Buying an election

Remember Dalton McGuinty's tough stand on teachers? Turns out, surprise, surprise, it was a very temporary political ploy to get his successor past the post. Let's pick up the story from there...

In February 2013, Wynne took over, repealed the bill, and re-opened negotiations with the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario and the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation. The two sides eventually achieved peace, for an undisclosed price.

We now know that price.

According to Lysyk, who was commissioned following a complaint from the Progressive Conservatives, it cost $355-million for changes to maternity leave, sick days, retirement benefits and professional development, as well as $113-million to eliminate wage differences between unions.

In total, the price tag was nearly a half-billion dollars; indeed, it’s enough to make an Education Minister dash down a hallway.

They look you right in the face and they lie.

Remember... you get the kind of government you deserve.