Dear Editor:
Re: Divided board disagree on whether to demand outside help (Nov. 7, The Record online) and Trustees divided on paying consultant (The Record, Oct. 30).
If ever there was a $2,500 investment of school district funds that was wise and needed, it would be the hiring of an objective, outside consultant to help implement a long-delayed, and badly needed, strategic plan. That's why it doesn't surprise me that Trustee Michael Ewen would be opposed to this investment. After all, he has spent 35 years breeding and perpetuating disorganization, dysfunction and fiscal chaos in the New Westminster school district, and a strategic plan would undermine all of that "progressive" work.
To say that Ewen's spending priorities are askew, and in some cases overtly questionable, would be an understatement. As some readers may recall, Ewen billed $3,580 in expenses to the school district last year including $238 for a pointless trip to Victoria on March 6, 2012 - strangely, the same day his union, the B.C. Teachers' Federation, held a major protest rally in front of the legislature in Victoria.
But Ewen's questionable spending of school district funds doesn't stop there. He also billed the school district $479 last year to attend a March 30-31 "conference" in Harrison put on by the Columbia Institute. This innocuous-sounding institute, and the equally innocuous-sounding conference (The Future is Local), may not ring a bell for most people. But a listing of the Columbia Institute's board of directors should illuminate things and make the connection to Big Labour very clear:
* David Black, president, Local 378 of the Canadian Office and Professional Employees Union (COPE)
* Tom Dufresne, the former president of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU)
* Ken Georgetti, president, Canadian Labour Congress (CLC)
* Ken Neumann, national director for Canada, United Steelworkers (USW)
* Barry O'Neill, former president, Canadian Union of Public Employees - B.C. division (CUPE)
* John Shields, former president of the B.C. Government and Service Employees' Union
* Jim Sinclair, president, B.C. Federation of Labour
Yes, it's fairly clear that the Columbia Institute (and its funding twin, the Columbia Foundation) is another arm of Big Labour, as is the District Labour Council which endorses and elects "labour-friendly" candidates such as Trustee Ewen. The one director of the Columbia Institute that isn't a Big Labour boss, David Levi, is president of GrowthWorks Capital, the second largest manager of labour-sponsored investment funds in Canada.
One only needs to look at the Harrison "conference" agenda from March 30-31 of last year to see that it is a partisan event for Big Labour. And to my mind, Ewen should never have been reimbursed from school district funds for what can only be seen as a $479 personal expense to attend.
Sadly, Ewen isn't alone in billing the school district for attending a Columbia Institute labour indoctrination event. Trustee David Phelan billed the school district $410 to attend this same "conference" in Harrison. That's $889 in expenses between Ewen and Phelan that should never have been paid by the school district.
If you include the $238 that Ewen billed the school district for his pointless trip to Victoria on March 6 last year, you have a total of $1,127 worth of spending on partisan political activities; almost half of what it would cost to hire a consultant to help implement a strategic plan and improve things in the New Westminster school district.
Trustee Jonina Campbell also billed $510 to the school district for attendance at a Columbia Institute "conference" last year. Add that $510 partisan political expense to Ewen's and Phelan's and you have a grand total of $1,637 that could otherwise have gone toward an objective consultant who could help implement a district strategic plan.
Clearly, Ewen and some of his Labour Council-endorsed board mates have their spending priorities in the wrong place.
So, here's what I suggest: Trustees Ewen, Phelan, and Campbell should return the $1,637 of school district money they spent last year on Columbia Institute "conferences" and the pointless trip to Victoria and put that money toward the cost of an objective consultant with fresh eyes who can help lead the school district in implementing a badly needed strategic plan. That's a legitimate expense that would actually serve the interests of the district's students and staff.
Patrick O'Connor, New Westminster
