Ontario Election Teacher Union Platforms?

Under construction ....

From the UFCW Political Action blog @ Here!

As a part of my ongoing Teacher Free Speech Ontario Election Guide I am adding the various union on line info links here for your perusal. The main focus will be on the teacher union sites, with a critique of each to follow. You are also encouraged to comment below the blog. 

Other useful union links, for example for the Working Family Coalition, the Ontario Federation of Labour [OFL] and United Food Workers of Canada [UFCW] are also being added. The teacher unions all usually contribute to the Working Families campaign. Most of us as teacher unionists also belong to the OFL. I find some of the UFCW contributions to be outstanding. I will add others as they become available.

Some of the teacher union Ontario election sites are readily available on line. Others not. I am surprised at how many are restricted mostly to a members area with little public information being made readily available to add to the overall effort. It is not the usual culprits either, as you will note from the missing links below. If you can forward the missing ones to me it would be much appreciated. In the meantime I will continue my informal on line search as an average voter seeking more information on the union position in the 2014 Ontario Spring election to see what I can find .....

Hope this helps!

David C

The OFL election site is @ Stop Hudak @ Also see Defeat Conservative Anti Worker Laws @  Rights at Work . The OFL has been exemplary in preparing the Ontario unions for Hudaks neo con attack starting most notably in organizing against his Right 2 Work 4 Less Plans in the last by elections. Catchy catch phrases and easy to find and download flyers and info sheets are a big plus in the accessibility department along with the extensive local training sessions provided to members and executives alike across the province.

Critique: If the Year of the MOU left a bad taste in your union mouth you might want to consider participating in the election effort through your involvement with the OFL rather than your own affiliate. Most of us are also OFL members. Just something to think about if you are feeling too cynical to otherwise help out with the good fight!

OECTA election site is @ Speak For Children

OECTA's Speak for Children has strong recognizable branding from the successful 2008 + 2011 provincial election campaigns. Studies had shown that voters respect and trust in teachers was high, if not in the unions themselves. In short, rather than directly  emphasize contract issues, the focus is essentially on the idea of good happy professionally well trained teachers being able to take care of your children well. The basic question being asked is which party will best help us provide this service. Speak for Children is thus more so presented as an educational advocacy campaign rather than as a direct endorsement or put down of any one party. The answer to "who speaks for children" should speak for itself in the public and members minds.

Critique: Reader comments have emphasized concern that it's time for more focus to be put on directly addressing the teachers contract needs in the election, especially since the OLP collective bargaining strips in 2012. The high standards and training of our Ontario teachers should make that an easy case to make; Ontarians get what they pay. We have nothing to be ashamed of nor to hide despite the constant teacher put downs by our neo con proponents. 

Perhaps OECTA should speak out more directly to challenge that mindset and the assumptions about us that such claims carry. Still Speaks for Children has proven to be a winning campaign. After a third run out on the election trail it could well be time to reconsider and move on afterwards since it otherwise seems too late now.

OECTA's Speak for Children campaign is easy to publicly find and access on line. Also to recognize in the brands flyers, billboards and bus shelter posters across the province. It will be interesting + reassuring to also see if the OECTA Code of Secrecy and Silence is likewise being lifted somewhat after the OECTA MOU debacle + efforts to stamp out + discredit any and all dissent. President James Ryan has promised to improve OECTA Communications. We will see how transparent OECTA and indeed the other provincial affiliates are, when it's time for endorsements to be made. In OECTA's case will the campaign simply prove to be a toothless endorsement for the union's past close Liberal ties after the terrible MOU beating its members sustained? 

Balance could help rebuild some much lacking OECTA credibility + esteem in the eyes of the doubtful from within OECTA and without. OLP partisanship will prove very hard to cover up and hide. One hopes the high standard the OECTA Speaks for Children brand sets is not simply a case of all form too little content when it comes to standing up strongly, clearly + openly with all three parties for its teacher members post July 5 2012.

Visit ETFO site for more info + to send a Huda-pic message!

ETFO election site is @Building Better Schools

Many thanks to Lisa M for forwarding this! We know she is a real trooper. You can visit the site for more info and critique in Comments below, or I will later.

Critique:This was hard to find. Hmmm. Last year ETFO's communications were the most open and comprehensive of all the affiliates. Since then not so much anymore. Too bad. They were exemplary. My Comments on "member only" portals follow below. 

[NOTE: I am sitting on my couch sicker than @#!$%. Caught some bug I guess. I watch the news channel and see Timbo all the time. Everything about him annoys, from the platitudes to the condescending, vacant smile. And I don't think that's coz I'm not feeling well, but it DOES NOT help. So, enough 4 now ......]

OSSTF election site is @ Provincial Election Watch

Critique: What a dull name for a campaign. Zzzzzzz. I will investigate the site more thoroughly to see if it has any sizzle. I'm wondering if OSSTF's low key election silence could be potentially disturbing after the unhappy conclusion to the 2012-13 MOU protests and former President Ken Coran's alleged defection to the Liberal party.

AEFO election site is @ ????

Working Family Coalition is @ Working Families

Working Families is very much supported by all of the provinces unions, with a clear focus on exposing PC Tim Hudaks Neo Con agenda. Left unchallenged his outlandish claims and attacks will prove fatal. It seems it's all right for business, corporate, media and other right wing interests to have lobby groups create a mindset and establish the election agenda but not the unions who they continually seek to discredit + destroy. Working families is very proactive and is not taking it sitting down. Bravo!

Critique: The Working Family is a good place to spend our election contributions during a year when neither the OLP or NDP are openly demonstrating support for our teacher unions. Nobody has yet explained nor for that matter promised to redress the wrongs of last years collective bargaining strips. The answer seems obvious to me. 'Nuff said!

A Final Point: Member only web access sites seem more common than ever this year. C'mon! Ontario has well over a hundred thousand teachers. Many families included teachers from more than one affiliate. We all talk. We are not stupid. Secrecy is a lost cause in our new social media age and most unbecoming. Besides, what has everybody got to hide????

COMMENTS?

Teachers Ontario Election Study Guide: Some Notes!

My blog acronym guide is Here! 

Under construction ... Time to DIY [Do It Yourself]! Here are some useful links to follow the June 12 Ontario election. I will add some comments, and you can too, using the Comments link at the bottom of my blog. Much more coming!

PARTY PLATFORMS

In the value free sense the PC Million Jobs Plan has been readily available and easy to access for some time now. Not that it makes sense, or has much depth, but as far as a political party campaign goes Timbo is way ahead of the pack and has nailed this one down but good. You can download the party platform @ OPC!

We hear about the OLP platform and read about it, so where is it?  I looked everywhere on line but couldn't find an actual party platform document. So I phoned party headquarters to give them royal shit and ask for a direct link. Was told the budget is their election platform!?! Since then you can see the slide show + downloads on their official site + try to figure it out yourself. Good luck @ OLP!

The NDP has finally released an election platform! Rather thin, but you can download it @ NDP!

ANALYSIS: A comprehensive, easily accessible, easy to follow party platform has usually been the focus of a good election campaign. It seems to be falling by the wayside to piecemeal daily media announcements and staged events. My teacher marks? I'm considering form here, not content:

"A" for the PC's for learning from last time. I don't like it but well done!

Revised "D+" grade for the OLP. It's there I guess .... all over the place ..... and within the spring budget. Suppose we are supposed to go connect the dots ourselves. As if .... On Saturday it was finally formalized into a belated "Plan for Ontario" campaign [Zzzzzz], a mixed grab bag of sorts based on the the budget. When I called the OLP Media Centre last week for this article the staffer who returned my call wasn't aware of any platform present or forthcoming, outside of "look at the budget" so go figure.... A comprehensive focused party platform has not been the OLP's forte since "Time for a Change" in 2003. This year is more of the same ..... [see Wynne blog] .....

"D-" for the NDP. Late, slim, and a last minute affair following a quick toss of the election dice. Can't see that being a good idea myself ..... definitely a crap shoot! Good luck! [See Horwath blog]

THE POLLS

Today's ThreeHundredEight aggregate poll has averaged out the numbers somewhat as they continue to drastically whiplash back and forth between the PC's and the OLP. The PC's are still projected to win. The incredible variance between the polling firm [Ipsos/ Eckos/ Forum etc] results continues. That seriously seems to highlight an incredulous bias or maybe its just poor surveying techniques, which have not changed with the times? Anyways, you can continue to follow the ongoing + ever changing analysis @ 308! 

Perplexed? The Ontario Election Prediction Project has a very good batting average with some great commentary on each riding, often by insiders and others on the ground in each riding across the province. Seats swing, and the numbers will firm up the closer we get to election day. It's easy to use with the province divided into regions and ridings, each with a link you can click on to read more. IMHO, its the best punditry around: a great fix for political junkies  @ Glass Ball! 

So far the Ontario Election Prediction Project has predicted 32 seats for the PC's/, 27 for the OLP/ and 16 for the NDP/, with 32 seats too close to call! 

DEBATES

"Make show!" as the club goers in Hamburg Germany use to call out to the fledging Beatles during their salad days! For better or worse a good TV debate performance can possibly make or break a campaign for a candidate or moreover the party leader. Especially when it is televised. Most folks will tune in and become cognisant,  rather belatedly, of the election race. Then maybe decide whether or not to vote and how. Local town hall debates can be a good chance to carefully scrutinize your local candidates up close and in action. The PC's were not too keen on these in 2011. Probably because their platform doesn't hold up very well under close examination. See @ All form! No content!

The big 3 leaders debate will be televised June 3 just over a week before the June 12 election day. More details and a link to send in your questions is @ Global News

There will be a Northern Ontario debate on May 26. Hudak will not attend, ostensibly because it will not be a "comprehensive discussion". My ass! Quite frankly it's quite the opposite! The kindergarten level economic planks of his Million Jobs platform won't hold up under any weighty discussion. [See above]. Anyway, he has little chance of gaining seats up north whereas the NDP have a good hold and the OLP are in continuing deep doo doo. Better he let them slug it out. The perceived performance of the other party leaders could possibly split votes in other ridings elsewhere across the province, if voters even watch or hear the debate. The PC's then come down the middle for a quite common PC default win. Yup! Add up the combined OLP + NDP seats and popular vote. If they were one party we wouldn't even be having these ongoing neo con PC nightmares each election time. More details of the debate @ Northern Debate!?

Analysis: 'Nuff said!

PS: Stay tuned for teacher union affiliates endorsements! This should be real interesting!!! Kindly help by forwarding any links to share! 

COMMENTS?

Anchors Away with Andrea Horwath's NDP?

What was NDP Party leader Andrea Horwath thinking when she pulled the plug on the Ontario Liberal budget? The NDP polls are consistently low, lower and the lowest. She has plunged the party and it's progressive support spiralling down into a spring election she has very little chance of winning. 

Spring election 2014: What to do?!?

Andrea fought valiantly in 2013 to get progressive NDP concessions included in the Liberal budget. This spring she decided point blank not  to support the OLP budget. She rightly claimed on principle that they did not carry through with many of their promises, for example in lowering our car insurance rates. Nonetheless the Wynne Liberals had developed what can largely be described as 2 consecutive NDP style budgets. An Ontario Pension Plan for many of our working families was among the budget items within easy reach.

Despite the NDP's positive influence, the party has ironically incurred public distaste being blamed as the culprits responsible for propping up a corrupt government. Andrea's true efforts are not reflected in the the polling numbers. It's very possible the NDP could even lose seats. 

For Ms Horwath it is now irrevocably time to sink or swim. Regretfully, the NDP doesn't have a coherent and clearly articulated platform. Rather it seems more like she is stuck up the creek without a paddle, to coin a phrase. Today Andrea announced the party would raise the minimum wage and cut small business taxes. Sounds good! Something for everybody at the grassroots level. But yesterday she announced it was only "common sense" to somehow cut $600,000 in provincial expenses. That unfortunately sounds a lot like Harris minion Tim Hudak! When asked why she wouldn't endorse Horwath's platform, Mississsauga Mayor Hazel McCallom had the best line of the election yet. Looking puzzled she quite bluntly replied she isn't aware that the NDP has one. In this she is not alone and time is quickly running out! As the saying goes: Snooze you lose!

Unfortunately all is not well on the NDP Good Ship Lollipop!

It would seem a slam dunk that the NDP would have our union support. Sadly the party has been all but mum on our big teacher issues since 2011 beyond saying that they were against Bill 115 and wanted changes to Bill 122.  Rather than actively supporting us in no uncertain terms the NDP has been distancing themselves from being labelled the union party. Rather, it seems the NDP now fancies itself as some lifeboat of sorts for the middle class. 

Without a well developed and clearly articulated election platform it's impossible to know what the NDP have to offer. Fair enough, they've floated the idea that they aren't the Liberal party. But like the OLP they seem to be gambling that faced with a PC win, we will just climb aboard their ship to set sail over the election horizon with our support and votes. 

As teachers it could be very bad news to support a Liberal party that stripped our contracts in 2012-13, then virtually eliminated local bargaining with Bill 122 this year. We haven't even seen a contract offer yet. Besides the salary, benefit and working condition issues, we don't know if they even intend to continue funding our pension at past levels. All we have are vague assurances that they support public service unions and aren't Tim Hudak's neo con PC's.

Unless Andrea has a big secret weapon to torpedo an OLP or PC election victory, she needs us as much as we need the NDP. But how do we know that either of them will not turn upon us too like the Harris PC's, the McGuinty Liberals or for that matter the last provincial NDP government?

Hope forever beats eternal in the NDP heart! Will voters against all odds suddenly arise in mass to vote them into government again like in 1990 when faced without a palatable PC or OLP alternative?.Despite the questionable internal numbers they will invariably float showing that a surprise win is possible in each riding across the province during the weeks ahead, the plain truth is that they haven't even come close to forming a government let alone the opposition party in almost 25 years. One experiences deja vu as the Tim Hudak flotilla now blasts it's election guns picking up the PC union fight from where Mike Harris left off in 2003. In pulling the plug on the OLP it seems Andrea has just gambled away our future. It's at best a long shot that 2014 will somehow just just be like 1990 all over again. A pure bathtub full of election gin. Quite frankly with all the OLP + NDP hijinks it looks a lot more like 1995 to me!

Quite frankly she hasn't gotten a prayer of winning ....

I'd be willing to bet that the NDP is gambling that the PC's will win enough seats to form a minority government. Then the OLP would be hard pressed not to welcome an NDP-OLP coalition to keep them out of power. The NDP could demand cabinet seats. They could demonstrate an ability to govern. Sadly, it is the best bet that they have had since 1995 to get any direct hold on power whatsoever. 

We are all stuck now in a very bad situation. The stakes are foolishly high. It's equally possible that irate voters will instead decide to "toss the bums out", both the OLP + the NDP, and swallow the PC bromide that all will be well under a Hudak neo con government. Do the teachers fully support either the Horwath NDP and any of the Wynne OLP candidates without concrete assurances that we won't continue to be taken for granted? Or get screwed again? Alas, there are no easy right answers! 

Anchors away!

NEWS LINKS

34 prominent party members criticize Horath for abandoning progressive NDP politics in an attempt to become something for everybody @ Thumbs down? 

Andrea's response @ Has to

More election coverage below! Scroll down ....

COMMENTS?

Are We Headed Towards A Tory Majority?

As the latest threehundredeight.com [308] aggregate poll [see HERE! ] above suggests, we could be headed towards the thinkable: a Tory majority government under Ontario Provincial Conservative Leader Tim Hudak! Hudak  seems to have managed to broken past his 38% ceiling of solid conservative party support to make inroads into the soft vote he needs for a majority, with the June 12 Ontario election a little under a month away!

I trust the 308 aggregate poll most and continue to use it here on my blogsite. It is a sum of all the different polls being conducted. It seems the most reliable as it is less given to wild swings. It would be remiss not to highlight the latest numbers. If you check the 308 aggregate in my May Teacher + News + Views blog [see HERE! ] you will note that at the beginning of May the PC's and the Ontario Liberal Party [OLP] were in a 34.2% dead heat!

That changed most notably when the May 6-9 IPSO poll results were added in. It's very disturbing. The PC's continue to show a steady lead in the IPSO numbers As far as IPSO is concerned, this is not a blip or irregularity in the polling trends from over the last year or so, far from it. Especially shocking are the percentage of voters most likely to vote: 51% PC, 24% OLP  and 23% NDP. If the numbers hold steady the PC's could have a massive advantage on election day, the only poll that really counts! Further red lights go off when we see the choice of party leaders: Hudak has the lead at 34% to the NDP's Andrea Horwath at 29%, and the OLP's Kathleen Wynne at 28%. Ouch! You can examine the IPSO numbers in greater detail below [PC=blue, OLP=red, NDP=orange]:

As a caveat, it is worth noting that other recent polls included in the 3018 aggregate do show some irregularities. According to the recent Oracle and Innovative Research polls, the PC's have either an even greater 11% lead over the OLP or there's actually a 6% OLP lead over the PC's! Each pollster is often accused of a party bias, so the aggregate could still definitely change as more are released. However with the PC's seemingly breaking out far ahead of the pack further polling results will be very interesting to see! 

SOME CONSIDERATIONS:

It is particularly disturbing that the PC's seem to be making inroads with the soft voters who might otherwise vote Liberal or NDP. Is Hudak's moronic "Million New Jobs" rhetoric resonating with a fed up electorate who's decided it's time to "throw the bums out", no matter the cost? Remember how Rob Ford's over simplistic "Gravy Train" slogan caught on a few years back? Is it game over for Premier Wynne regardless of whatever she says or does over the next four weeks with all the OLP baggage she is carrying along?

The NDP numbers are either low, lower or lowest. Despite her efforts party leader Andrea Horwath does not seem to have gained any traction from her admirable efforts to turn around the party's fortunes since the 2013 budget. Is the NDP likewise dead in the water before the election has even begun in earnest?

The month between now and June 12 is without doubt a couple of lifetimes in politics. Anything can still happen. However, a massive Tory lead is not the kind of momentum that either the OLP or NDP will like to see continue for very long. Perhaps in their favour is the possibility that an early lead in the polls is not necessarily a good thing in the long run. A party might only have one way to go, down, as the media and voters begin to more critically analysis the political platform of the apparent government in waiting and find it wanting. Will frightened voters begin to flock towards the OLP to strategically block the threat of a PC win, dealing a devastating blow to the number of NDP seats in the next legislature? Or does Ms Horwath actually have some secret weapon up her sleeve that prompted her to damn the torpedoes when she pulled the plug on the Liberal government? If so she better use it pretty quick!

We certainly live in interesting times!

A Recommendation: You could help your party a lot by just volunteering to get out their voters on election day. Drivers are needed, phone calls will need to be made and so on. Perhaps you might do it after school. Also check in advance if your union has any release time available for election helpers on June 12 so that you can help all day. We have good much needed organization and people skills. If a lot of teachers volunteer to help the party they support on election day in ridings where a win could be close it could be decisive!

PS: Scroll down: Much more commentary + Ontario election coverage below....

Your Comments:

Ontario Election 2014: Running with Wynne?

My blog acronym guide is Here!

Neo Con Nightmare? Comrade Wynne moves province to the centre left!!!

The problem with the Ontario Liberal Party [OLP] is not Kathleen Wynne. The problem with Kathleen Wynne is the Liberal party. Party leader and Premier Kathleen Wynne is a centre left Liberal, who under other political circumstances might've made a good Ontario NDP'er. Her and husband Jane are no strangers to the progressive life style. She also helped produce the most progressive budget in Ontario history. After the teachers helped her get elected in 2003, she was also a good Education Minister, first working with Minister Gerrard Kennedy and later by herself to rebuild the education system after it had been slashed and gutted during the Harris Years. The changes though not ideal [ie. EQAO, + the OTC remain firmly in place] were definitely the most constructive and open working relationship we've ever had with a provincial government. Still, the wheels for that road trip effectively fell off in 2011 when the party suddenly shifted to the right, imposing draconian MOU contract strips upon the public sector and thereby ending almost 10 years of labour peace.

In retrospect it should seem a very high price and quite foolish to have tried to unsuccessfully trade us off for the one seat by-election victory McGuinty needed to form a majority government. Since becoming Premier Wynne has had to try to undo the damage + scandal of the McGuinty denoue across the province. However, she continues to wear it like an albatross around her neck. She needs to shake it off quick as she hits the election trail with both feet running to establish herself as Premier in her own right and defuse the "Its time to throw the bums out" climate in our province. 

Teacher endorsements? 

Whether Wynne can retool the broken union relationship remains unclear. In Education she has ostensibly worked with Education Minister Liz Sandals to fix the teacher relationship but the fine words have not been backed up with many visible concrete actions.

Indeed Bill 122 provincially centralized control of Education far beyond what Mike Harris accomplished with Bill 116. It also perhaps astutely, from a Liberal perspective, tied the teacher unions to the Liberal party. It would be foolish not to realize that a PC government along with the school board trustees could enforce an even worse, more regressive and draconian contract upon us. It would make the MOU's pale in comparison. It seems the Liberal political opportunism of the McGuinty years might still be waiting in the wings.

The right and left wing dichotomy of the Liberal centralist government remains a problem for Kathleen Wynne. With a decisive election win we might end up with a more progressive Liberal government. Or maybe not. A sound Liberal beating in the upcoming election could help trim a lot of the political deadwood within the party. However it remains unclear just how far the parties right wing tentacles extend. I don't doubt Kathleen would try to stay her course but an NDP coalition government or oppostion party might make the Liberal party as a whole less likely to turn on us again. 

"Well, if I can win a government about this big ......"

So far the teacher unions have been hesitant to criticize or try to undermine Kathleen Wynne. Ideally they will play both parties against the middle to get our issues better addressed before the next provincial election. We definitely need time to set straight our contract issues. Also the party tendency to take us for granted. We also need to see the hostile party right wing cut down to size. It would seem incredulous to endorse any Liberal candidates who voted for Bill 115 and/ or stood on the Liberal sidelines during the last tumultuous term of office. Indeed, Kathleen included. She might not have approved but she certainty didn't vote against Bill 115 all the same. 

Our notoriously soft teacher union leaders first tendency might be to continue along the road of Liberal appeasement by readily handing out Liberal endorsements, if given half a chance. As I write at this early date they so far seem hesitant. Still, should it become readily apparent that the NDP's election gambit proves highly unlikely to succeed, we could be well served by the silence. The OECTA Speak for Children campaign shows a tendency to act like more of a third party educational advocacy group rather than hand out dubious endorsements to a Liberal party which turned upon us. Ditto with the lukewarm, middle of the road + leftist defanged NDP party. 

Are the problems insurmountable?

Endorsements + assistance should only be considered on a case to case basis when it becomes readily apparent where we can block a Tory win. Should the Working Family group focus on exposing the PC record + policies rather than playing party favourites we might avoid the very split that allowed Mike Harris to win his first majority government in 1995. My understanding is that this is the path OECTA will pursue, perhaps OSSTF + ETFO too?

 Kathleen Wynne enjoys good presentation skills and a likable personality. It's hard not to like her as just Kathleen, or even Premier Mom. She has a sharp mind and a calm hand focusing on her platform as she begins the race. Still she carries quite a lot of Liberal baggage that could well continue to pull her down regardless of what she does next. One also worries that the gay issue mightn't potentially play very well with traditional Catholics, the Ford Nation, and in WASP Ontario. Watch carefully to see if the PC's don't subtly play the card at some point down the road. Will the average Ontarian be able to rise above such dated and unreasonable prejudices outside of the more socially progressive ridings most notably in the Toronto 416 area? Or would such a move even backfire on the PC party? 

There are so many uncertainties to the 2014 election. Most anything could happen to Kathleen Wynne between now and election day in our Ontario political theatre of the mind. The web of intrigue is still just being spun out before us. Progressives should be careful, we could be in for a very rough ride ahead! It's best to proceed with caution!

NEWS LINKS

Will Hudak's discredited "economic theories" mean he will shoot himself in the foot? The OLP have won 2 elections by default due to the PC's own folly after 2003 despite waging vague wishy washy campaigns themselves. Let's watch what happens as he promises to eliminate 1000,000 jobs, avoids debate and struts about like Mike Harris with a pickle up his butt. See Hudak risk playing into Wynne's hands in 2014 @ Hudak Harris Folly?

Links to follow! Meanwhile just scroll down ......


COMMENTS: