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SOMEONE needs to call #ableg on their ridiculous use of logical fallacies to avoid having a rational discussion. A #SafeSeptemberAB thread. https://twitter.com/CBCEdmonton/status/1300908099881099266
In this case, the Premier is making good use of the straw man fallacy: "The typical straw man argument creates the illusion of having completely refuted ... an opponent's proposition through the covert replacement of it with a different proposition (i.e., "stand up a straw man").
...Straw man arguments have been used throughout history in polemical debate, particularly regarding highly charged emotional subjects." Premier Kenney should read wikipedia.
In this case, he's saying that parents' demands to reduce class sizes are unrealistic, costing 3 billion dollars. So the government will not consider this at all.
Now, seeing why Kenney's wrong requires thinking about numbers, which as we know from the budget this year, his government has a hard time with, so I'll go slow.
Not every class has 30 students. They probably range from 15-35 with a median around 25-30. There is no "magic number" for class sizes after which there is no COVID transmission. Any reduction is worthwhile. I'd be happy with classes around or under 20.
SO, we're not talking about DOUBLING the number of classes, we're only talking about reducing class sizes. Any amount helps. Maybe 10% more teachers would help. What doesn't help is our intellectually challenged elected leaders being deliberately obtuse.
What's really upsetting is that last year the #ableg quietly dropped the requirement for school districts to report class sizes. That means that not only are they refusing to manage the one biggest lever for controlling spread in schools, they're. not. even. measuring. it.
The province's science advisory group, SickKids Hospital and Canada's public health agency all say that physical distancing in classrooms is key. But nope, our government says that's not happening.
Won't consider more teachers, won't consider reducing class sizes, won't even measure class sizes to see if it makes a difference. How is this evidence-based decision making?
We're in a pandemic. Lives are *literally* on the line. The virus is 6 months old. The science is evolving. Leadership has to be able to make decisions quickly as evidence changes. To live have a government so clearly allergic to science and reason is frankly terrifying.
