Ontario's English Catholic school teachers are striking today.
For the second time this year, the Ontario English Catholic Teachers' Association is holding a one-day walkout province-wide - the local Huron-Superior Catholic District School Board's confirmed all of its schools are closed for the day because of that.
Locally, OECTA is also holding pickets outside St. Joseph French Immersion in Wawa and Our Lady of Fatima in Chapleau from 10 am to 1 pm.
When announcing the strike last week, OECTA President Liz Stuart acknowledged growing impatience among parents, saying the teachers "share their frustration" but the union cannot accept "devastating" cuts to the education system pushed by the PC government.
Education Minister Stephen Lecce's decried the strike, saying "teachers union leaders have yet again demonstrated their disregard for parents in this province...prepared to stand up for things like higher benefits for their members" but not "the basic expectation that students should learn each and every day".
This comes as the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation is holding a targeted one-day strike, but not locally.
Meanwhile, the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario has escalated its rotating strikes, with a province-wide strike to be held Thursday, though ETFO members with the Algoma District School Board will strike again on Friday, creating a second four-day weekend in a row after last week's one-day strike.