[See update below] Paul W. Bennett, the director of Schoolhouse Consulting, and Nova Scotia's best known educational policy critic, shares Bert Lewis's skepticism about Sir Ken Robinson's TED talk. With the advent of TED Talks, Sir Ken Robinson, the current, undisputed rock star of public education, has been, or will be, coming to a School Board near you, so it's wise to be forewarned and perhaps even forearmed. Sir Ken puts on quite a show, especially with that snazzy RSA animation. Very few can match him when it comes to the British accent, rhetorical flourish, and sardonic humour. Having listened to him many...

01 November, 2011

Former Community College principal Bert Lewis writes: There is a lot of merit in Dr. Robinson's theory, applicable to P-12, colleges, and universities. However, there are examples of brilliance in the classrooms, labs, and shops, where students are excited by the experience, in spite of the system. Let's give credit to those innovative teachers who make the learning fun and entertaining. I thought Robinson's talk was quite brilliant, but I had the same thought as Bert in response to some of his generalizations....

01 November, 2011

Port Hawkesbury resident Bert Lewis writes: You have only touched the tip of the iceberg in educational reform. Expand your thoughts to the entire system including colleges and universities with the P-12 system. Nova Scotia should lead the way in designing a system for 2011 to replace systems that were implemented many years ago to serve a different time. Long overdue and holding us back. Surely Mr. Lewis, a retired Community College Principal and recent NDP by-election candidate, will elaborate. Meanwhiles, HRM resident Ryan Van Horne  recalls: Your comment about the hiring process is bang on. That’s exactly why I...

01 June, 2011

A stalwart Tory friend who fully expected Ian McNeil to beat Allan MacMaster in the Inverness byelection voiced surprise at MacMaster's decision to go door-to-door with former Premier Rodney MacDonald, who held the seat before quitting last month: I would have expected voters in Inverness to have an earful for Rodney after he quit so soon. There was certainly some of that. MacMaster received 2,247 fewer votes than MacDonald had just four months earlier. But I suspect Rodney was still a plus for MacMaster at the doorstep—probably a crucial factor in his sliver of victory. In the eyes of most Nova Scotia voters,...

25 October, 2009

So much for Contrarian's election prognostication prowess. Tory Allan MacMaster hung on to the Inverness seat by 50 votes over Liberal Ian McNeil. N-dip Bert Lewis was 800 votes back. I guess a 3,431-vote margin four months ago counts for something after all. Full results here. [Update:]  A certain Danny Graham, a man familiar to Contrarian readers Liberal and otherwise,  writes: You should have given me a call on the byelection. I predicted the triacta of Mac Master, Mac Neil, and Lewis within a margin of very few votes....

20 October, 2009

Today's Antigonish by-election is a foregone conclusion. N-dip Moe Smith came within 275 votes of knocking off popular Tando MacIsaac in June's general election. Tando having abandoned the seat so abruptly, and the NDP firmly ensconced in Province House, Smith will take the riding in a walk. Inverness is a different matter. The riding is festooned with election signs in roughly equal numbers. Although then-Premier Rodney MacDonald out-polled his nearest rival by 3,431  votes in June, would-be Tory successor Allan MacMaster is widely expected to place third today. The premier's abandonment of the riding, like Tando's of neighboring Antigonish, will hurt MacMaster,...

20 October, 2009