Ontario government gave $22M to teachers' unions since 2000 with 'no strings attached': audit

Ontario's auditor general says the provincialgovernment has given teachers' unions more than $80 million since 2000, about a quarter of that with "no strings attached."

Bonnie Lysyk had been asked to investigate $3.8 million theprovincepaid unions representing teachers and education workersover the past three rounds of bargaining, which were longer thannormal due to a new bargaining system.

'Arrangements lacked accountability'

Lysyksaid in a report released Wednesday that those paymentswere unusual, but within the government's authority. The concernsraised about the payments, revealed in media reports, were"understandable,"Lysykwrote.

"These arrangements initially lacked accountability and thecontrols usually associated with government funding," she wrote.

The auditor's office was unable to find evidence of any othergovernment in Canada paying education-sector unions' bargainingcosts.

Since 2000, the Ontario government gave $80.5 million toteachers' unions and the Ontario Teachers' Federation, Lysyk found. Some of that would have come from the Tories, but the lion's share came from the governing Liberals who took power in 2003.

An additional $6.8 million was given to school boards to provide tothe French teachers' union for professional development, Lysykfound.

'No strings attached'

Of the $80.5 million, Lysyk said $22 million was provided with"no strings attached" and the remainder was largely earmarked forteachers' professional development.

"The ministry has little information as to what these funds wereactually used for," she wrote. "One might reasonably ask why suchfunds were not provided to various school boards throughout theprovince for their own locally determined professional developmentneeds."

Though three other provinces gave teachers' unions money forprofessional development in the last five years, Lysyk found, nonepaid more than $2 million in total.

Education Minister Liz Sandals defendedfundingprofessionaldevelopmentandsaidthepayments were not taken out of classroomspending.

"We actually believe that when it comes to professionaldevelopment that it's most effective if everybody is part of it,"she said.

"We fund school boards for professional development, wefund the directors' organization, we fund teacher organizations, wefund subject organizations, faculties of education, and yes,teachers unions."

You can read the auditor-general's report below