Catholic teachers walkout will go ahead as planned Tuesday after talks break off

iHeartradio.ca/newstalk1010
February 4, 2020
Lucas Meyer

A planned strike by Ontario's Catholic teachers will go ahead Tuesday, after talks between their union and the government broke off Monday with no resolution.

In a statement, OECTA president Liz Stuart said her side is prepared to get back to the table at a mediator's request.

"We understand the difficulty this creates for families, but we know most Ontarians agree that these actions are necessary to help us reach an agreement that will protect students in Ontario’s world-renowned publicly funded education system over the long term," she said.

In response, Education Minister Stephen Lecce echoed the wait for new dates.

"We remain available to meet at the negotiating table at any time, to engage in good-faith bargaining, and reach a deal that provides stability for our students and keeps them in class," he said.

For a list of this week's job action, click here.

The government is also denying it had anything to do with anti-teacher advertisements showing up in Canada's big newspapers.

The ads, put out by a group called Vaughan Working Families includes talking points similar to those of the PCs, says NDP Ethics Critic Taras Natyshak.

"Who's placing these full-page ads? Who's helping them, who's guiding them and who's funding them?" he said, while calling for an investigation.

He says the ads potentially violate Ontario's political advertising laws because they appeared during two byelection campaigns.

The ads appeared with no information available about the group, with URLs including the group's name simply being redirected to Lecce's legislative page.

Government House Leader Paul Calandra told CTV News Monday the government had absolutely nothing to do with the ads, nor had he even heard of such a group.