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Which group of 70,000 Ontario civil servants is paid slightly more than $78 per hour?

To put it in perspective, the average Canadian aerospace engineer earns about half of this, at $40 per hour; veterinarians $38; civil engineers $37; HR specialists $28; Web designers and developers $25; and journalists, I am afraid to say, just $24, less than one-third of this group.

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So which group of public employees must Ontario taxpayers be so generous toward?

Let me provide some hints. Relative to these earnings, this position requires modest education, limited qualifications, there is relatively weak competition to obtain entrance, it has limited barriers to entry and its members enjoy an unparalleled lifestyle (even apart from their wages).

The answer: teachers.

My figure is based upon information provided by the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario as to the required minimum days worked per year, hours per day and average annual remuneration. Elementary teachers make up more than 70,000 of the 114,000 teachers. The rest are secondary school teachers, whose average hourly wage for the time they are required to work, based on more limited information from the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation, is the still surprisingly high sum of $68.73.