Ontarians object to the Liberal government’s payments to teachers’ unions and school boards, a new poll suggests.

The Forum Research survey found two-thirds of those questioned do not approve of the millions paid to cover collective bargaining costs.

Fully 67 per cent disapproved of the $2.5 million given to unions and 66 per cent of the $4.6 million handed to boards of education.

Only 23 per cent approved of the union payouts and 25 per cent of the cash to school boards, with 10 per cent unsure.

“It may or may not be true that these payments are common in collective bargaining, but the important thing is the Ontario voters don’t believe it,” said Forum president Lorne Bozinoff. “They don’t like the payments one bit.”

Bozinoff noted Ontarians are not buying Premier Kathleen Wynne’s explanation that such payments are standard practice.

About one-quarter — 23 per cent — believe that is true while 60 per cent do not and 17 per cent didn’t know.

Using interactive voice-response phone calls, Forum surveyed 1,158 people across Ontario from Monday through Wednesday. The results are considered accurate to within three percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

The firm also asked Ontarians for their views on Wynne’s new Ontario Retirement Pension Plan, which is designed to complement the Canada Pension Plan that former prime minister Stephen Harper refused to boost.

Newly elected Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has promised to enrich the CPP, making it unclear whether the ORPP will be necessary, although Wynne is moving forward with its implementation in 2017.

The Ontario scheme was backed by 44 per cent of respondents and disapproved by 34 per cent, with 22 per cent unsure.

Opinions appear to be split on whether the ORPP is needed, with 26 per cent saying it isn’t, 17 per cent saying it’s only required until CPP is bolstered and 31 per cent saying it should be implemented regardless of how much the federal pension is enriched.

“The ORPP has tested relatively well in the past, and still does, even though it appears that the new government’s intention to expand the federal pension plan might make it unnecessary,” said Bozinoff.

What they said about the payouts

Premier Kathleen Wynne: “I wish that it didn’t cost the public purse that kind of money . . . but no matter . . . whether it’s in education, whether it’s in health, whether it’s in the private sector, whether it’s in broadcasting, there is a cost associated with negotiation.”

Progressive Conservative Leader Patrick Brown: “There should be transparency. We should know where it was spent. How do we know it even cost $1 million? The fact that they’re just guessing, that’s not the way to handle taxpayer dollars.”

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath: “This shows the process was not one that was taken seriously by the government. They fumbled the ball from day one.”

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

Education Minister Liz Sandals: “This has been an unusually dragged-out process. Both the unions and the boards have had extraordinary costs because everybody is having to rent space and find venues and rooms. This will never happen again. This is the end of the transformation.”

Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation president Paul Elliott: “When we went through this in 2008 and again in 2012, the president had to sign an attestation (as to how the funds were spent) . . . we had to give a full accounting and a full report was provided — and we expected this would happen this time around.”

Read more about: