If the priority were children and not publicly funded daycare to enable parents to return to work, the policy options would be obvious.

Children need education and socialization. But they don’t need full day attendance. https://twitter.com/Bateson_AB/status/1291018371505352704

Splitting classes into 15 max would mean doubling the classrooms OR a modified attendance schedule to accommodate the number of classrooms required.

That’s why it’s obvious to those who understand how policy works how draconian and truly self serving this UCP response is.

The priorities being addressed by a policy can be determined by looking at who ultimately benefits from the policy.

For this decision, it’s businesses and their need for an available labour force. Not children and their health and safety.

COVid has many parents working from home ineffectively. Small children can’t be ignored for extended periods of time to focus on work. It’s the work that suffers.

Other parents have valid health and safety concerns and have stayed on CERB rather than return to work.

Not that long ago, Conservatives across the nation were demanding LPC reduce CERB or cut it altogether. Accusing Canadians of laziness and opportunism by living off the public trough rather than return to work. Completely ignoring the COVid risk of transmission and illness.

UCP has made no effort to hide what their fiscal priorities are: business and corporate prosperity. It is not the health and welfare of our children.

If it were the health and welfare of our children, funding wouldn’t be an issue. Nor would the parameters that restrict options.

Dr. Hinshaw is the Alberta CMOH. But she’s not in charge. The Tyler Shandro is health minister & has assumed the authority and final decision making regarding COVid public health decisions and sets the parameters that the CMOH operates within.

We saw this same Minister/CMOH dynamic when Dr. Hinshaw made recommendations about mat placement for homeless people.

The science at the time stated 6ft/2m was minimum safe distance. But Dr. Hinshaw approved 3ft/1m space between mats for sleeping arrangements.

Given the parameters that expanding homeless shelter facilities during the pandemic wasn’t an option, she had no choice but to recommend people be placed in opposite directions to provide additional distance while sleeping.

Dr. Hinshaw doesn’t control the budget. With no budget availability, her choices are limited. It’s like operating in a third world nation that has no budget but plenty of needs.

The people making decisions about back to school protocols are not the health experts.

The people making health and safety decisions for school reopening are the premier, the health minister and the education minister. Kenney, Shandro and La Grange. Because they control the parameters that Dr. Hinshaw works within.

These three individuals have limited the parameters of public health decision making to zero budget increases, and priority of getting parents back to work. The health and safety of our children is not the priority. Our children don’t rate anywhere near the main priority.

Much like the homeless, the bare minimum in expenses is offered. Clearly indicating our children’s lives are not a priority. And our uninterrupted labour is.

Pretty shocking citizens are just considered a cog in the wheel and their offspring are a nuisance obstructing profits.

But that’s who UCP represents. People who have limited capacity for compassion and a great desire to enable profit making.

We need to stand our ground. Not accept the pittance offered to distract us.

UCP is not changing funding priorities unless public pressure forces them.

Our children depend on us to care for & protect them. If you’re a parent or a grandparent, or a citizen who has concerns about the priorities of UCP, please send your MLA & the premier a clear message. We will not compromise our children’s health and safety for corporate profits.

For more coordinated response activities you can join, follow this account.

https://twitter.com/alberta_moms/status/1291018420872388641?s=21 https://twitter.com/alberta_moms/status/1291018420872388641

For those parents living in a province other than Alberta, connect with the organized resistors fighting unsafe school opening.

Rule number one when facing tyrants:

Conservatives are flexing their muscle and imposing policy that is meant to harm.

We owe them no obedience.

We owe our children protection from harm and access to public education. This can be done, with public pressure and an organized resistance to tyrannical power.