S P O T L I GH T ON Y OUR FEDER A TION Annual Meeting Speakers


Nahanni Fontaine MLA St. Johns


ETFO’s 2017 social justice speaker Nahanni Fontaine is status Ojibway from the Sagkeeng Anishinaabe First Nation in southern Mani- toba. Fontaine was elected the member of the legislative assembly of Manitoba for the riding of St. Johns in 2016. Before entering politics, she worked as special advisor on Aboriginal wom- en’s issues for the Indigenous Issues Committee of the cabinet of Manitoba with a special focus on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG). She also worked as an environmental researcher for Sagkeeng First Nation and taught in the Native Studies Depart- ment at the University of Manitoba. Fontaine said that on the issue of MMIWG,


we must start at the beginning – the colonial history of Canada and the important role of women and girls in pre-contact society. Euro- peans encountered Indigenous cultures where women were leaders within the society and the economy. Through colonialism, a narrative was imposed on Indigenous women and girls, sexu- alizing and subordinating them, creating condi- tions where colonial violence can be perpetuat- ed on the bodies of Indigenous women and girls with impunity. She said “If we don’t confront uncomfortable truths, how can we come to a better path for Indigenous women and girls.” Fontaine talked about the impact of colo-


nialism on her own family and the important work of supporting the families of missing and murdered women and girls.


36 ETFO VOICE | FALL 2017


Mike Foulds OTF President


ETFO Executive member Diane Dewing in- troduced Ontario Teachers’ Federation (OTF) President Mike Foulds. Foulds commended ETFO for taking the


lead in developing a coordinated strategy to address violence in schools, including advo- cating for more supports for students with special needs. In his travels across the country as OTF president, violence in schools is a top concern raised by educators. Foulds discussed the benefits of condition-


al inflation protection for pensions and why intergenerational equity amongst pension us- ers within the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP) is so important. Conditional inflation protection over the past several years, Foulds noted, has ensured that OTPP remains healthy through economically uncertain times. Foulds acknowledged there were differenc-


es of opinion about the type of investments the OTPP should make. The investment arm is independent of OTPP partners (OTF and the government), he said. It is important that neither OTF nor the government gain the abil- ity to direct the pension plan to invest or divest assets, he concluded.


Mark Ramsankar CTF President


CTF President Mark Ramsankar congratu- lated ETFO on its 18-point strategy to work with members, locals and the public on deal- ing with violence in schools. He highlighted the lobbying CTF has been doing opposing the shift to privatization taking place under the guise of accountability and advocating instead for public education and teacher professional judgement. We the Educators is a CTF project that analyzes developments in education relat- ed to standardization, privatization and tech- nology-driven datification and their effects on teaching and learning around the world. He spoke about the Global Education Re-


form Movement (GERM), a corporate move- ment that stresses competition, choice and test- based accountability for students and teachers as the main means of improving public edu- cation. GERM has put many public schools at risk in the United States and threatens public education in Canada. Technology corporations are influencing the subjects taught in schools, the classroom tools that teachers choose and approaches to teaching. “There are things that computers will never be able to do as well as a teacher,” said Ramsankar. “Greeting a student at the door, asking how their sports endeavours went last night, consoling them and asking how their sick parent is. These are the things that humanize education.”


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