From the March 15th Web version of the Toronto Sun newspaper.

Web Source : http://torontosun.com/Comment/Commentary/2006/03/15/pf-1488576.html

Why is Premier Dalton McGuinty treating Ontario's 150,000 community college students as second-class citizens? Why is nothing being done to end the province-wide strike by 9,100 professors and librarians, now in its second week?

Both sides are at an impasse and yet the Legislature, now on March break, isn't even scheduled to resume until next Thursday, when the Liberals will be busy bringing down their budget.

Unless McGuinty calls back the Legislature now and introduces a back-to-work bill -- which will take several days to pass -- this strike could go on for weeks. While the colleges issued a vague guarantee yesterday that no student will lose his or her year because of the strike, far more action is needed.

Many students need the summer to work at jobs in order to pay for their (recently hiked) tuition and living expenses. And as Tory MPP Cam Jackson, the Conservatives' colleges critic, noted yesterday, students living away from home typically sign leases that end May 1. What are they supposed to do if this strike results in the school year going beyond that?

Last year, McGuinty had Education Minister Gerard Kennedy directly intervene in negotiations with Ontario's elementary and secondary school teachers in order to successfully ratify four-year labour deals. Why isn't McGuinty showing the same leadership and sense of urgency for college students?

While university professors bargain with individual universities, thus eliminating the possibility of a province-wide strike, imagine if every university student in Ontario could not attend classes now, this close to the end of the academic year. Does anyone seriously think the Liberals would have gone on their March break before dealing with such a crisis?

We hope the Liberals don't view college students as being less important than those in university. The fact is, far too many politicians, educators and bureaucrats still look down their noses at the college system, compared to the universities.

This is absurd. The colleges, with their focus on graduating students with job skills, have long since proven their value. Many college students today are university graduates seeking the real-world skills they will need to find jobs. Politicians cannot afford to treat the college system as an afterthought.

If McGuinty values the colleges, let him prove it by recalling the Legislature today and introducing a back-to-work bill now.