Mr. Harper….

1. Breached his own fixed election laws
2. Taxed income trusts despite a pre-election promise not to tax them
3. Didn’t answer the allegations he bribed Chuck Cadman to vote with the Harper party
4. Produced a guide to disrupting parliamentary committees
5. Several of his ministers have misled parliament (Clements, MacKay and Oda)
6. Prorogued parliament twice to avoid defeat in the House
7. Found in contempt of parliament 3 times
8. Muzzled his ministers and MPs
9. Sacked or forced resignation of public servants who tried to do their jobs rather than kowtowing to him (e.g. Linda Keen for insisting on safety standards at Chalk River, Munir Sheikh of Stats Can, many others)
10. Cancelled the long form census which provides vital data to businesses and others, spending more of our money to do so
11. Leads the most secretive government in Canadian history
12. After inheriting a surplus, created the largest deficit in our country`s history
13. Continues to claim credit for “strong economy” whose strength  actually comes from Liberal surplus and Liberal refusal to gut banking regulations (Harper supported deregulation)
14. Insisted there was no economic crisis, took action only under intense pressure from opposition, media
15. Spent $1.2 billion on G-8, including fake lake while his police brutally assaulted peaceful demonstrators and observers, including women and an aging civil servant
16. Wants to spend $10 billion on prisons for unreported criminals, although crime rate continues its long decline
17. Wants to spend $18 – 30 billion on planes that have yet to be built, and no case made for why we need them
18. Spent $100 million advertising what a wonderful a leader he is, and thereby  bought much support from the media
19. Has ignored climate change and earned Canada more environmental “fossil” awards than any prior Prime Minister
20. Has tarnished Canada’s international reputation to the extent that we were denied a seat on the UN Security Council
21. Persistently concealed information about the abuse of Afghan detainees
22. By losing the rights to use Camp Mirage, endangered our troops and and cost $300 million
23. Bribed two provinces to bring in the Harper Sales Tax against the wishes of the people
24. Gave a standing ovation to a minister who misled parliament and forged a document
25. Appointed two senators who had 67 forged invoices, falsely claiming tax rebates for election expenses.
26. His staff is being investigated by police about 3 separate incidents
27. Is a control freak who has constantly demonstrated his contempt for parliament and the 2/3 of Canadians who have voted against him. If he were to get a majority he would act to gut health care, the CBC and other quintessential Canadian institutions - as he already has the census.Don’t vote for Harper!

The Limestone Local of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario is seeking candidates for the following Executive positions, to be decided by election at the Annual Meeting, Tuesday, April 5, 2011. The names in italic are those who have already put their names forward as willing to stand.

TABLE OFFICERS
President Mike Lumb
1^st Vice President Debi Wells
2^nd Vice PresidentSecretaryTreasurer Dave New

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE STANDING CHAIRPERSONS
Goodwill Karen Spanton
Social Margaret Chung
Occupational Health & Safety Liz Kay
Political Action Jane Roberts
Professional Development Steve Stenman
Status of Women April Elliot

The deadline for receipt of nominations shall be April 1.

If there is no candidate for a position, nominations duly moved and seconded for that position only, and with the consent of the nominee, shall be accepted at the Annual Meeting.

Please submit nominations to Elections Officer

Jamie Corbett

jamiecsquared@hotmail.com

613-547-2665

“Ontario’s full-day kindergarten is leading the way in North America when it comes to early learning,” said ETFO President Sam Hammond. “It’s important that all Ontario students gain access to the significant benefits of the full-day program offered to four-and-five-year olds.”

Hammond stressed that it’s the combined skills and expertise of teachers and early childhood educators that sets Ontario apart from many other education systems. The full day, combined with the renewed focus on play-based learning, is providing children with a definite advantage and head-start when it comes to developing literacy, numeracy and social skills.

“A play-based program is essential for fostering creativity, initiative, collaboration, and problem-solving,” said Hammond.  “Children who play develop strong oral communication skills; they are more confident, are better able to make friends, and are persistent and creative in completing tasks and solving problems.”

“By all accounts, the first year of the full-day Early Learning program has been a success,” added Hammond. “We know from research that investment in early learning is good for child development and is central to long-term economic development in the province.”

“Skilled, well-educated people are critical for Ontario’s economic prosperity”, said Hammond. “We can’t afford not to ensure over the next five years that all kindergarten children have access to full-day learning.”

The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario represents 76,000 elementary public school teachers and education professionals across the province and is the largest teacher federation in Canada.

Project Overseas is one of several programmes that supports education internationally. Where there is a need, Canadian teachers have offered their expertise and enthusiasm to help train teachers to provide a better education to children in many countries. CIDA has pulled all funding from the Canadian Teachers’ Federation’s International Development programmes. Sign the petition urging the government to restore this funding. It will only take a minute and will make a difference to thousands of children.

Toronto, ON – The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) will donate $10,000 to support beleaguered Hamilton steelworkers who have been locked out of their jobs since last November by U.S. Steel. The donation comes as thousands of working people journey to Hamilton this Saturday to support the 900 members and 9,000 pensioners of USW Local 1005 whose foreign owners want to de-index their pensions and forego defined benefit plans for all new hires.

“It is unconscionable that U.S. Steel would strip away hard-earned benefits from workers who have given their lives to this and the previous owner Stelco Steel,” said ETFO President Sam Hammond, who grew up in Hamilton. “What is disturbing is that prior to purchasing the company in 2007, U.S. Steel assured workers that it would honour a commitment to the Stelco pension plans.”

U.S. Steel is trying to de-index its workers’ pensions so that retirees would not receive any increases to keep up with the rising cost of living. The company is also trying to close its Defined Benefit pension plan to all new hires. It would replace it with a Defined Contribution plan that would guarantee workers nothing more than what they pay in, while giving the employer a free pass not to contribute.

“As working people, we can no longer accept that foreign-owned companies can come into this country and dismantle the structures that took unions and workers decades to build that provide income security for Canadians upon retirement,” added Hammond. “As these courageous workers in Hamilton, along with Sudbury steelworkers at Vale Inco and others, continue to stand up to the tactics of foreign owned companies, it is time to ask why the federal government is allowing foreign owners to wreck our communities and steal our futures.”

The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario represents 76,000 elementary public school teachers and education professionals across the province and is the largest teacher federation in Canada.

Re: Giving Better Teachers the Money They Deserve, editorial, Jan. 6.

From reading your editorial, one would think that teachers are neither evaluated nor accountable for their performance. Nothing could be further from the truth. Teachers in Ontario, for example, work in a highly regulated environment and face a rigorous performance appraisal system involving classroom observation, reports and in-depth reviews with evaluators.

And like doctors and lawyers, they are accountable to their professional regulatory body. Differences in teacher pay are not just based on years of experience and degrees obtained. Those teachers who continually upgrade their teaching skills in professional development courses during the school year and summer months may receive additional financial rewards.

Just as doctors aren’t paid based on the number of patients who live or die, teachers aren’t paid by the number of students that pass or fail. Rather, we highly regulate these professions to ensure the highest levels of competency to support, nurture, and educate whole societies with differing needs and abilities. That’s why it’s illogical to measure success, and base pay, on narrowly defined outcomes.

Sam Hammond, president, Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario, Toronto.

National Post/Monday, Jan. 10, 2011

How do you feel about privatizing water and letting foreign companies sell it? How about giving large European corporations access to how we grow and consume food or how the government provides public services at the federal, provincial and municipal level? All this and more is on the table in the Canada-European Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement that is being negotiated right now. Canada wants a new market for genetically modified crops and beef that is full of hormones and they seem willing to give away the proverbial farm to get it. For a lot more scary information, click here.