Northern Secondary School has implemented a breathalyzer test for kids to get through the door to the senior prom this year. It is a policy used by a number of other Toronto and District School Board high schools, but not all.  Those who fail the test will not be allowed to enter the May 29, 2014 prom and their parents will be called to pick them up, said principal Ron Felsen. The decision has been taken because the school had problems with kids being intoxicated at the prom.  “My first year here, I had to shut down a dance because students were drunk.” Mr. Felsen told the National Post. He said he tried a number of approaches to address the problem, including reaching out to parents, but nothing worked. One parent, a lawyer, and a number of rights organization are grumbling about the decision.  “It’s a slippery slope,” said one. “If we allow little infringements of rights when on health and safety issues, where does it end?” Amid readings of the Charter of Rights and the Criminal Code the better question might be “where does it begin?” Or is there to be no beginning to the matter of minors getting drunk in school. Abbey Deshman of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association declares gravely: “A prom or a school dance is a really important part of a high school student’s life and I don’t think just saying the kids can skip their prom is sufficient reason to disregard their constitutional rights,” she said.  What this sounds like is that Ms. Deshman thinks kids have a right to get drunk at a school event. She may not think that. But it sounds like she does. 

Eleven performers were injured in an accident about noon during an aerial act in Sunday’s performance of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island. Police said about 1:30 p.m. at a press conference that 9 of the performers were in critical condition at Rhode Island Hospital, but with non-life threatening injuries. They had fallen from a height of 25 to 40 feet.

It is a fascinating bit of interpretation. The Toronto Star story today says that Forum Research is predicting that the Liberals would win a minority government with 33 percent of the popular vote. The poll shows the PCs with 38 percent support and the NDP with 22 percent. The reasoning goes that because the Liberal vote is “more efficient” they might be able to garner as many as 49 seats compared to 45 seats for the PCs and 13 for the NDP. Until it happens, we cannot know that it wont, but it would certainly be an outcome that has never been seen in Ontario before. In the 2011 election the Liberals won a minority with 37.62 percent of the vote against the PCs at 35.4 percent and the NDP at 22.73 percent. The pollster professes amazement at the support lost by the NDP, but as the numbers show, that party has about the same support now as it did on voting day three years ago. In 1990, when Bob Rae formed the government, the NDP vote was 37.6 percent. The Liberals got 32.4 percent and the PCs 23.5 percent.  That translated into 74 seats for the NDP, 36 for the Liberals and 20 for the PCs.  There has been a redistribution since then with ridings getting larger and fewer in number.