OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is telling Ontario Premier Doug Ford directly that the preemptive use of the illegal clause in legislation intended to prevent teachers from striking is “wrong and inappropriate.”
The Prime Minister’s Office says Trudeau told Ford in a call today that the clause should only be used in the “most exceptional circumstances.”
He says Trudeau stressed the “critical importance” of defending the rights and freedoms of Canadians, including workers.
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Ford’s office, meanwhile, says the prime minister told the prime minister that allowing teachers to strike would have an “unacceptable” effect on students after two years of disruption due to the pandemic.
It says Ford reiterated that the province “is determined, if necessary, to pass legislation to keep classrooms open and provide certainty and stability for parents and students now and in the future.”
The union representing the 55,000 affected education workers in Ontario says it still plans to go on strike starting Friday and will continue indefinitely, despite impending legislation expected to be passed Thursday that would make it illegal.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on November 2, 2022.
