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MPP McNeely welcomes protestors GREGGCHAMBERLAIN gregg.chamberlain@eap.on.ca
government has also been able to retain 20,000 school-related jobs with all of its past actions, including Bill 115. “It’s a tough stand of the government,” said McNeely, “and one I support.” He conceded that some of the policies contained in Bill 115, in an attempt to meet budget economy goals, have ended up creating friction with the education unions with potential consequences both for the government and Ontario’s education sys- tem in general if they are not addressed. “We looked for savings in other areas, and that’s when we got into trouble,” McNeely said. “I think we have to get together or we risk losing what we have gained.” While the current labour unrest is just affecting the English public schools, the Ottawa-Orléans MPP noted that the gov- ernment, the unions, and all of the school districts have all got to work together to find a solution satisfactory to all parties. “It’s shared responsibility,”he said, “so that we don’t lose the gains we made, and we don’t keep the kids in the centre of this.”
ORLÉANS | Liberal MPP Phil McNeely doesn’t mind seeing picket signs wav- ing outside of his riding office in Orléans. Even if it does mean that Ontario’s teacher unions are less than happy with some of the labour policies his own government put in place that now affect the education sector. “Picket lines don’t bother me,” McNeely said. “People have the right to do that and thank God for that.” MPP offices, both government and Op- position, were the target Dec. 12 of one-day rotating pickets from teacher and school support staff unions to protest Bill 115, BROCKVILLE | Some of the English public schools in Eastern Ontario may become temporary daycare centres when elemen- tary school teachers stage a one-day walkout. Superintendent David Coombs of the Up- per Canada District School Board (UCDSB) said that the district will make an effort to keep schools open and running, even if on a limited basis, during Dec. 20 strike action by the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario (ETFO). The union is protesting Bill 115, the pro-
which puts a freeze on wages and other benefits in the education sector as part of a government restraint plan. McNeely noted that the Dalton McGuinty
Liberal government has worked well with the education unions during the previous two terms to raise both the standard of education in Ontario and the percentage of high school graduates in the province to better match standards and rates elsewhere in the world. “That, to me, is a tremendous thing,” said the Ottawa-Orléans MPP, adding that the DOMINIQUE OLLIVE 613-806-0660
Teachers stage walkout
vincial legislation that freezes wages and benefits for teacher and support unions in the education sector. Coombs said that working parents who need daycare for their children and cannot find alternatives will still be able to drop their children off at neighbourhood schools even during the one-day walkout by teach- ers. The district will keep schools and run- ning on a limited basis with students kept to the gymnasium areas or libraries and su- pervised by non-teaching staff while they are in the building.
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