Canada has the right idea

There are times when we must look to our neighbors to the north for some positive inspiration. One such time happened this week in Ontario.

The Ontario government intends to introduce legislation that would extend collective bargaining rights to part-time college. Currently, the almost 16,000 part-time support and academic staff members at any of Ontario's 24 public colleges are barred from joining a union or engaging in collective bargaining. Ontario is the only province in Canada where it is still against the law for college part-time workers to unionize.

This is just one of many overhauls to collective bargaining at colleges, according to Chris Bentley, Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities. "In just four years, we've increased college funding by 30 percent after 12 years where funding went down. Now we're planning for the future, beginning with a review of the legislation governing on college labour relations."

Changes will be made following a review of the Colleges Collective Bargaining ACT (CCBA) and how the CCBA can meet its mandate to respond to changing student needs while supporting fair labour relations.