and pickets. I remember seeing my aunt on television disagreeing with someone who I now know was the infamous former Progres- sive Conservative premier of Ontario, Mike Harris. Seeing my aunt stand up for teach- ers during the 1997 teacher “strike” (really it was a political protest against the PC gov- ernment) was inspiring to me as a little girl. Watching her, I knew that I wanted to be a teacher and get involved in the union. As an Intermediate French immersion
teacher in Kawartha Pine Ridge, I have taught grades 7 and 8 for the majority of my career. KPR is a smaller local with just un- der 1,500 teacher members. It spans east to west from Quinte to Clarington, and north to Kawartha Lakes. As a former KPR French immersion student, teaching here feels like coming full circle.
I didn’t always understand unionism or
political context as a child, but I knew that it was meaningful. Now, political action has be- come one of my passions – both as an ETFO member and as a community member. I have been chair of the KPR ETFO Political Ac- tion committee for the past several years and serve on the ETFO provincial Political Action standing committee. I even took a chance and put my name on the ballot as a candidate in the federal election in 2019! Tere is a very real possibility that we will
have a spring election in Ontario. Together, we have the opportunity to help organize for change in our communities. We can help elect progressive candidates across the prov- ince who will stand up for the investment our public schools and other public services need. Tis province deserves a government
that will listen to stakeholders and work to improve quality of life for all Ontarians.
CONNECTING WITH YOUR LOCAL
Many educators are feeling the impacts of system-wide underfunding daily in their schools and in their classrooms. Survey aſter survey tell us that educators are stressed and burnt out – but that’s what makes organizing even more important. Te key for us in KPR has been to cultivate connections with one another, to learn about the issues together and to share what is happening in our local communities. Our local has some consistent commu-
nication tools in place. We have a bi-weekly e-newsletter called Te Good Stuff. Te newsletter is sent to teacher and occasional teacher members and includes pertinent
ELEMENTARY TEACHERS’ FEDERATION OF ONTARIO 35
PHOTOS BY CHRISTINE COUSINS
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