MxM News

Quick Hit:

In a stunning display of political persecution, Brazil’s Supreme Federal Tribunal sentenced conservative former President Jair Bolsonaro to 27 years in prison on trumped-up charges of “crimes against democracy.” The ruling, driven by leftist judges loyal to radical President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, effectively ends Bolsonaro’s political career and underscores the growing use of weaponized courts to silence conservative leaders.

Key Details:

• Bolsonaro was sentenced to 27 years and 3 months in prison on charges critics say were fabricated to eliminate him from politics.
• U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemned the conviction as a “witch hunt,” promising America will respond.
• President Donald Trump has already imposed heavy tariffs on Brazil and sanctioned the lead judge, Alexandre de Moraes, for human rights abuses.

Diving Deeper:

The conviction of Jair Bolsonaro marks an unprecedented step in Brazil’s descent into judicial tyranny. A panel of just five STF justices, led by notorious censorship crusader Alexandre de Moraes, claimed Bolsonaro plotted a coup to overturn the 2022 election. Only one justice, Luiz Fux, dissented, while the others rubber-stamped Lula’s narrative of a “digital militia” undermining democracy.

In reality, Bolsonaro’s true crime was daring to challenge Brazil’s rigged electoral system and standing in the way of Lula’s return to power. The conviction is less about defending democracy and more about crushing political opposition. By sentencing Bolsonaro to nearly three decades behind bars and slapping him with a permanent ban from public office, Brazil’s courts have ensured that the conservative movement’s most powerful leader is silenced.

Internationally, outrage is building. Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemned the ruling as an act of persecution by sanctioned human rights abuser de Moraes, warning the U.S. “will respond accordingly.” Bolsonaro’s lawyers are preparing appeals to international courts, arguing that due process was shredded in a show trial orchestrated by Lula’s allies.

The Trump administration has already taken decisive action, slapping a 50 percent tariff on Brazilian goods and targeting de Moraes with Global Magnitsky sanctions for his authoritarian crackdown on free speech. Bolsonaro’s conviction is certain to deepen tensions with Washington, as conservatives see the case as a test of whether global elites can jail and silence opposition figures without consequence.

For Bolsonaro’s supporters, the ruling is proof that Brazil is sliding into dictatorship under the banner of “defending democracy.” What Lula and his allies call justice looks to many more like the criminalization of conservative thought — a warning of what happens when the Left is allowed to use courts as political weapons.

This article supplied by Troy Media.

By Michael Zwaagstra

One Manitoba school division is proving phonics works

If students don’t learn how to read in school, not much else that happens there is going to matter.

This might be a harsh way of putting it, but it’s the truth. Being unable to read makes it nearly impossible to function in society. Reading is
foundational to everything, even mathematics.

That’s why Canadians across the country should be paying attention to what’s been happening in Manitoba’s Evergreen School Division. Located in the Interlake region, including communities like Gimli, Arborg and Winnipeg Beach, Evergreen has completely overhauled its approach to reading instruction—and the early results are promising.

Instead of continuing with costly and ineffective methods like Reading Recovery and balanced literacy, Evergreen has adopted a structured literacy approach, putting phonics back at the centre of reading instruction.

Direct and explicit phonics instruction teaches students how to sound out the letters in words. Rather than guessing words from pictures or context,
children are taught to decode the language itself. It’s simple, evidence-based, and long overdue.

In just one year, Evergreen schools saw measurable gains. A research firm evaluating the program found that five per cent more kindergarten to Grade 6 students were reading at grade level than the previous year. For a single year of change, that’s a significant improvement.

This should not be surprising. The science behind phonics instruction has been clear for decades. In the 1960s, Dr. Jeanne Chall, director of the Harvard Reading Laboratory, conducted extensive research into reading methods and concluded that systematic phonics instruction produces the strongest results.

Today, this evidence-based method is often referred to as the “science of reading” because the evidence overwhelmingly supports its effectiveness. While debates continue in many areas of education, this one is largely settled. Students need to be explicitly taught how to read using phonics—and the earlier, the better.

Yet Evergreen stands nearly alone. Manitoba’s Department of Education does not mandate phonics in its public schools. In fact, it largely avoids taking a stance on the issue at all. This silence is a disservice to students—and it’s a missed opportunity for genuine reform.

At the recent Manitoba School Boards Association convention, Evergreen trustees succeeded in passing an emergency motion calling on the association to lobby education faculties to ensure that new teachers are trained in systematic phonics instruction. It’s a critical first step—and one that should be replicated in every province.

It’s a travesty that the most effective reading method isn’t even taught in many teacher education programs. If new teachers aren’t trained in phonics, they’ll struggle to teach their students how to read—and the cycle of failure will continue.

Imagine what could happen if every province implemented structured literacy from the start of Grade 1. Students would become strong readers earlier, be better equipped for all other subjects, and experience greater success throughout school. Early literacy is a foundation for lifelong learning.

Evergreen School Division deserves credit for following the evidence and prioritizing real results over educational trends. But it shouldn’t be alone in this. If provinces across Canada want to raise literacy rates and give every child a fair shot at academic success, they need to follow Evergreen’s lead—and they need to do it now.

All students deserve to learn how to read.

Michael Zwaagstra is a public high school teacher and a senior fellow at the Frontier Centre for Public Policy

Troy Media is dedicated to empowering Canadian community news outlets with independent, insightful analysis and commentary. Our mission is to support local media in fostering an informed and engaged public by delivering reliable content that strengthens community ties, enriches national conversations, and deepens Canadians’ understanding of one another.