Is Our Children Learning?

A new propaganda book entitled Let's Talk About Sovereignty At School is out and drawing quite the reaction. No surprise. Among the problems the book asks kids to do:

They are asked to make decorations for Quebec's national holiday on June 24, and the book's illustration is a child's drawing of a Quebec flag on a pole with the Canadian flag beneath it, ripped in half.

Grade-school pupils are asked: How many youth novels at $15 apiece could they buy if they abolished the position of the governor-general, which costs Quebeckers $9.4-million a year?

For high-school students, there's a proposed music class on Quebec sovereignty classics, including Canada is not my country by singer Mononc' Serge and Quebec, mon pays by legendary poet Raymond Lévesque.

College-level students are asked to trace the history of the federal sponsorship scandal, while university students are given the task of calculating how much money is wasted by federal "intrusions" into Quebec jurisdictions.

For fine-arts students, there are activities such as designing a Quebec stamp.

This is a funny coincidence since I myself was set to launch my own book called Let's Talk About Sovereignty At School next month. Among the problems I'll suggest for students:


Kindergarten Lessons
Teach children that they shouldn't be sore losers. Have the class vote on a class mascot. After the first election, do it again. Ask them if they feel it's necessary to hold a third vote on the topic.

Field Trip
Tour Bombardier. Casually point out the millions (billions) of dollars they get each year from the federal government.

Grade 4 Math Problem
How many youth novels, at 15$ a piece, could you buy with the $200,000 grant given to The Council for Quebec Sovereignty by the PQ?

Sports
Project the starting six on defense for Team Quebec, in international tournaments.

High School Experiment
Gather together a group of volunteers. Randomly assign the volunteers to two groups, with half using cocaine, and half eating poutine. Compare the ability of the two groups at a series of simple tasks such as reading,arithmeticc, and being a high level Cabinet Minister.

University Research Project
Study economics. Study psychology. Diagnose the mental illness suffered by anyone who thinks sovereignty would be good for the Quebec economy.