The Facade of Family Day

And so it is that another February brings us to another holiday (for those in Ontario) known as Family Day. It is a day when the provincial government of Ontario wishes for families to take the time to reconnect with each other in an otherwise hustle and bustle, busy, day to day world.

If ever anyone wanted a glimpse into the insane, inane, nonsensical, confusing and contradicting world of politics, then this holiday would be a good place to start. Family Day is a perfect example of government and leadership without common sense and without the ability to look past their immediate need to be re-elected. The very concept of this holiday contradicts this provincial government's over-all agenda and conflicts with it's past and current policies which continues to place the very idea of family at the top of the endangered species list.

On the eve of this holiday, the provincial government announces the idea of all day kindergarten at a cost of over 1.5 billion dollars yearly. By now most have come to realize the benefits of early education as study after study indicates that the minds of these young children are ripe and ready for the imput of age appropriate information. And even at such a young age, children do benefit from the learning of structure, routine, as well as academic instruction. Of course there is a cost to such programs but most tax payers have no issues with paying taxes when the benefits can be seen immediately and for future years to come. All day kindergarten has been long overdue and is a solid invenstment in our future.
But let us not misunderstand how this holiday and all day kindergarten came to be. Politicians do not make decisions based on what is a benefit to society. Their number #1 priority after being elected is to be re-elected. It can be said that politicians spend more time trying to keep their jobs rather than spending time doing their jobs. Daycare is expensive. Over 50% of adult relationships where there are children involved end. And through the family law process, children are awarded property of the mother over 80% of the time. And now we enter into the equation the single mother and the overwhelming amount of power they collectively have in the way of votes at re-election time. When tackling the issues of daycare and early childhood education, it can hardly be done without using the phrase, "Single Mothers." Every political party has adopted this phrase and use it whenever they can. The phrase itself, should give us an insight into the amount of clout these "Single Mothers" have when it comes to certain government policies. It should also be considered insulting to those other people who are vaguely defined as parents by virtue of providing financial support to the single mothers for their belongings that they attach names to. Of course, every single mother cannot be painted with the same brush as I personally know many women who raise their children alone and I have nothing but respect and admiration for them. But too many treat children as a possession of monetary value. And being afraid to acknowledge it as a problem removes any abilty to find a solution. We know why the governing Liberals conceived of Family Day and we know why early education has been an ongoing top priority for them. And it has nothing to do with improving the quality of life for Ontario families and it has nothing to do with giving our youth an opportunity to be competetive in this new age of global economics. It can be said that the Liberal Party of Ontario did the right thing for the wrong reasons. I guess that is still better than doing the wrong thing for the wrong reason....

Yet in this time of financial uncertainty and debt, one wonders where this 1.5 billion dollars will come from to fund this early childhood education program? Just ask any college or university student and you will get a partial answer. At a time of increased funding for such programs, post-secondary education is the victim of funding cuts. I find it strange that a government which claims the education of our children to be a top priority cuts funding at a time when our youth are so close to finishing their education. Then again, college and university students do not conjer up an image of a single mother raising her children alone because all fathers are deadbeat dads in some manner or another. There is no longer the perception of the single mother struggling to put food on the table for her small children. Without these images and perceptions, the concept of family begins to fade rather quickly from the minds of those in office wanting to keep their jobs.

And on this day that our provincial government has dedicated to families, across the province and in numerous cities there will be candlelight vigils held to remember the families that have been torn apart by a provincial government that refuses to reform family law to something remotely, resembling the best interests of children and families. This provincial government has knowingly, blatantly and with intended malice, ignored the pleas of help from the overwhelming masses it is intended to represent. They have continually refused to intervene in this crisis that can now be defined as Pandemic due to the suffering and devastation it has caused.  I guess it is much easier for the government to just proclaim a Family Day than it is to actually deal with the issues that are tearing families apart at a rate not ever witnessed before in our history.

The provinces are not the only governing bodies which promote the virtues and importance of family, The federal government as well as the oposition parties all want us to believe that family and family values are at the top of their priority list. Yet, few seem to eager to turn their words into actions. I find it difficult to comprehend that we send soldiers to other countries to improve the quality of life for others and their families and yet, stand by while our definition of family in this country continues to erode into something now not recognizable and perhaps even undefinable. We eagerly send our bravest and most honourable to another country and ask them to be willing to die to protect the rights of others while here, government after government continues to strip us of our inherent rights at every opportunity. At a time when we send our people off to war in foreign lands to help restore rights and freedoms for others, our elected representatives then force families here to go to war with each other for belongings and possessions.

I wonder how much money is being lost due to this provincial holiday? Tens of millions? Hundreds of milions? Wouldn't this money lost be most welcomed for early childhood education and post secondary education programs? And I wonder how many low income families and single mothers receive no benefit from this holiday? How many single mothers will send their children off to whatever daycare means they can find due to the holiday as they make their way to work? How many people with low incomes are forced to work on this day which has been dedicated to family? I wonder how many fathers will sit alone today, alienated from their children because of corrupt family courts and the provincial and federal governments' combined malice? And after this one very expensive holiday for the tax payers of Ontario, will it change anything for the other 364 days a year?

When Family Day becomes the day when parents come together in cities across the province to protest the criminal manner in which this provincial government continues to allow the exploitation of children and parents for profit, we should maybe consider another way of promoting family values. Otherwise, we just celebrate The Facade of Family Day.