The front lawn of the Ontario legislature was packed with close to four thousand people on Tuesday — some of them teachers from Bruce and Grey Counties.
The teachers and their union representatives were speaking out against the Liberal government’s decision to impose a two year contract on them.
Owen Sound area teacher Sharon Bye from Derby Public School says they called on the Liberal government to negotiate — not legislate.
Bye notes the Liberal’s tactics are really ironic considering they spent millions of dollars on anti bullying messages — yet they are now bullying teachers into this deal.
The bill is expected to be approved with Conservative support this week.
The legislation freezes teachers wages and cuts their benefits while also banning strikes and lockouts.
Premier Dalton McGuinty has defended the bill — saying the money is needed to roll out full-day kindergarten and avoid bigger class sizes.
Neither the premier nor Education Minister Laurel Broten went out to talk to the protesters on Tuesday.
Despite the controversial legislation — the teachers say the school year will proceed without disrupting students’ education.
But the Teachers’ unions say they’re willing to fight a controversial bill all the way to Supreme Court of Canada.