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It was two weeks ago that Premier Doug Ford first said publicly what he now says daily: if there is a battle with Ontario’s school teachers, he didn’t start it.

“We didn’t declare this war on the teachers,” Ford told me over the phone on April 4.

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“As soon as we got elected, it was all out war they declared it on us — at least the teachers unions did.”

Ford was speaking the day of the student walkout over class size increases for high school students and just before a massive rally by teachers at Queen’s Park that saw unions bus in teachers from across the province.

Since then, and ahead of the negotiations that will take place between now and when the contract ends in August, Ford has made it clear, he is ready for the battle he knows is coming.

“The teachers unions went on strike under Bob Rae. They went on strike under Mike Harris. They went on strike under McGuinty and under Kathleen Wynne as well,” Ford said during Question Period on Wednesday.