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Thursday May 27, 2021

June 3, 2021 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday May 27, 2021

Ford solicits advice on reopening Ontario schools

Premier Doug Ford took the unusual step of publicly soliciting advice from medical experts, children’s hospitals and health organizations on how Ontario could go about reopening schools before the end of the academic year next month.

April 8, 2021

In a letter addressed to 55 different groups and people, Ford reiterated that his government has struggled to find consensus on school reopenings, and that it needs input before moving forward with a decision.

Why Ford waited until May 27, and gave the recipients until 5 p.m. Friday to answer, is unclear.

“In recent weeks, there has been a wide range of advice and commentary around the reopening of schools in Ontario,” Ford said in the letter.

“There is consensus in some quarters on how, when and whether schools should reopen, and diverse and conflicting views in others.”

November 12, 2020

He added that new modelling expected in the coming days will show that, if schools were to reopen, there could be between 2,000 and 4,000 more cases of COVID-19 by the end of July compared to if they remain closed.

Ford went on to once again express his concerns about virus variants of concern, particularly the variant first identified in India, and its impact on children. He also pointed to emerging evidence that suggests COVID-19 vaccines are potentially less effective against the variant found in India.

According to Ford, only 41 per cent of teachers and education workers have received a first dose of vaccine, compared to about 62 per cent of Ontario adults in the general population.

August 6, 2020

“Ultimately, this is our government’s decision, but in light of the foregoing, and the diversity of perspectives on the safety of reopening schools, I am asking for your views on a number of issues,” Ford said.

Sketch

Earlier this week, Ontario’s chief medical officer of health — who is also listed as a recipient of Ford’s letter — said he would like to see students back in class before the province begins its formal reopening process in mid-June.

Dr. David Williams said most public health units in the province support the reopening of schools, which have been shut to in-person learning since early April.

“My position has been always like our public health measures table and our medical officers of health, that feel that schools should be the last to close and the first to open,” Williams told a news conference on Tuesday. It was the same day that a group of researchers studying how the pandemic has affected children warned of a “generational catastrophe.” (CBC)

Thursday May 7, 2020

May 14, 2020 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday May 7, 2020

Farmers expected a miracle. No wonder they’re disappointed by Ottawa’s aid package

July 29, 2014

When the Canadian Federation of Agriculture laid out a $2.6-billion ask last week to help farmers endure the COVID-19 pandemic, they were setting the bar very high. And so it is little wonder that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Tuesday announcement of a program worth barely $252-million sent the farming community reeling.

Fair enough. The funding announcement was indeed underwhelming, and it will not be enough to get some of those on the precipice to stick around. Many will exit the industry, regrettably. Our preannouncement estimates were that as many as 15 per cent of our farms could be lost by year’s end due to COVID-19; Ottawa’s plans will not change that.

August 10, 2019

The $125-million program to support livestock raises a variety of questions. Executing the program will take time, something producers do not have. Few details were given about the role of provinces or how much farmers will receive. The measures presented will likely not prevent more animals from being euthanized in the days to come. Along with milk dumping, COVID-19 is serving up case studies on a silver platter for animal-rights activists. It’s a shame that our farmers have been put in this position.

May 22, 2019

Losing farms will not compromise our nation’s food security, however. Farmland doesn’t just disappear, as it can always be exploited by someone else. But the most significant concern is how we can create jobs and wealth in rural economies located far from urban centres. This should be a priority; occupying our vast nation’s topography should be top of mind, from coast to coast to coast. Ottawa doesn’t show that it cares for rural communities enough – or for agriculture, for that matter – but it should, before it’s too late.

Coronavirus cartoons

Its response to farmers pleading for help was unsurprisingly slow as well. In the United States and Europe, most governments have provided pandemic-related financial aid directly to farmers weeks ago. In the United States, every American is providing $86 in support for agriculture by way of government-sanctioned programs; in Europe, it is over $90 per capita. Here in Canada, each of us giving six measly dollars to support agriculture. Farmers have every right to be disappointed. (Globe & Mail)

Thursday August 29, 2019

September 5, 2019 by Graeme MacKay

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

November 7, 2017 by Graeme MacKay

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

May 5, 2015 by Graeme MacKay

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)