If you are a student or a potential student, looking for advice on what type of further education to pursue, Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government has been offering all kinds of helpful tips.
Most famously, perhaps, was Harper’s own admonition against the study of sociology a couple of weeks ago.
“This is not a time to commit sociology,” Harper said in the wake of the Boston Marathon attacks, chiding Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau for talk of trying to understand the root causes of terrorism.
OK, so if we don’t want to see students majoring in sociology, how about history?
Alas, that field of education also seems to be under a bit of a cloud, with the decision by Conservative MPs on the Commons heritage committee to launch a thorough study into how history is being taught in Canada.
What about science, then?
Critics of the Conservatives have long been accusing the government of a “war” on science and evidence, citing the gag orders on federal scientists and the scrapping of the mandatory long-form census.
Numbers from the 2011 national household survey released this week by StatsCan came with a disclaimer, in fact, about a “potentially higher non-response error.”
And as well this week, the government announced that the National Research Council would be steering its focus more toward applied science and away from basic scientific inquiry.
The advice, then, seems to be that you can study science by all means, but it has to be the right kind of science.
A law degree generally seems like a good idea, but keep in mind that lawyers are feeling less welcome in politics these days, and Conservatives regularly boast that Harper is the first non-lawyer in the prime minister’s job in many decades. Lawyers also tend to make things grey and complicated when you’re trying to see justice in black-and-white, law-and-order terms.
Math, accounting and economics all seem like worthy fields — the prime minister’s own degree is in economics and he comes from a family of accountants. Yet Conservatives rejected the advice of economists on cutting the goods and services tax and Conservatives haven’t been all that open to hearing number-crunchers who want to delve more into costs of fighter jet procurement or the missing $3.1 billion spent on security, as revealed in a recent auditor-general’s report.
Maybe you are thinking of becoming a teacher, getting a degree in education. Wait, not so fast — consider how the new Liberal leader is being mocked by the Conservatives for his teaching background.
“He’s been a camp counsellor, a white-water rafting instructor, a drama teacher,” says the sneering voice on the Conservatives’ new anti-Trudeau TV ads. Presumably we can put all those occupations too, then, on this government’s list of not-recommended careers.
Actually, much in the realm of academia is suspect in the eyes of the Conservative government. Trudeau’s predecessors were mocked for their academic backgrounds, we’ll recall, as was a United Nations rapporteur who paid a visit to Canada in 2012. Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq shot down the findings of Olivier De Schutter, the UN’s right-to-food envoy, by casting him as “another academic,” and an “ill-informed” one to boot.
True enough, a career in the ivory tower isn’t for everyone.
Maybe you want to consider taking up a trade, or a low-wage job, if only because it will help stem the steady rise of temporary foreign workers coming to the country.
Good idea, but this government would also likely steer you away from any job that involves union membership, judging by its hostile posture toward organized labour.
On top of Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre’s steady chant against “union bosses” and “union money” in the Commons, the government is taking steps to get more control over labour negotiations with the CBC, Canada Post and other Crown corporations.
So we’ve now ruled out sociology, science, history, the teaching profession and union jobs as recommended career fields.
What’s left?
Journalism? OK, stop laughing.
Artist? At the National Gallery this week, Walrus magazine hosted a debate on whether Canadian culture was still worth protecting. It was a lively discussion, but no matter which side was arguing, there was general agreement that artists aren’t feeling all that supported by government these days anyway.
Fortunately, the academic term is over for most post-secondary students and soon all schools will be out for summer.
Parliament will soon be winding down too, which will give us all a break from the rather career-limiting advice being offered by the Conservative guidance counsellors.
And besides, the news isn’t totally dismal. If you’ve ruled out all those other jobs, there’s always politics.
Original Article
Source: thestar.com
Author: Susan Delacourt
No comments:
Post a Comment