OECTA, OSSTF, AEFO and ETFO Presidents Participating in K-12 Panel Discussion
LONDON, ON — As Doug Ford deliberately underfunds our public and post-secondary schools, all while enriching his wealthy insider buddies, the presidents of all four public sector teachers’ unions will participate in a panel discussion at the Ontario Liberals’ upcoming Annual Meeting and Policy Conference—for the first time in decades.
“Doug Ford has failed our children. Class sizes are growing, teachers are quitting, schools are crumbling, and parents are losing trust in our public education system.
Ontario’s Liberals stand with teachers, education workers and support staff, and we will fiercely defend our children’s right to receive world-class public education.”
— Bonnie Crombie, Leader of Ontario’s Liberals
The participating presidents from Ontario’s four public sector teachers’ unions are:
- Karen Littlewood, President of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF), as well as a special education teacher from Barrie, Ontario who has worked in education since 1991.
- René Jansen in de Wal, President of the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association (OECTA), as well as a secondary school teacher who began his career in 1986.
- Gabrielle Lemieux, President-elect of l’Association des enseignantes et des enseignants franco-ontarians (AEFO), as well as a secondary school teacher with over 15 years of experience in the field of education.
- Karen Brown, President of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) — the largest public sector union in Canada representing approximately 83,000 members — as well as a registered early childhood educator who began her career in 1993.
The Ontario Liberals’ Policy Conference and Annual Meeting will take place in London, from September 20 to 22, where a special focus will be placed on discussions that will shape the party’s next election platform—including robust policies that will put education back at the center of Ontario’s economic plan.