Struggling Students the Latest Casualty of Liberal Mismanagement

QUEEN’S PARK – Following this morning’s revelations from the Globe and Mail regarding details of the Liberal government’s million dollar settlement with OSSTF, Leader of the Official Opposition and PC Education Critic Patrick Brown demanded the Minister of Education take accountability.

“When the Liberal government wastes a billion dollars on gas plants, they force others to pay for it through higher hydro bills. When the Liberal government wastes a billion dollars on eHealth, they force patients to pay for it by cutting physician services. Now when the Liberal government botched teacher negotiations, they cut back on vital programming for struggling students,” said Brown.

It was found that the Liberal Government paid $1 million directly to the province’s high school teachers’ union as part of its collective agreement.  In order to make the agreement net-zero, the funds for the $1 million payment were cut from a program that helps at-risk youth succeed in school

The negotiations between OSSTF and the Ministry of Education were extended because of the chaos caused by the Liberal Government’s failed two-tier bargaining system.  Now, it has been revealed that not only did this bargaining system create chaos for students and parents, it is impacting some of Ontario’s most vulnerable through cuts to

Education program funding.

“The Education Minister admitted that Bill 122 is flawed,” continued Brown. “Now is the time to prove that they have learned from their mistakes.  Will the Education Minister commit to bringing in new legislation this session to fix their broken bargaining system, or will they just keeping hurting students to pay for their mistakes?”