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Wynne was reduced to insisting “I’m not tone deaf” Monday as more revelations about self-serving relations between her government and the unions continued to spill out. “We have to remember that for years and years there were 72 school boards making these decisions,” in place of the centralized process put in place by her Liberals, she said. The fact the new process has proven slower, clunkier and far more expensive than anyone expected is just something voters are supposed to swallow. Unfortunately for Wynne, the size of the meal keeps growing: from $2.5 million paid to three unions when the news broke a week ago, the figure quickly grew to $3.7 million, and on Tuesday was reported to be as high as $7.1 million.

The money is ostensibly intended to help unions cover the added cost of the new bargaining system, but Wynne and her ministers have been unable to stick to a unified version of the story. They have claimed, at various points, that it’s no big deal and has been going on for years; is a unique episode necessitated by the new bargaining structure; is for hotels and pizzas for the central negotiators; goes to cover months of labour by hundreds of staff. While insisting it’s a perfectly normal practice, they’ve simultaneously promised it won’t be necessary in future. On Monday Education Minister Liz Sandals – who previously distinguished herself by airily dismissing suggestions she should have asked for receipts for the union costs – was reduced to blaming the opposition. “You did it too,” she responded to Progressive Conservative questions, thought the PCs haven’t been in a position to negotiate anything in more than 13 years.