The Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation have endorsed four Liberal candidates in York Region — but not anyone in Newmarket-Aurora.
The union held a news conference at its York Region district headquarters in Newmarket today to endorse Liberal leader and Vaughan-Woodbridge candidate Steven Del Duca, along with fellow liberals Kelly Dunn in Markham-Stouffville, Roozbeh Farhadi in Richmond Hill and Gillian Vivona in King-Vaughan.
Federation president Karen Littlewood said there is a need to elect candidates who support publicly funded education.
“York Region has many strong candidates that will protect and enhance the future of Ontario’s public education system, and the federation and its members are committed to supporting their campaigns,” Littlewood said.
Although the news conference took place at the OSSTF York Region district office in Newmarket, Newmarket-Aurora Liberal candidate Dr. Sylvain Roy was not included in the list of endorsements. A spokesperson said the union is still updating a list of endorsements.
The union is holding a presidential tour throughout the province, travelling to different ridings to endorse candidates. Although Liberals were at the forefront for York Region, the union has also been endorsing some NDP candidates elsewhere. The union endorsed 14 NDP candidates in Toronto May 9. However, the Newmarket-Aurora NDP's Denis Heng has not received an endorsement.
Del Duca said his party understands students need help to make up for the impact of the pandemic, citing the party's promise to have an optional Grade 13.
“We want to empower students and educators to address these challenges head-on,” he said.
Dunn, a high school teacher, said she was honoured to receive the endorsement.
“To have the support of my fellow education workers means so much to me,” she said, adding that the union’s local district 16 “knows how important it is to have elected representatives who will fight to ensure that our students have the very best education possible.”
The Aurora-Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill riding, directly south of Newmarket, also has not had any candidates endorsed by the union yet.
The provincial election is on June 2.
