While The Current spoke to Madawaska Valley schools personnel protesting in Barry’s Bay today, John Yakabuski, MPP Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke released the following statement:
“While parents in Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke are frustrated by teacher union escalation every few years, it is unacceptable that union leaders would ramp up strike action and make families across the province scramble for childcare.
We recognize the impact of union escalation on families is real, and unions expect hard-working families to bear the costs of their cyclical labour action. That’s why our government launched its Support for Parents initiative that puts money directly into the pockets of parents.
The immense uptake of our Support for Parents initiative speaks volumes to the level of uncertainty union-led strike action causes.
Our government will continue to focus on reaching voluntary agreements with the teachers’ unions, so Ontario students stay in class where they belong.”
On background:
More information on the initiative can be found at http://ontario.ca/supportforparents or by calling 1-888-444-3770.
As of January 20, 2020, the government had received 149,464 applications.
Cooper,C. Constituency Office (2020,Jan.21) Statement from John Yakabuski, MPP for Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke [media release]
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