Ken Coran's Liberal Candidacy

After hearing Ken Coran will be running as a Liberal in the upcoming by-election in London, I drafted a quick letter and got my fellow CWS teachers to sign it. I'm positive I could have got each staff member to sign it, had I not heard Coran's news on the last work day of the year.
-Andy Wilson
Teacher, Ottawa.

Dear OSSTF PE,

This morning we learned that Ken Coran will be running as a Liberal candidate in the upcoming by-election in London. I can't express in words how angry I am, and how betrayed I feel.

It now appears that while OSSTF members were attending rallies far and wide, withdrawing from voluntary services, and even engaging in limited strike action to fight for our collective bargaining rights, Ken Coran was more concerned with delivering his members to the Liberal government in order to ensure he had a position in the party when his term with OSSTF was over.

I can only hope that OSSTF PE learns from the recent past: having a close relationship with the Liberal Party is no assurance that our collective bargaining rights will be respected. We need to send a message during the upcoming by-elections that messing with OSSTF has a cost; at the very least no support, official or otherwise, should be given to any Liberal Party candidate in the upcoming elections.

After weathering contract strips, and now feelings of utter betrayal, it is now more important than ever to demonstrate to OSSTF's members that their resistance to attacks on collective bargaining rights matter. A public statement from PE expressing the widespread outrage at Ken's betrayal would be a good start.

Sincerely,

Nepean High School CWS Department