Tories say Broten not doing enough to stop potential strike action

TORONTO, Ont. – Education Minister Laurel Broten says she is ready to step in if Ontario’s elementary teachers follow through with strike action, but her critics say she isn’t doing enough.

“The Minister needed to be tough,” said PC Education Critic Lisa MacLeod. “She had to tell it full, get back to the table, let’s prevent this. [The Liberals] recalled the Legislature two weeks early to pass legislation that they told us would prevent labour disruptions.  

MacLeod suggested that Broten might be distracted.

“She’s more worried about who the next Liberal Leader is going to be and offending a union, than she is about kids in their classrooms,” she said.

Broten’s response follows the threat from Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario, Wednesday, that they would walk off the job in December.

The union has already said parents would get 72 hours notice ahead of any labour disruptions, but Broten said the government has the power to impose a new collective agreement under the ‘Putting Students First’ act and prohibit any strike action.

“Laurel Broten has the tools, yet all we get from her is that she’s disappointed. The Minister could have invoked her own law today. Instead, she ignored it,” MacLeod said.

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