TORONTO

Premier Kathleen Wynne may have spent more than $500 million this past spring to buy labour peace with Ontario’s teachers’ unions, the Toronto Sun has learned.

According to figures provided to the Sun by an education sector source, Wynne’s new deal with the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF) this past April bumped up costs by at least $114 million.

The contract she signed in June with the 76,000 members of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) added another $112 million.

Both amounts include the cost of me-too clauses that would automatically hand the Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association (OECTA), CUPE and AEFO (the French teachers association) the same bump-ups.

PC MPP Lisa MacLeod suggests the Liberals were already on the hook for $300 million for what was supposed to be a “roadmap” deal imposed on OECTA members by Wynne’s predecessor, Dalton McGuinty, in July of 2012, in addition to a deal with CUPE workers.

In a April 2 letter to Education Minister Liz Sandals, MacLeod points out that despite the $150 million saved in the original teacher contract deals through unpaid days off, an end to the banking of sick leave gratuities and other benefit decreases, some $300 million was needed to pay for teacher progression through the salary grid — which was kept in the original contracts.

After Wynne renegotiated the deal with OSSTF, teachers were required to take only one unpaid day off as opposed to the original three imposed by the McGuinty government. That day was mandated as (Friday) Dec. 20 of this year.

Both maternity leave benefits and long-term sick leave payouts were increased from the original “roadmap” contract. Teachers were also given the equivalent of one day’s extra pay if they take less than six sick days per year.

Sandals couldn’t be reached for comment.

But her spokesman Lauren Ramey told me they’ve been “clear” that any amendments to current collective agreements fit within the existing funding envelope for the ministry.

“These agreements will continue to achieve $1.8 billion in savings while protecting investments in the classroom, including a one-time savings of $1.1 billion as a result of the elimination of banked sick days,” she said in an e-mail.

MacLeod insisted she has made “several inquiries” of both Wynne and Sandals in the spring and has yet to get any sort of breakdown as to where the $1.8 billion in savings were or will be found.

“This is complete and utter fluff,” she said of the purported savings figure.

MacLeod added that the school boards — forced with footing the bill for all these teacher contract enhancements — have had trouble trying to keep programs like music classes, are struggling to fund textbooks and are teaching students in portables.

“If you are diverting hundreds of million of dollars away from education to salaries and benefits, then what is the priority of the government,” she said. “Obviously the government has made a decision that their No. 1 priority in education is collective bargaining ... it is not students and educating students.”

MacLeod said a motion has been filed with the standing committee on public accounts requesting the provincial auditor general take a closer look at the collective agreements signed with the five teachers unions — most specifically the costs.

She told me that when it comes up on Wednesday, the NDP and Liberal members will likely not support the motion — which is par for the course, given the disgraceful lack of transparency the Liberals have shown around coughing up the costs of the cancellation of the Oakville gas plant and a desire by the NDP to keep their newfound friendships with teachers’ unions.

MacLeod said it is especially critical that these contracts be reviewed, given the campaign donation Wynne got from OSSTF for her leadership bid.

“One of her first acts of business was to re-open (their) contracts and give them at least another $114 million,” MacLeod said.

“That’s just one union and when you add it all up ... you’re looking at a substantial amount of money being taken from kids in classrooms.”