Premier Dalton McGuinty’s minority government has learned a lesson from last spring’s budget brinkmanship with the NDP, asking Tim Hudak to put his promised support for teacher wage freeze legislation “in writing.”

“We’ve sort of seen this movie before,” Government House leader John Milloy told a news conference Friday after the Progressive Conservative leader pledged “this bill is gonna pass.”

Milloy suggested the Liberals are willing to listen to Tory concerns about the bill but discouraged amendments.

“This isn’t a corner store or flea market where they can come in and pick and choose,” Milloy told reporters, echoing Education Minister Laurel Broten’s statements earlier this week that the bill is based on a deal signed with the Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association.

“We need a letter or a statement in writing from the PCs saying they will support this bill and that it will not be gutted as the budget bill,” he added.

The demand left Conservatives bristling.

“The nerve, with all the commitments they’ve broken, we need to get it in writing from them,” a senior Tory source exclaimed, citing McGuinty’s pledges not to raise taxes.

“Why bring legislation to a minority parliament if it cannot be changed?” said another top Conservative.

Hudak took credit for steering the Liberals to the right with their wage freeze bill and said he hopes to pull McGuinty further along to similar legislation for all public sector workers.

“The question is where do we go next?”

Although he described the bill as not a “true wage freeze” because it will allow younger teachers to move up the salary grid as they gain experience, the Tory boss would not say if he’ll seek amendments when the legislation is introduced in the House on Monday as MPPs return two weeks early from their summer recess.

But it’s important to support the bill, sending a signal to the Liberals that Conservatives will work with them in reducing the size and cost of government after the Liberals cosied up to the NDP to pass last spring’s budget, Hudak said.

“It’s been a lot of hard work to pull these guys to our position,” he told reporters.

Public school teacher unions have threatened to take the government to court over the wage freeze bill, saying it blocks their right to negotiate.

It is based on the OECTA settlement and freezes wages except for movement up through the grid in exchange for three unpaid days off and halving the number of sick days to 10 annually. Those sick days will no longer be cashed out upon retirement.

Four Catholic school boards, in Toronto, York, Huron Superior Catholic District School Board based in Sault Ste Marie, and Brant-Haldimand-Norfolk,have agreed to that deal. Another 69 boards across the province have not.

Education Minister Laurel Broten says new contracts must be in place by Sept. 1 or provisions of existing contracts roll over, triggering a combination of $473 million in extra costs for salary grid increases and sick day payouts that would be clawed back under the legislation.

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