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MONDAY, AUGUST 11

Over 550 delegates from ETFO locals across the province arrived at Toronto's Westin Harbour Castle Hotel throughout the day. 

Many delegates attended caucuses prior to the Call to Order at 4:00 p.m. Caucuses were held for Women Members, Women Members and Supporters, Joint Equity Members, OT/ESP/PSP Members, and Local Presidents.  In addition, training on Annual Meeting processes and procedures was held for new delegates to prepare them for meaningful participation at the various sessions.

Parliamentarian Mark Hachmer called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m. and led delegates through a number of ceremonial and procedural tasks.

At 4:20 p.m., Executive member Rachel Gencey introduced ETFO President David Clegg.  The President's Address spanned

the genesis of ETFO,

• the early struggles with the Harris/Eves government,
• the progress achieved under the McGuinty Liberals, and
• the resolve of the current Executive to eliminate the historical discrimination against elementary teachers and their students in the Province of Ontario. 

In short, President Clegg vowed to remake elementary education through bargaining by closing the funding gap between the elementary and secondary panels.

Following the President's Address, First Vice-President Sam Hammond presented the 2008-2009 draft budget to delegates, and the federation's plan to eliminate its deficit in three years--to be 'Free in Three.'   Delegates then got down to work debating and voting on a number of resolutions to amend the ETFO Constitution.

TUESDAY, AUGUST 12

Day two of Annual Meeting was highlighted by a speech from the Minister of Education and the ETFO Awards Presentation.

The Honourable Kathleen Wynne, who spoke for almost twenty minutes, outlined her government's accomplishments in improving education, and relations with teachers.  She stated that the government's proposed framework agreement would further reduce the $711 funding gap in elementary education, but when repeatedly asked by delegates when her government would completely eliminate this disparity, the minister would only commit to continuing to invest in the elementary years.

ETFO President David Clegg, responding to Minister Wynne's speech in a media release, stated that "elementary teachers are not convinced that the provincial government has a serious commitment to closing the funding gap between elementary and secondary students."  He concluded that ETFO would not return to the provincial bargaining table until the government committed to closing the gap.

Other events from day two include:

• the Report of the General Secretary, Gene Lewis;
• the Auditor's Report, also presented by Mr. Lewis;
• a lunch reception for delegates hosted by the Minister of Education;
• an address by Maureen Davis, President of the Ontario Teachers' Federation;
• a 'President's Forum,' in which David Clegg fielded questions from local leaders; and
• continued voting on resolutions related to ETFO's constitution and bylaws.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 13

The last two days of Annual Meeting 2008 were extremely busy with four speakers, a gala Annual Dinner celebrating ETFO's 10th anniversary, and a full slate of resolutions to be debated and voted upon.

Speakers on Wednesday included CTF President Emily Noble, the Honourable Jean Augustine, Ontario's Fairness Commissioner, and the Honourable Howard Hampton, appearing at Annual Meeting for the last time as leader of the Ontario NDP. 

Fairness Commissioner Jean Augustine was the first black woman elected to parliament.  Following her address on how educators can meet the needs of children in Canada's changing urban centres, Augustine and Alice Pitt, Dean, Faculty of Education at York University, accepted a donation from ETFO for $100,000 to establish the ‘Jean Augustine Chair in Education in the New Urban Environment.’  

CTF and ETFO to unveil World Teachers' Day poster designed by Windsor elementary teacher

The President of the Canadian Teachers' Federation (CTF) will join the President of the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario (ETFO) tomorrow to unveil this year's Canadian poster celebrating World Teachers' Day. The unveiling will take place during ETFO's Annual General Meeting currently being held in Toronto.

The design of the poster was created by ETFO member Neli Brady who teaches at A.V. Graham Public School in Tecumseh, about 23 km from Windsor, Ontario. Neli entered and won first prize in CTF's National World Teachers' Day poster contest launched last spring.

According to CTF President Emily Noble, CTF selected Neli Brady's design because of its composition, colours and graphic representation of people. Her design also fits well with the theme "Teachers change your life".

"In selecting a theme for this year's World Teachers' Day, we were inspired by a popular quote by author and teacher Joyce A. Myers who said: Teachers can change lives with just the right mix of chalk and challenges," explains Noble. "World Teachers' Day is an occasion to celebrate teachers around the world who hold the right mix within themselves to bring about positive changes within students.

For his part, ETFO President David Clegg adds: "We are delighted to share one of our member's creativity and work with her teacher colleagues across the country. It is exciting to know that Neli's design will be highly visible in school halls, classroom walls and teacher staff rooms across Canada.

"Not only do teachers change your life, they can make a real differencein moving our nation forward culturally, economically, environmentally and socially," adds Clegg.

The Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario represents 73,000 elementary public school teachers and education workers across the province and is the largest teacher federation in Canada. ETFO is a member of CTF.

CTF and its Member organizations across the country are among the thousands of organizations in over 100 countries to celebrate World Teachers' Day. Events are being planned worldwide through the efforts of Education International, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural organization (UNESCO) and other partners. CTF will create a downloadable greeting card as well as an e-card on its Web site featuring Neli Brady's poster design to allow students to personally thank their teachers on Oct. 5.
CTF speaks for 220,000 teachers in Canada as their national voice on education and related social issues. CTF membership includes Member organizations in every province and territory in Canada.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 14

Annual Meeting 2008 ended on Thursday, August 14th with a final review and approval of ETFO's 2008-2009 budget, and the President's Remarks.

GREATER ESSEX DELEGATION IN ACTION AT THE ETFO 2008 ANNUAL MEETING

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