Saskatchewan Taxpayers Federation Director Gets Violent At School Board Meeting
When the disgraced David McLean left the Canadian Taxpayers Federation last summer, Lee Harding was hired as the Saskatchewan Director. At a meeting of the Regina School Board on March 11, 2008, parents expressed their frustration with the closure of 3 public schools in the city. The Canadian Taxpayers Federation strongly supported the school closures.
At the end of the meeting, Sask. CTF Director Lee Harding, ripped a sign from the hands of one of the parents and threw it to the floor. The local CTV affiliate in Regina showed the incident on a story concerning the school closures. I do not have a digital video capture of the event, but I am working on obtaining the visual evidence to link with this post.
So much for 'turning the other cheek' Reverend Harding!
CORRECTION: Mr. Harding has commented on this post and advises that the title of 'reverend' is not appropriate as he has not been ordained. For your information!
Thanks for calling me a reverend, but I have never been ordained. This act, though assertive, was not violent. In that moment, I was not going to stand idly by to condone the smearing of the organization supporters have put me forward to represent with cheap signs that read "taxeaters", etc.
This said, I am willing to consider it might have been better to walk away from those who confronted me only to vent and accuse, and fueled by high emotions at the closure of their schools.
Posted by
EternaLee |
1:49 pm, March 12, 2008
My apologies for calling you 'reverend' - I can amend my post to remove reference to it if you wish - for the moment, I will reference your correction.
Posted by
leftdog |
2:05 pm, March 12, 2008
I humbly suggest that if the tables had turned, and it was a protester who had knocked a Board or a hypothetical CTF sign down, there would be a call for vandalism, or assault charges.
I only saw the sign move quickly to the ground out of the corner of my eye while I was talking to Board member Saylor.
Posted by
Saskboy |
2:35 pm, March 12, 2008
Hmm...seems I left a tad too early for all the fun and excitement!
Ah, yes, oh revved-up one, what you did is, in fact, a violent act. And you should be apologizing to all the parents -- not to mention children -- who were there.
Think of what behaviours you are modeling for the young ones. What would happen to them if they did something similar on the playground or in the classroom!
Grow up and eat your taxes nicely.
Posted by
the regina mom |
2:52 pm, March 12, 2008
What is it about these CTF guys? Can we just save some time and extend the walls of the mental hospital to include the CTF building?
Posted by
Giant Political Mouse |
3:55 pm, March 12, 2008
Mr. Harding, you just rationalized your poor behaviour and violation of another, by stating, '"I was not going to stand idly by to condone the smearing of the organization supporters have put me forward to represent with cheap signs that read "taxeaters", etc."'
You are solely responsible for your actions and thus cannot blame what anybody else did. This was not a defensive act but an act of aggression, one which school trustees and boards take very serious these days as we all have bullying policies that we expect our students to abide by.
public school trustee, Ontario
Posted by
susansmith |
6:43 pm, March 12, 2008