Taxpayer’s Pay for Liberals’ Failure to Bargain

QUEEN’S PARK – Today, Leader of the Official Opposition and PC Education Critic Patrick Brown continued his hard questioning of the Premier over her government’s admitted collective bargaining failures with teachers.

Following the passage of Bill 122 in 2014, the Liberal Government instituted a new two-tiered collective bargaining system which has complicated the bargaining process and resulted in long delays.

“Bill 122 is a failure. It caused the longest teacher strikes in 25 years. It caused the government to walk away from multiple negotiations several times,” said Leader Patrick Brown. “And it has now cost the people of Ontario millions of dollars to pay for this government’s failed bargaining process.”

Minister of Education Liz Sandals admitted yesterday that the government has paid $2.5 million of taxpayer dollars to the OSSTF, OECTA and AEFO teachers’ unions to cover costs incurred in the latest round of negotiations. The total costs could be much higher, because it is not yet public knowledge how much compensation was given to other unions and associations who were involved in the negotiations, such as the OPSBA, OCTSA, and ACÉPO.

Brown added, “will the Premier answer two simple questions: how much money did she pay unions and associations for their bargaining costs? And where did that money come from?”