students

Thursday August 29, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday August 29, 2019

Ontario students deserve better than the blame game

August 16, 2001

It’s that simultaneously wonderful (for parents) and terrible (for kids) time of year again.

Normally, back to school is a bit like Christmas for parents who, by now, have run out of ways to keep young kids busy and are seriously starting to wonder if their teenagers remember how to write without emojis and add numbers greater than their social media followers.

But thanks to the Ford government, this year’s return to school is also a time of concern and confusion.

Just days before students trot off in their first-day outfits with backpacks full of new school supplies, there’s more that’s uncertain than certain about what this year and beyond will look like for them.

September 3, 2013

What changes are being made to Ontario’s math curriculum, and will it do anything to raise math scores? Will the new mandatory online high school courses be innovative or simply a cheaper and lesser alternative to traditional classes? How big will real classes be, not just the “average” size the government likes to reference? How reduced will the options be in art, music, science and other electives?

And, of course, what will happen when contract negotiations really ramp up?

Teachers’ contracts expire three days before students take their seats. Negotiations on new contracts could, in theory, go smoothly or be lengthy, contentious and, in the worst-case scenario, result in the withdrawal of extracurricular activities or a strike before deals are struck.

June 25, 2015

So, amid all that, Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce stepped up last week to “reassure students and their families.”

He announced that class sizes wouldn’t be much larger this year. At 22.5 students in that famously average high school class, that’s up just half a student from last year.

That’s fair enough. But then Lecce suggested that the planned increase to 28 students within four years might not be needed because he’s open to “innovative ideas” that unions could bring forward to save money in other ways.

That’s not about reassuring students or giving parents and educators “predictability” – another of his claimed motives.

Lecce is doing nothing more than trying to shift the blame for the school changes that students and parents aren’t going to like from the government to the unions.

August 21, 2015

It’s a typical, if not very successful, negotiating tactic.

But students and parents know well that the reduction in teachers, increased class sizes and, worst of all, more limited course options are a direct result of the Ford government’s education cuts.

Last month, Lecce blamed the reduction in course options for high school students on school boards. Now, he’s hunting for a new target: teachers.

But this isn’t about teachers, it’s about students. And it’s about this government’s decision to save money in ways that will hurt struggling students, gifted students and generally make school a lot less interesting for everyone.

January 25, 2019

When Premier Doug Ford’s government first unveiled its education overhaul, it claimed it was “modernizing” the system. Then the first education minister said increasing class size was about making students more resilient. And now, with the new education minister, we’re to believe it’s suddenly all negotiable.

But it’s not.

Not so long as the government is determined to reduce its deficit through school cuts that risk the vital education gains that have been made in Ontario.

Ford and his education ministers are fast running out of excuses and ways to sell the unsellable. (Hamilton Spectator Editorial) 

 

Wednesday November 8, 2017

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday November 8, 2017

Fourth week of Ontario college strike

The union representing striking Ontario college workers says students would soon be on their way back to classes, if the colleges hadn’t left the bargaining table this week.

The Ontario Public Sector Employees Union, representing the 12,000 college workers, held a press conference Tuesday afternoon — one day after colleges called for striking faculty to vote on a final contract offer.

Warren “Smokey” Thomas, president of OPSEU, said the union believed a deal was close after negotiations continued over the weekend.

“Then Monday morning, without any notice to us, the government dropped the bombshell of saying they were going to ask the Ministry of Labour to conduct a vote, which they get to do once during the bargaining cycle,” Thomas said to reporters at the Chelsea Hotel in downtown Toronto.  

The College Employer Council, which represents the province’s 24 colleges, asked Ontario’s Labour Relations Board Monday to schedule the vote. It also called on OPSEU to suspend the strike in the five to 10 days it will take to organize the vote.

“We made significant moves to address all of their issues,” said Sonia Del Missier, chair of the colleges’ bargaining team, on Monday. “That offer should have been accepted.”

At Tuesday’s press conference, the union maintained it would advise members to vote no.

“I thought we were close to a deal,” Thomas told reporters. (Source: CBC News) 

 

Wednesday May 6, 2015

Editorial cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator - Wednesday May 6, 2015 Ontario elementary teachers plan job action Monday OntarioÕs 73,000 public elementary teachers will begin job action on Monday, when they are in a legal strike position. While a strike is not anticipated Ñ local union districts have been given details about a work-to-rule Ñ it remains one of the options available, says Sam Hammond, president of the Elementary TeachersÕ Federation of Ontario. In a statement released Tuesday morning, ETFO said its members would be taking unspecified Òcentral strike actionÓ in 32 school boards across the province Monday. According to an ETFO bulletin obtained by the Star, titled ÒStrike Protocol: Work-to-Rule Ñ Phase 1,Ó and sent out to its Toronto members late Monday night, teachers will not take part in any EQAO (standardized testing), write report cards, fill in for absent principals or Òconduct any reading, writing or mathematics assessments other than those that the teacher deems necessary to report on student progress.Ó Hammond has told the Star that the recent offer on the table from the government and the school boardsÕ association was ÒoffensiveÓ and contained concessions the union would not consider. He said if the concessions remained, the union would be Òlooking at all the options.Ó ÒWe are hoping on, or prior to, May 10 that we get substantial movement at the table and we wonÕt have to move in a direction nobody wants to move in,Ó he has previously said. While talks have continued with the help of a mediator, they recently broke off. A union spokesperson said Monday that ÒETFO is eagerly awaiting a call from the government that it, and the Ontario Public School BoardsÕ Association, are ready to engage in meaningful and substantive bargaining.Ó ETFO is the countryÕs largest teacher union. A strike or job action would affect more than 817,000 elementary school students across the province. (Source: Toronto Star) http://www.thestar.co

Editorial cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday May 6, 2015

Ontario elementary teachers plan job action Monday

Ontario’s 73,000 public elementary teachers will begin job action on Monday, when they are in a legal strike position.

While a strike is not anticipated — local union districts have been given details about a work-to-rule — it remains one of the options available, says Sam Hammond, president of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario.

In a statement released Tuesday morning, ETFO said its members would be taking unspecified “central strike action” in 32 school boards across the province Monday.

According to an ETFO bulletin obtained by the Star, titled “Strike Protocol: Work-to-Rule — Phase 1,” and sent out to its Toronto members late Monday night, teachers will not take part in any EQAO (standardized testing), write report cards, fill in for absent principals or “conduct any reading, writing or mathematics assessments other than those that the teacher deems necessary to report on student progress.”

Hammond has told the Star that the recent offer on the table from the government and the school boards’ association was “offensive” and contained concessions the union would not consider.

He said if the concessions remained, the union would be “looking at all the options.”

“We are hoping on, or prior to, May 10 that we get substantial movement at the table and we won’t have to move in a direction nobody wants to move in,” he has previously said.

While talks have continued with the help of a mediator, they recently broke off. A union spokesperson said Monday that “ETFO is eagerly awaiting a call from the government that it, and the Ontario Public School Boards’ Association, are ready to engage in meaningful and substantive bargaining.”

ETFO is the country’s largest teacher union. A strike or job action would affect more than 817,000 elementary school students across the province. (Source: Toronto Star)

Thursday April 24, 2014

Thursday April 24, 2014By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday April 24, 2014

Service sector sees spike in temporary foreign workers

The number of temporary foreign workers in Canada’s hotel and restaurant sector has exploded under the Conservative government as the latest figures show the industry is the biggest user of the controversial federal program.

Recent allegations of abuse in the program – some involving three McDonald’s franchises in Victoria and others tied to a pizza place in a Weyburn, Sask., hotel – have federal Employment Minister Jason Kenney on the defensive and vowing to crack down on offenders. The minister is also musing about new restrictions that could make it harder for fast-food restaurants in urban areas to access the program.

Mr. Kenney’s spokeswoman Alexandra Fortier told The Globe on Tuesday the minister is planning to announce further changes to the program “in due course” that will go beyond new penalties included in the government’s latest budget bill.

According to data compiled by Mr. Kenney’s department, the number of foreign workers in the “accommodation and food services” sector has grown from 4,360 in 2006 to 44,740, an increase of 926 per cent. The actual number of foreign workers in that category is likely higher because the statistic captures only people working under a federal Labour Market Opinion (LMO), a process meant to ensure that no Canadian workers were available.

There are several ways for employers to bring in foreign workers without an LMO, such as through existing trade deals.

More than 200,000 workers were brought in through LMOs in 2012, but data from Citizenship and Immigration show 491,547 temporary foreign workers either entered Canada or were still present in Canada that year.

NDP MP Jinny Sims said the rise is “outrageous” and shows the need for a major review of the program, especially given that youth – who would be obvious candidates for restaurant jobs – face a 13.6-per-cent unemployment rate. Liberal MP John McCallum wrote to the Auditor-General on Tuesday asking for an audit of the program as soon as possible. (Source: Globe & Mail)

REPUBLISHED in iPolitics, The Thunder Bay Chronicle, The Lamont Leader (Alberta), The Red Deer Advocate, The Calgary Herald, The Melville Advance (Saskatchewan), The St. John’s Telegram (Newfoundland)