Most teachers in Ontario belong to one of four large unions. They are the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation (OSSTF), the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario (ETFO), the Ontario English Catholic Teachers' Association (OECTA), and the Association des enseignants et enseignantes franco-ontariens (AEFO).
Prior to 2017, unions were allowed to make financial contributions to political parties. You can look up the data on the Elections Ontario website.
Using the Elections Ontario data, I was able to determine that the four large Ontario teacher unions made massive financial contributions to political parties from 2014 to 2016. Well, they made massive financial donations to two political parties, anyway. Here is the data.
Prior to 2017, unions were allowed to make financial contributions to political parties. You can look up the data on the Elections Ontario website.
Using the Elections Ontario data, I was able to determine that the four large Ontario teacher unions made massive financial contributions to political parties from 2014 to 2016. Well, they made massive financial donations to two political parties, anyway. Here is the data.
As you can see from the above, the teacher unions made $832,639 in financial donations to the New Democratic Party and its candidates in just three years. The teacher unions also made $272,738 in financial donations to the Ontario Liberal Party and its candidates in the same three years. That's over $1.1 million to two political parties in just three years. Wow!
These statistics make me ask a few questions. Firstly, did the union officials have the permission of their members to spend money this way? It seems to me that many teachers would object to their money being used this way.
Secondly, as you can see from the pie chart above, 99% of that money went to just two political parties. I hardly think, however, that 99% of all the teachers in Ontario vote for only two political parties. I would suspect that many teachers vote for other parties, or might not vote at all.
Finally, why was all this money spent on political donations? The function of a union is to bargain for its members. But these unions spent $1.1 million on political campaigns. These unions seem to be acting as political machines. At least that's what the data indicates.
It's elucidating information, that's for sure, especially in light of current events.
These statistics make me ask a few questions. Firstly, did the union officials have the permission of their members to spend money this way? It seems to me that many teachers would object to their money being used this way.
Secondly, as you can see from the pie chart above, 99% of that money went to just two political parties. I hardly think, however, that 99% of all the teachers in Ontario vote for only two political parties. I would suspect that many teachers vote for other parties, or might not vote at all.
Finally, why was all this money spent on political donations? The function of a union is to bargain for its members. But these unions spent $1.1 million on political campaigns. These unions seem to be acting as political machines. At least that's what the data indicates.
It's elucidating information, that's for sure, especially in light of current events.