Readers wonder what Kelvin teacher was thinking

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 14/12/2014 (4181 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg School Division placed Kelvin High School technology teacher Brad Badiuk on paid leave last week while investigating comments he made on Facebook.

Badiuk wrote in a posting: “How long are aboriginal people going to use what happened as a crutch to suck more money out of Canadians?…as a people they (aboriginals) have contributed NOTHING or very little to the development of Canada. Just standing their (sic) with their hand out.”

 

This action by this ‘teacher’ has taught students everywhere about their responsibility to be aware their comments do have relevance to their professional life in the future. A good lesson for everyone.

— April 30 Taxpayer

 

Say it, forget it. Write it, regret it.

— anonymity_personified

 

News flash: Aboriginal people ARE Canadians! It’s not a case of “them” taking from “us.” Aboriginal people simply want a fair opportunity to benefit from the resources of this land they share with us — we are all treaty people. An electronics teacher of all people should know there is no privacy on social media. And where did this teacher learn to spell? I’d hate to think of him passing on his ignorance to my kids. Fortunately they’re out of school.

— 23660667

 

His comments show an astounding level of ignorance. The fact that they may be commonly held does not excuse him in any way.

— kwikstep

 

A sad state of affairs when a citizen is punished for making what many would regard as a factual statement.

— willy1

 

In the 1950s U.S., most people agreed with segregation. “Sad state of affairs” that they changed that one, eh?

— Aaron3

 

The overwhelming majority of aboriginal individuals in this country are upstanding citizens who contribute daily to this country’s economy and economic growth. Unfortunately, news stories about upstanding citizens going to work on a regular basis aren’t really newsworthy, so nobody writes them… it’s just the exceptions we hear about. Also, he’s wrong for posting that opinion given his public position. He should have figured out that it would end up causing him some career-related problems. Social media aren’t for everyone.

— fred2

 

I’ll wager the majority of non-aboriginal people agree with Brad’s view. Heck, maybe even a lot of aboriginal people do, too. But they are smart enough not to post it to the world. That was just plain dumb, Brad.

— LuckyBucky

 

This raises an interesting question about free speech. I don’t think anyone would disagree that he cannot make such comments in his capacity as a teacher, but as a private citizen, is he not entitled to voice his opinion on his personal social media page (I’m assuming here that he doesn’t have his students as friends)? Don’t get me wrong, there’s no way I would post something like that, but what are the criteria for deciding when you are no longer entitled to express your opinions publicly? Should you get suspended from your job at Tim Hortons because of a Facebook comment because it might reflect poorly on Tim’s corporate image? We appear to be headed in that direction.

— Everybody Up