Education in a Time of Insanity

'I was banned not just from the physical classroom, but also banned from online classes.'

Bliss Behar testifies in Nova Scotia, beginning at 8:04:30. Click image for the video.

Yesterday’s guest post, by 18-year-old Bliss Behar, was originally prepared for the National Citizen’s Inquiry, which is currently examining Canada’s response to COVID-19. Since mid-March, this independent body has been holding public hearings in communities across the country.

click here for current and upcoming hearings

click here for hearings that have already taken place

When Bliss testified in Truro, Nova Scotia on March 17th, rather than reading his statement, he was instead asked a series of questions for about 10 minutes. You can watch his testimony, in which he responded to those questions clearly and succinctly, beginning at 8:04:30, on the video here.

Because he chose not to take a COVID vaccine, in late 2021 Bliss was banned from participating in his high school’s after hours theatre and music programs, as well as the art club. At that time of year, he says, he would normally have “been preparing to perform at the music festival for the Royal Conservatory of Music” in Sackville, New Brunswick. But he was excluded from that event, as well.

Bliss starting taking private clarinet lessons with a tutor on a weekly basis prior to becoming a teenager. In other words, this tutor has been an important part of his life for much of the time Bliss has been on this planet. The tutor was a role model, an inspiration. But their relationship ended after the tutor declined to continue teaching him in person due to his vaccine status. As Bliss told the inquiry:

for me and for most people music is about playing music with each other and collaborating. And it’s a very beautiful experience. So my tutor who I had, who taught me clarinet for about 7 years, said we could no longer do in-person classes together. That was very rough for me.

Bliss’ testimony also gave us a glimpse of how thousands of teens, just as they were graduating from high school, were treated by our publicly-funded institutions of higher learning:

One of the hardest days for me was when my mom and I were discussing university opportunities. I was on and off negative about it, but I generally really love education, so I was excited. And we had discussed a particular university, and I was starting to get inspired by it, but then we went online to look up the COVID policies and we found that I was banned not just from the physical classroom, but also banned from online classes.

Never forget. It was truckers who stood up and made noise. It was truckers - working class people rather than the professional class - who protested this insanity. Who said Enough is enough.