Ontario Liberals and teacher unions too close for comfort?

Former OSSTF president Ken Coran is running for the Liberals in a provincial byelection.

With end of the school year and the beginning of the summer, high-school teachers in Ontario are reflecting on the tough year they have endured. It was one marred by low morale, cancelled extracurricular activities and protests against the Ontario Liberal government. But how did Ken Coran, president of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation, mark the end of this tumultuous year? By announcing that he is running for the same party he denounced only a few short months ago.

This announcement, made while Coran was still head of the OSSTF, comes as a shock to many of the teachers he represented and calls into question his dealings with the government leading up to this point. In justifying his decision, Coran says he has been impressed enough by Kathleen Wynne to want to be a part of her government. Yet this is the same Kathleen Wynne who, as a senior member of the McGuinty cabinet, approved Bill 115 and the imposition of contracts on teachers, which is what instigated the conflict in the first place. The same Kathleen Wynne who has yet to publicly state that this was a mistake.

It also exposes the extent of the seemingly incestuous relationship between teacher union executives and the Liberals. During the Liberal leadership convention earlier this year, the executive of the Toronto OSSTF branch directed its members to protest against the party outside Maple Leaf Gardens.

Yet, unbeknownst to the hundreds of teachers protesting outside, a member of that same executive was inside the convention centre working as a delegate for the Liberal party. It was later revealed that the Toronto OSSTF executive took $30,000 teachers had paid in union dues and gave it to the Liberals in the form of unsolicited campaign donations.  (more...)

Ontario Liberals and teacher unions too close for comfort?