If Wynne and her government are willing to pay monies to Liberal-friendly teachers’ unions, are there any other public employee unions, especially the OPPA that also received these payouts?
Ever since Caledonia in 2006 when natives took over a sub development, it has been no secret that the Ontario Provincial Police gladly do the bidding of the provincial Liberal government. But certain facts revealed recently lead to the question of whether or not the Wynne government made any payments to the OPP or more precisely the police union, the Ontario Provincial Police Association (OPPA).
Recently, the day after the federal election where Kathleen’s boy Justin Trudeau was awarded with a majority government, the Globe and Mail revealed the provincial Liberals made a $1million payout to a teachers’ union to reimburse them for the costs of negotiating with the government. Since the initial release by the Globe that denied the information was held so as not to reflect negatively on the federal Liberals before the election, this year’s payout to teachers’ unions has increased to $2.5 million.
Liz Sandals, the education minister who graduated magna cum laude from the Barbara Hall School of Public Speaking, said this type of payout is not unusual. Sandals also said the government did not request receipts from the union because she knows how much hotels and pizza costs.
Business as usual for an employer to pay a union to offset the costs of bargaining according to Sandals. It would be usual except for the fact no one else seems to have ever heard of it being done.
In the Financial Post, employment law expert Howard Levitt wrote, “In my 37 years of practicing labour law, I have never even heard of let alone been involved in, an employer client reimbursing unions for their costs at the bargaining table. Sometimes, the wages of union negotiators are covered during the bargaining, and less often, for one or two days of their preparation beforehand, but nothing more.” The employment lawyer went on to say that the costs of negotiations are what union dues are for.
Either Levitt doesn’t know what he is talking about and has been highly overrated for years or Sandals in lying. It cannot be both.
Sandals said receipts were not needed in order to reimburse the unions because the government knows how much pizzas and hotel rooms cost. The premier quickly contradicted her special needs minister by saying the funds have not yet been paid out and will only be paid if receipts are presented. Sandals should be fired by Wynne but has probably just qualified as the next leader of the corrupt Liberal Party.
Even though Wynne and her party could not care less how much of the taxpayers’ money they waste, there still must be a reason why the government reimbursed the unions of the teaching trade for monies that, as Levitt said, is what dues paid by its members are for.
There is only one logical reason why such payments would be made. The unions are given money on the pretext of needing it for negotiations so they have more money to donate to the Liberals and more importantly, can use it for third party advertising against the NDP and the Progressive Conservatives.
All of which brings us to the Ontario Provincial Police and their union, the OPPA. During the last election, the union representing Kathleen’s Kops aired two ads attacking PC leader Tim Hudak. The ads had to be edited because they purported to be not from the OPPA but from the OPP and used the police force’s logo. There is a legal distinction between police and their union but the ads appeared as further evidence the OPP is in the pocket of the Provincial Liberals.
The Liberal Party is currently under three separate investigations by their pet police; the gas plant scandals, the scandal at Air Ornge and the Sudbury by-election scandal.
A couple of days ago, the OPP released information that the Libs paid $10,000 to have emails concerning the gas plants erased. We knew that already.
After lengthy investigations, only one set of charges have been laid and that involves the Sudbury by-election. Last September, Liberal bagman Gerry Lougheed was charged by the OPP with one count of counselling an offence and one count of unlawfully influencing or negotiating appointments.
Andrew Olivier was seeking to be the Liberal candidate in a by-election necessitated by the resignation of the Sudbury MPP. Wynne wanted someone else to run and it is alleged Lougheed spoke with Olivier and offered him his choice of unspecified appointments if he dropped out of the race.
The OPP made it clear that there was no evidence of criminal wrongdoing by either Wynne, her deputy chief of staff, Pat Sobara or anyone else higher up than Lougheed.
Perhaps Lougheed will plead not criminally responsible, arguing he suffers from delusions of grandeur and was acting on his own in his conversations with Olivier in offering the appointments. The reality is it is hard to believe the offer of an appointment for Olivier if he dropped out of the race did not come from either Wynne or someone in her office. But according to the party’s cops, there are no reasonable and probable grounds to believe anyone other than the bagman committed a crime.
If Wynne and her government are willing to pay monies to Liberal-friendly teachers’ unions, are there any other public employee unions, especially the OPPA that also received these payouts? Ontarians need to know.
And not an investigation by the OPP; we’re pretty sure how that would turn out.
Ever since Caledonia in 2006 when natives took over a sub development, it has been no secret that the Ontario Provincial Police gladly do the bidding of the provincial Liberal government. But certain facts revealed recently lead to the question of whether or not the Wynne government made any payments to the OPP or more precisely the police union, the Ontario Provincial Police Association (OPPA).
Recently, the day after the federal election where Kathleen’s boy Justin Trudeau was awarded with a majority government, the Globe and Mail revealed the provincial Liberals made a $1million payout to a teachers’ union to reimburse them for the costs of negotiating with the government. Since the initial release by the Globe that denied the information was held so as not to reflect negatively on the federal Liberals before the election, this year’s payout to teachers’ unions has increased to $2.5 million.
