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The cost of playing politics

On the evening of January 9 2018, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau came to Sackville High School.

A political event beneficial to both the Canadian Government and Nova Scotia schools in general.

Sackville High School is now receiving positive attention in the media. Justin Trudeau visiting is now one of the top results when the school is googled – topping the previous results: the school bus stabbing of 2016 and the video of the underground fight club in 2006.

Trudeau’s arrival brought a slew of magical school fixes. Required maintenance is being done for the first time in years.

The heating has finally been turned on, months after winter has already begun. The walls have been painted and holes filled – most importantly, the electricity and Wi-Fi work!

“I think they need to get their priorities in check; it’s a little messed up,” says Jay Graves, a Grade 11 student of Sackville High.

The electricity and internet must be properly maintained just for students to get their education, as modern schooling relies heavily on technology. It’s shocking that the wiring hasn’t been worked on this heavily until now.

Electricity and internet are required for Google Classroom – something that Nova Scotia schools are required to use thanks to Liberal policy introduced in 2015. Without quality Wi-Fi students can’t get graded at school, requiring teachers to work at home.

Attendance is done online, and so, requires the internet.

Schools care more about the light hitting Trudeau just right – or how quickly his selfie uploads to Twitter – than they do about getting the required maintenance done on the school in order for students to get a simple education in modern day schools.

The future of this country is more important than a social media post.

“So instead of spending money on fixing the school, they spend it on a bouncy castle,” says Alex Joseph, another Sackville High School student referencing the carnival that Sackville High hosted on the first day in order to keep students at school longer.

“You could have fixed the windows, you could have fixed the roof, you could have fixed the heating. But once Trudeau came, you were like, ‘Oh, gotta fix it – but why not fix it months ago, like when school starts?”

Situations like these just remind students that they really don’t matter to the school – their education doesn’t matter. The school’s appearance is valued more than their education.

“I’m just saying it’s kinda bull-crap because there’s nothing wrong with the heat, it’s not broken or anything, it’s just not on,” says Ashton McCarthy, a student at Sackville High School.

It’s almost as if Nova Scotia schools are competing with the Cuban Government on which one of them has a more dystopian appearance: the Cuban government leaves the actual problems behind closed doors and shows the tourists the positive aspects, isn’t Canada better than Cuba?

“They think they don’t need to do maintenance until some special person shows up at our god-dang school, that’s seriously how it works. I don’t understand why they do that. Like, ‘Hello, there’s Trudeau. Let’s start cleaning up our school to make it look nice,’” says Victoria Hannam, a Grade 12 student at Sackville High School.

Justin Trudeau is an important man, he does deserve to walk into a nice school, but shouldn’t the students as well?

Nova Scotia schools would rather give a celebrity his photo-op than provide their students with the needed tools to get their education, essentially putting appearance over the future of this country.

Instead of providing these things, students are provided with a huge middle finger to them and their education.

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