Just a few weeks after BC Premier Gordon Campbell shuffled his cabinet, the leader of the official opposition and NDP party leader Carole James announced her own adjustments in the NDP shadow cabinet. Norm Macdonald, MLA for the riding of Columbia River-Revelstoke, was named the Education Critic. Previously, he had acted as the critic for Tourism, Sports and the Arts.
Macdonald has an extensive background in the field of education and he admits he is very excited about the opportunity to contribute his experience and passion. "Much of the reason I had for running [for MLA] had to do with this governments education policy," Macdonald points out. He says since this government came into power, a series of schools had to be closed due to cuts in the funding to public education.
Eight of these schools were in the Rocky Mountain School District, the district that falls into his riding and where Macdonald has taught before. The son of a teacher, Macdonald has worked as a teaching assistant, secondary school teacher and elementary school principal in British Columbia, Manitoba and Africa. He strongly believes in the public education system in BC and wants to ensure it is second to none.
Macdonald feels that health and education are both areas where the government spends an awful lot of the money collected from tax payers and that is why they have to be managed properly. Two issues that need immediate attention, he believes, are special education and finding proper resources to make most efficient use of school facilities.
Macdonald sees some good programs and initiatives by the current government, such as the StrongStart Early Learning Centres that have been established in the last few years. He thinks, however, that more needs to be done. "We also need the government to do more than just talk about education," he emphasizes. A lot of the BC government's discussion in education lately has been around literacy, yet a report by the Auditor General shows that there is no action and progress to match the rhetoric, Macdonald says.
His number one goal as Education Critic is to make sure people talk about education and bring issues forward as BC approached the next election. He also wants to push the government to provide more funding and support for special education. Macdonald says he will work with parent groups as well to see that their concerns around school closures will be addressed. Like with many other issues, he states, provincial policies create an equality between rural and urban areas and it is generally harder for rural schools to stay open as they are often smaller.
Macdonald admits he really enjoyed the tourism, culture and arts portfolio as well. He knows that tourism is an important industry in this region and culture and arts have an important role as well, from adequate funding for arts councils to the survival of small rural museums. ATV and snowmobile legislation and forest recreation trails were other items on his radar for the last few years. "These are things that I'll continue to raise at a local level," he promises.