I know I complain about this annually, but why in the world is the Delta school district forced to flog B.C. exams overseas? OK, so I know why - the cashstrapped district set up Delta Global Campus in an effort to make a buck - but it still seems like the province is taking a disjointed approach to penetrate what's more than likely a lucrative market.
I give marks to local trustees, district staff and company board members for doing what they can to help a bottom line battered by declining enrollment, but it's been five years now and the districtowned company has yet to turn a profit. Every year there's hope for a breakthrough, but alas, it never materializes. That's not meant to knock the efforts of, in some cases, volunteers, but it shows the need for a different, perhaps more coordinated, approach. Rather than having individual districts out there doing their own thing, why doesn't the province, with all its reach and resources, run the show? The Ministry of Education is far more likely to have success in these foreign markets by harnessing the power of the provincial government, yet we continue to have a situation where ill-equipped school districts flounder in roles they were never set up to handle.
At this point with the district company, it's a case of no harm, no foul, but instead of more wheel spinning it would be nice if these efforts actually paid dividends.
From the better late than never file comes word that MP Kerry-Lynne Findlay has bought a place in Ladner.
When Findlay sought the Delta-Richmond East Conservative nomination prior to the last federal election, the knock on her was that she didn't live in the riding. That concern persisted in the election campaign, although as much as opponents highlighted the fact she was an outsider, it obviously wasn't enough of a worry to prevent voters from giving the Vancouver lawyer a lopsided victory.
Findlay was nonetheless cognizant of the situation and even went as far to say as she'd relocate if elected. Well, twoand-a-half years later, the rising star in Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government has finally made good on that promise.
She's even gone one better by announcing she'll leave Richmond behind and contest the next federal election in the reconfigured riding of Delta, where, unfortunately for her opponents, she'll enjoy home field advantage.
