The Ontario government is offering financial aid for families affected by rotating teachers’ strikes — but for separated or divorced parents, there’s a snag.
When Ontario-based mom Claudia, whom Global News is keeping anonymous out of concern for her safety, applied for the government support for her children, she said her application was rejected.
A message on her computer screen told her she had already submitted a request for her kids.
The system, it turned out, had already processed an application from Claudia’s ex-husband, who does not live with the children during school days, according to evidence reviewed by Global News.
“I was in shock,” Claudia said, adding that she has been missing work during the strikes while her ex was unaffected.
Parents of children up to age 12 (Grade 7) are eligible for the financial support, with funds ranging from $60 per day for kids who attend a school-based childcare centre to $25 per day for students in Grades 1 to 7. Parents of secondary school students are excluded from funding, with the exception of those with children with special needs, who are eligible to get $40 per day from Junior Kindergarten up to age 21.
Only one parent or guardian per child can apply for the childcare compensation, and support is granted on a first-come-first-serve basis. The online application form does not ask who has custody of the children or who lives with them in their primary residence.
In the case of separated couples, the setup creates an opportunity for parents who aren’t affected by the strikes to receive government funding at the expense of the parent who is bearing the financial cost of the strikes.
When Claudia flagged the issue to the government’s Support for Parents Helpline, she received an email saying that only the parent or guardian who initially claimed the funding can request that the application be removed.
“It is a major oversight on the government’s behalf,” said Claudia, who added she is wary of her ex-husband and keeps contact with him to a minimum.
When asked for comment, the Ontario Ministry of Education said via email it “does not intervene in family law issues.”
The Ford government said it spends approximately $60 million per day on teacher compensation while providing financial aid to families affected by the strike costs up to $48 million per day for a provincewide labour disruption.
Education Minister Stephen Lecce said the funding is intended to “ensure students remain cared for” during the school strikes.
On Feb. 21, more than two million Ontario students stayed home as all four of the province’s four major teachers’ unions staged coordinated walk-outs that shut down the province’s public education system.
It was the first such province-wide strike since 1997, union representatives said.
At stake in the fraught negotiations between the government and the unions are class-sizes, e-learning and compensations.
The unions have been vocal in their opposition to the Ford government’s proposal to increase average class sizes, which they say will deprive students of much-needed resources.
The government has defended the proposal as a cost-avoidance measure, as larger classes would eliminate the need for thousands of teachers.
Another sticking point is a new requirement that high school students take some courses online, starting in September 2020. The government initially mandated four e-learning credits, before scaling that back to two credits.
The unions are also asking for annual salary increases of around two per cent, while the Ford government capped wage hikes for all public sector workers at one per cent for three years.
The union representing Ontario’s French teachers cancelled a province-wide walkout set for Thursday, Feb. 27, due to heavy snowfall forecast for that day.
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