relevant. It’s great to say they speak a bunch of languages in Europe and look to them but in those countries where that’s the truth that’s because it’s become a necessity. That’s not the case here. In most areas of New Brunswick when EFI children leave school, they don’t hear any French until the next day in class. Kelly Lamrock is correct that no matter what is done in school students will have to maintain it on their own when they get out of school. Use it or lose it is accurate when it comes to language.
- Test the students French at least once a year so that programs can be adjusted for effectiveness and relevance.
- Finally, scrap EFI and consider scrapping late immersion but not for another two to three years and here's why.
Officials with the French language school system have already spoken publicly that they have no problem with English students attending the French schools even if both parents are English. They do however require some effort on the parent's part to get the children ready. A two to three year window allows that preparation time for parents who want to have their children educated in French. Yes I know there are not French schools throughout New Brunswick but neither is EFI offered throughout New Brunswick. Many rural areas don't have EFI now. This way there would be an enhanced French instruction for all students and a vast amount of the province is covered with French schools including mostly English areas such as Saint John, Fredericton and Miramichi. In the end, if there's an enhanced French program, don't expect a mass exodus to French schools. There’s a cultural issue at play too and most English parents will want their kids in an English school. However this allows many English parents to have their children educated in French if they want.

One caveat is that French immersion still needs to be properly funded for the next decade and a half as existing students work their way through the system. This is critical so that those students aren’t left behind either.

Are there pros and cons to this? Just like all of the plans of course there are but it is compromise all around and in the end more children will be better for it.

Related - David Campbell's thoughts.

Crossposted - Spink About It