On April 4, 2016, Ontario’s Premier Kathleen Wynne took quick action on a few fronts:
- Premier Wynne came out on the steps of Queen’s Park in an unprecedented move, vowing to work with Black Lives Matter protestors on a review of the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) by the provincial government. Why? Because there had been several weeks of very public protests, including an ongoing demonstration outside Toronto police headquarters and an April 4 march to Queen’s Park by 150 Black Lives Matter protesters.
- Premier Wynne also vowed to ban corporate and union donations, ending her government’s party’s practice of “cash-for-access” fundraising. Why? Because there there had been several weeks of consistent and embarrassing media coverage. Media had revealed how Wynne’s party frequently holds unpublicized, small-scale fundraisers in which corporations and lobbyists, some of whom do business with the government, pay thousands of dollars for exclusive access to Premier Wynne and her cabinet ministers over cocktails.
The lesson here? If we want to see our children’s schools fixed – we must mount more pressure on Kathleen Wynne and her government. How? We need more media attention on this topic and we must let our provincial MPPs know that we expect action on this issue.
What can you do?
- Send us photos of disrepair in schools – or videos! A picture is worth a 1,000 words.
- Share personal stories about how disrepair in schools is negatively impacting your children.
- Email or call your MPP to let them know you expect the provincial government to take action to Fix Our Schools.
- Ask others to join Fix Our Schools, either by signing up for emails at www.fixourschools.ca/joinus/ and/or by following us on Facebook