Couchiching First Nation will receive more than $1 million as its share of the revenue generated by Casino Rama in Orillia.

High school teachers will be in for hard times come fall, the president of the local Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation warned after the provincial government passed the controversial Bill 74 last week.
“I really fear for the future,” said Andrew Hallikas.
With teacher workloads being increased from six classes a year to an average six and two-thirds, fewer teachers will be teaching more classes–and having less time to prepare for each class and spend extra time to help out students.
“We haven’t worked under it yet but problems will show up when we get back to work in September,” Hallikas said.
In Durham, Ont., he noted enforced extracurricular activity time and heavier course loads caused teachers additional stress and fatigue, resulting in long-term disability leaves.
Moreso, since it is law, the board “has their hands ties on this one,” said Hallikas.
Warren Hoshizaki, education director of the Rainy River District School Board, noted the board is not certain what will happen with the change in scheduling that could see teachers handle six to eight classes a year.
“We have been working and planning towards this for a while,” he said. “We have not gotten an indicator from the ministry as to what way scheduling will be recorded.
“Once we get that, we will be able to get the teacher scheduling done. Right now, we are in the operational process of the legislation,” added Hoshizaki, stressing figuring out the teacher situation would happen as soon as possible.
While teachers looking after more classes would mean a cut in jobs, the board announced last month there would be no staffing redundancies for the coming school year and therefore no teachers laid off.
But it won’t be known if the board will replace any of this year’s resigned or retired teachers until the scheduling is worked out.
In the meantime, Hallikas noted OSSTF will be negotiating with the board to ensure everything is done in the teachers’ and students’ best interests.
“We’re going to try our darndest to get something done. But I don’t know how far we’ll get when the board has it’s hands tied like this,” he lamented.
“It’s not something [the board] wants to do–it’s something they’re forced to,” Hallikas stressed.