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www.insideHALTON.com · OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday, August 29, 2012 · 8 Teacher protestors descend on Queen's Park By Dominik Kurek OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Thousands of teachers descended on Queen's Park on Tuesday to voice their frustration with the Liberal government, which is trying to impose a two-year wage freeze on educators. Watching the crowd from his Queen's Park office window, Halton Progressive Conservative MPP Ted Chudleigh said the teachers have a right to protest after the Dalton McGuinty government has "made a mess" of negotiations for new teacher contracts. Dealing with a budget deficit, the Liberal government is trying to impose a two-year wage freeze on educators. The Legislative assembly was called back to Queen's Park two weeks early to deal with the new bill, which proposes to also curb individual unions' rights to bargain collective agreements with school boards. "This legislation is the result of the Liberals having made a complete fiscal mess of the school system in Ontario. They've given teachers huge raises -- 12-15 per cent over the last nine years -- when many people weren't getting any raises at all," said Chudleigh. "Now, they've got to pull back. The well is dry so they're coming up with a partial wage freeze." Oakville Liberal MPP Kevin Flynn said the province has been good to the education system since the Liberals took over, creating the best public school system in the English-speaking world. However, now as the government is dealing with a deficit, Flynn said it's time for teachers to make the necessary sacrifices that will help maintain the quality of education. Under the Provincial bill, new teachers would still move up the salary grid at a cost of $473 million per year. To offset for the cost of the salary grid movement, all teachers would take three unpaid days off. In addition, they would no longer be allowed to bank sick days. Chudleigh said the unpaid days and the sick day reform would save about $150 million per year, leaving a gap of more than $300 million. Those numbers, he said, have to be verified by the auditor general. Flynn admitted he didn't have the financial numbers, but said if the teachers would sign the same deal or one similar to the one previously signed by the Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association (OECTA), it would mean a break for Ontario taxpayers. IT'S A GREAT TIME TO PLANT! 2 Gal. Perennials 30% Reg. from $19.99 OFF 40% OFF All Trees All Flowering Shrubs 40% OFF Reg. from $17.99 3 for $10 $34.99 Lawn s Use with gras seed for lawn repair or thickening ns existing law 3 for $12 TERRA Lawn Soil 3 for $12 or $4.99/ea Reg. $6.99 Lawn 6"Mums Reg. $5.99/ea peat moss, a blend of 60% h, with 40% black eart ent soil amendm Kevin Flynn "There's a substantial savings to the people of the province of Ontario if deals are signed," he said. "If we do all those things, we can continue to have the best public education system in the English-speaking world. We can't lose sight of that. We built the best publicly-funded education system on the whole planet... and I don't want to put that at risk. I don't think teachers do either." PC leader Tim Hudak said he will support the new bill, but Chudleigh said there are some changes that still need to be made before the party passes it. "We're not going to roll over a bad piece of legislation so we're trying to make it better. We've got some agreement with the Liberals, although we don't think it's gone far enough," Chudleigh said. The bill passed its first reading on Monday and is being debated today (Wednesday) and Thursday. See Liberals page 9 NEW FALL FOR Reg. $39.99 Fall Hanging Basket $16.99 San Diego 7 piece dining set SAVE $1999.99 Reg. $2599.99 $600 4306 sqft) Open Labour Day (Sept. 3rd) 9am - 5pm Scotts Wintercare Pro (400 sqm/ Reg. $19.99 $34.99 Fall Planter Reg. $39.99 All items while quantities last, subject to availability. Category offers exclude "TERRA Essentials" Sale period: Aug. Sept. S ale p eriod: A ug. 30th - S ept. 5th www.terragreenhouses.com DAYS WEEK: Monday Sunday OPEN 7 D AYS A WEEK : Monda y-S unday 9am - 6pm Burlington Hwy #5 East of Brant St. (905) 332-3222 · Milton Britannia Rd.West ofTrafalgar (905) 876-4000 Waterdown Hwy #6 & 5th Concession E. (905) 689-1999 ·Vaughan Keele St. North of Kirby Sideroad (905) 832-6955