A professor at Wilfred Laurier University says Doug Ford bungled contract negotiations with education workers by being too authoritarian at the outset then by unwillingness to stand firm through constitutional means..The province couldn’t work out a contract with the Canadian Union of Public Employees, which represents school custodians, education assistants, and librarians. So, Ontario passed Bill 28 on November 3 to impose a deal and bar them from striking by using the notwithstanding clause in the Constitution..Fifty-five thousand workers represented by walked off the job on November 4, despite potential fines of $4,000 per worker per day under the legislation. The following Monday, they went on strike again, and the Ford government backed down from its terms..David Haskell, a professor of digital media and journalism, religion and culture at Wilfred Laurier University in Waterloo, believes Ford erred in principle and practice.. David M. HaskellDavid M. Haskell .“I don't agree with the use of taking away the right to strike. I don't. I think that he was as authoritarian as he was when he put in vaccine mandates. Both were wrong,” Haskell said in an interview with Western Standard..“It still would have been an exercise if the government held its ground, and it would have led to the shutdown of the schools. It [also].. would have precipitated people reconsidering what their options could be. And that's when you could say, ‘You know what? Let's avoid this kind of nonsense that we're seeing by having voucher schools, charter schools.’”.Haskell said public school boards are “incredibly inefficient” compared to alternatives. Under a voucher system, parents can direct public funds for their school’s education to the school of their choice. Extra spending has to be covered by tuition covered by the parents. This motivates schools to spend wisely and innovate to attract students..Ford faced strong opposition to his stance. Justin Trudeau opposed Ford’s bill, saying, “Proactive use of the notwithstanding clause is actually an attack on people’s fundamental rights.” Although education is provincial jurisdiction, he said Ottawa was “absolutely looking at all different options” for how to restore those rights..Unifor, which employs 300,000 workers in Ontario, threatened its own job action in solidarity with the workers, including involvement of 40,000 autoworkers. Still, Haskell said Ford could have stood the unions down..“Our conservative leaders today don't seem to follow the precedent that has been set. And I'm speaking specifically about Margaret Thatcher and her triumphs, really, over the coal miner unions. Thatcher said, we will wait them out, we will not give in. And it did cause incredible disruption. But at the end of it all, she actually had a stronger economy for it,” the professor explained..“We have these models of true conservatives who were able to use legal means and essentially bring the unions to heel. And there's just not the integrity in our leaders any longer. They do not have the courage of their convictions. Moreover, they actually don't have the convictions.”.Haskell, who was a People’s Party candidate in 2019, was an outspoken critic of Ontario’s Bill 67. The legislation, which failed to pass before the June 7 election, would have entrenched Critical Race Theory in Ontario schools. .“Increasingly, we see that the Ford government is conservative in name only. Whenever there's strong pressure from progressives and leftists, they do their bidding. And we saw that exact same thing when Doug Ford was in the midst of the George Floyd controversies…and [Ford] said that is something unique to the US, we don't have systemic racism here..“And then he walked it back. He then went on to say, Oh, we do have systemic racism here. And when he did that, suddenly, the activists said we have carte blanche to push whatever policy we want. His reversal there then led to incredibly invasive policies in our universities and our schools related to Critical Race Theory, because it was clear that Doug Ford was not going to stand against the claims that were being made, the unempirical claims.”.Haskell said a voucher system would have taken time to implement, but Ford had that time, given he had three-and-a-half years left in his term. It’s why Haskell views his handling of the recent crisis as a missed opportunity..“He's really set the precedent that the unionized educational complex that we have is the only deal in town, and it's the only thing will happen.”
A professor at Wilfred Laurier University says Doug Ford bungled contract negotiations with education workers by being too authoritarian at the outset then by unwillingness to stand firm through constitutional means..The province couldn’t work out a contract with the Canadian Union of Public Employees, which represents school custodians, education assistants, and librarians. So, Ontario passed Bill 28 on November 3 to impose a deal and bar them from striking by using the notwithstanding clause in the Constitution..Fifty-five thousand workers represented by walked off the job on November 4, despite potential fines of $4,000 per worker per day under the legislation. The following Monday, they went on strike again, and the Ford government backed down from its terms..David Haskell, a professor of digital media and journalism, religion and culture at Wilfred Laurier University in Waterloo, believes Ford erred in principle and practice.. David M. HaskellDavid M. Haskell .“I don't agree with the use of taking away the right to strike. I don't. I think that he was as authoritarian as he was when he put in vaccine mandates. Both were wrong,” Haskell said in an interview with Western Standard..“It still would have been an exercise if the government held its ground, and it would have led to the shutdown of the schools. It [also].. would have precipitated people reconsidering what their options could be. And that's when you could say, ‘You know what? Let's avoid this kind of nonsense that we're seeing by having voucher schools, charter schools.’”.Haskell said public school boards are “incredibly inefficient” compared to alternatives. Under a voucher system, parents can direct public funds for their school’s education to the school of their choice. Extra spending has to be covered by tuition covered by the parents. This motivates schools to spend wisely and innovate to attract students..Ford faced strong opposition to his stance. Justin Trudeau opposed Ford’s bill, saying, “Proactive use of the notwithstanding clause is actually an attack on people’s fundamental rights.” Although education is provincial jurisdiction, he said Ottawa was “absolutely looking at all different options” for how to restore those rights..Unifor, which employs 300,000 workers in Ontario, threatened its own job action in solidarity with the workers, including involvement of 40,000 autoworkers. Still, Haskell said Ford could have stood the unions down..“Our conservative leaders today don't seem to follow the precedent that has been set. And I'm speaking specifically about Margaret Thatcher and her triumphs, really, over the coal miner unions. Thatcher said, we will wait them out, we will not give in. And it did cause incredible disruption. But at the end of it all, she actually had a stronger economy for it,” the professor explained..“We have these models of true conservatives who were able to use legal means and essentially bring the unions to heel. And there's just not the integrity in our leaders any longer. They do not have the courage of their convictions. Moreover, they actually don't have the convictions.”.Haskell, who was a People’s Party candidate in 2019, was an outspoken critic of Ontario’s Bill 67. The legislation, which failed to pass before the June 7 election, would have entrenched Critical Race Theory in Ontario schools. .“Increasingly, we see that the Ford government is conservative in name only. Whenever there's strong pressure from progressives and leftists, they do their bidding. And we saw that exact same thing when Doug Ford was in the midst of the George Floyd controversies…and [Ford] said that is something unique to the US, we don't have systemic racism here..“And then he walked it back. He then went on to say, Oh, we do have systemic racism here. And when he did that, suddenly, the activists said we have carte blanche to push whatever policy we want. His reversal there then led to incredibly invasive policies in our universities and our schools related to Critical Race Theory, because it was clear that Doug Ford was not going to stand against the claims that were being made, the unempirical claims.”.Haskell said a voucher system would have taken time to implement, but Ford had that time, given he had three-and-a-half years left in his term. It’s why Haskell views his handling of the recent crisis as a missed opportunity..“He's really set the precedent that the unionized educational complex that we have is the only deal in town, and it's the only thing will happen.”
